Les Misérables (2013)
Certified: PG
Duration: 158 minutes
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Samantha Barks, Isabelle Allen
KRS release
With an all-star cast and under the direction of Tom Hooper (The Damned United, The King’s Speech), Les Misérables draws in equal measure from Victor Hugo’s 1862 book and the musical which kicked off in France in 1980 and its English-language version of 1985. The result is an epic film that exudes class and style.
Hugh Jackman is Jean Valjean, a Frenchman coming out of long years of imprisonment after stealing bread to provide nourishment to his sister. The parole officer is the very strict policeman Javert (Russell Crowe). Valjean cannot find employment and when he tries to steal silver from a bishop he is caught. But he manages to escape.
Eight years later, we find him living under a different name, in a town where he is not known and where he has made his fortune. He is also the town’s mayor.
Javert ends up coincidentally in the same town to take up a police commission but he does not recognise Valjean.
Meanwhile, a former factory worker named Fantine (Anne Hathaway) has turned to prostitution for a living. At one point, she is saved by the mayor and that is when Javert realises the truth.
Valjean promises Fantine to take care of her daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen), who is under the malicious care of the Thenardiers (Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen). While they are all fussy about their daughter Eponine, they treat Cosette badly and they eventually sell her to Valjean who promptly disappears with her.
The film fast-forwards 10 years when Cosette has now grown up (Amanda Seyfried). Marius (Eddie Redmayne), one of the revolutionaries who is all out to bring the government down, is infatuated with Cosette. Eponine (Samantha Barks) is also attracted to Marius but knows he in love with Cosette. Valjean tries to keep his past a secret and also Cosette’s as he knows that Javert is still looking for him.
Jackman has huge physical presence in the film and as we follow him on this journey of perpetual injustice, we endear to him.
Crowe acts as his counterbalance: he is equally strong as the man representing the law in itsmisguided ways. In the musical stakes, however, it is Jackman who emerges victorious.
Hathaway is simply heartbreaking and we feel her plight thoroughly. Baron Cohen is quite a delight as the despicable Then-ardier and makes a good team-up with Bonham Carter.
The film succeeds on the strength of its song and music and the way these are melded into a delightful cinematic experience that is bound to make its audience sigh, nod and maybe even shed a tear.
As regards the musical numbers, Master of the House is a teaser; At the End of the Day will inspire and One Day More will rouse the audience. The songs’ strengths have been tried and tested and they translate well into this lavish cinematic production.