THE OCCUPY OPERA: a review of "Les Miserables"

"LES MISERABLES"

Based upon the novel by Victor Hugo

and the musical "Les Miserables"
Music and Lyrics by Claude-Michel Schonberg & Alain Boublil

Screenplay Written by William Nicholson, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer

Directed by Tom Hooper

**** (four stars)

"WOW!"

I uttered that exclamation to myself the precise moment the end credits began to scroll in Director Tom Hooper's adaptation of "Les Miserables," and to think, I almost did not see this film.

You see dear readers, my relationship with "Les Miserables" is essentially a non-existent one. I am only vaguely knowledgeable of the basic plot of Victor Hugo's novel and I know absolutely NOTHING about the legendary musical. Honestly, I know not even one note of music. Even including the famous "I Dreamed A Dream," of which I was scantly familiar and never knew was from the musical at all. My interests never led me towards the story or the musical, so when the film version had been announced, my interest was still not piqued. But such is the power of word of mouth combined with Oscar nominations. In order to gather a larger picture of the nominees as well as to feel that I could complete my personal 2012 wrap up in earnest, I would indeed, after quite a lengthy spell sitting upon the fence, to make my pilgrimage and see what "Les Miserables" was all about. Now that I have seen the film, I can say while I was not as over the moon with the film as I am certain many of you happen to be, Tom Hooper has gives us all an unquestionably mammoth achievement in the cinematic year of 2012 and any and all recognition the film receives are more than deserved and magnificently earned.

Set against the backdrop of political turmoil over the course of 17 years and culminating with the French student uprising of 1832, "Les Miserables" begins in 1815 with the release of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) from prison after serving a 19 year sentence for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family. As Valjean has been released on parole, he is forever under the watchful eye of the stoic prison guard Javert (Russell Crowe), ensuring that he will never truly be a free man in society. After being given food and shelter by a Bishop at his church, Valjean steals the Bishop's silver and flees into the night, only to be apprehended by the police and brought back to the Bishop. Surprisingly, the Bishop secures Valjean's release by proclaiming that the stolen silver was indeed a gift. Deeply moved by the Bishop's grace, Jean Valjean vows to life a clean life albeit under an assumed identity. Jean Valjean then breaks his parole alerting Javert to begin an epic manhunt for his whereabouts.

The film's second act occurs in the year 1823 when Jean Valjean, completely submerged within his new identity has become a factory owner and the Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. From this point, Jean Valjean's journey becomes increasingly complicated and morally conflicted as his life intertwines with Fatine (Anne Hathaway), a worker in his factory who soon loses her employment and descends into a life of prostitution; her daughter Cosette (played as a child by Isabelle Allen and as an adult by Amanda Seyfried), whom Valjean vows to a dying Fatine that he will care for; the continued and relentless pursuit by Javert, as well as issues of mistaken identity, captures and escapes, lifelong secrets that threaten to become exposed, a tragic love triangle and the aforementioned student uprising.

To begin with my enthusiastic praise, I have to say that I was extremely impressed that for a story like this one, which is conceptually complicated and features a collective of characters who possess their own equally complicated motivations, Tom Hooper has performed a masterful job of keeping all of the plot threads easily understandable, recognizable and emotionally resonant. To that end, the scale of "Les Miserables" is so massive and could have gone wrong 100 different ways that I am equally impressed to the point of my jaw being propelled to the ground in awe that Tom Hooper directed this film with a confidence and skill I never knew or thought that he possessed. Think about his previous film, the Oscar winning feature "The King's Speech" (2010). There is simply nothing and I mean nothing in that film that expressed to me that this was a filmmaker who could handle a project such as this one. Hooper has helmed this experience with such a sure handed flow that the intimate and epic are in lockstep as they walk together hand in hand.

Just the fact that "Les Miserables" is just a hair under three hours in length with really a minusucle amount of actual dialogue as nearly every moment in the film is sung is a difficult task to harness successfully yet Hooper keeps everything moving along beautifully, never overwhelming you with the amount of music but properly overwhelming you with the magnitude of the story, drama and sheer emotion of the piece. At times, the film is a true steamroller but Hooper's sense of directorial control is firm. He never allows "Les Miserables" to get away from him.

Another aspect I loved about the film was actually an element it shared with films like Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" and Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," and that was how the story, despite taking place in the 19th century, is a perfect echo to and examination of our current sociological/political/economical dialogues and dissents that are occurring at this exact point in our collective history with our current civil war between the 99% and 1%. The voices of the poor, the destitute, the desperate and society's forgotten are all presented as an operatic howl from the gutters, not solely for the deaf ears within the story but for all of us as we think about the world that we share with those whom are less fortunate than ourselves. In our own economically turbulent times, how easy would it be for any of us to fall from our own place of prosperity into a dark existence like Fatine's? Additionally, the student uprising section of the film, primarily the movie's third act, is not only presented as history but potentially as a warning, regardless of any potential outcome. With "Les Miserables," Hooper passionately asks of us about our sense of compassion and therefore, sense of  societal justice and fairness in a world where the cards are cruelly stacked against so many by so very few. With the very best films I saw throughout the year, Hooper's presentation has transcended the act of just being entertaining (no small feat) into being a work that is designed for everyone viewing to mentally and emotionally chew upon and ruminate long after we have exited the theater. "Les Miserables" is an experience impossible to ignore.

With that, Hooper's visual aesthetics have taken some heat by some critics who felt his cinematography was too overactive. While I could imagine this may have something to do with already being a fan of the stage performance, I would agree that the swoops and dives and other visual extravagances  Hooper's work alongside the outstanding work of Cinematographer Danny Cohen would feel more at home in a rock opera like Ken Russell's "Tommy" (1975) or even Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge! (2001). But for me, I felt everything worked so magically as the restless camera conveyed the life-altering urgency of the time period as well as the tumultuous emotional urgency that exists within all of the characters. The visual dynamics gave me that sense of blood and fire underneath the history and regardless that I was watching a musical, everything felt to be real.

All of the actors should indeed be commended for their gargantuan work in "Les Miserables" especially as Hooper had everyone sing live on set, a risky technique I felt only added to the realism of the story's turmoil and upheaval. The praise that has been heaped upon Hathaway is much deserved and furthermore, I don't think I have ever been as impressed with Hugh Jackman as I was with this Herculean performance. And truth be told, I absolutely LOVED Russell Crowe's work despite the criticism that has been launched against him. His presence was as commanding as it was anguished as the film went along and his singing voice felt to be supremely strong and filled with conviction to my ears. However, if I had any quibble with casting, it had to be found in the presence of Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen as the comically fiendish thieves, the Thenardiers. While they both performed admirably, I did find them to be a bit distracting as if they wandered from the set of Tim Burton's latest film or if they had some selections from "Sweeney Todd" to inject. Maybe if different people had played these roles, I would not have had some trouble but even so, they certainly did not derail the film overall by any means.    

All of that being said, remember this was the very first time I have even heard this musical and to my fresh ears, I did have trouble discerning one song from the next as the proceedings almost felt to be one long song. This isn't that much of a criticism but it was my initial impression. With that, there were several sequences I particularly enjoyed. The Shakespearean influenced meeting between Cosette and French student rebellion organizer Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) was especially touching. I also loved Eponne's (Samantha Banks) wrenching solo in the rain. The film's final moments in a convent between Cosette, Jean Valjean and Marius also reached me magically and again, Javert's conflicted, climactic selection was appropriately grand. 

In a cinematic year that was filled with surprises and artistic triumphs, Tom Hooper's "Les Miserables" was a most surprising triumph indeed. The creative cinematic ambition combined with the story's themes redemption, atonement, enormous sacrifice, bottomless courage, devotional honor, a desperate, aching need for truth, hope, and love in a increasingly grim world should be embraced, celebrated and honored. SHAME on the Academy for NOT nominating Tom Hooper for his undeniably stellar work and accomplishment. For that, I will continue to dream a dream that Oscar will one day get their nominating systems in order.

Yet, regardless of the industry accolades, the artistry on display stands so powerfully tall. This is a wondrous piece of filmmaking, beautifully executed and enormously felt.