Generic Fandom Flail
Feb. 7th, 2013 01:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teylaminhWe went to see Les Misérables last night. Pretty awesome.
Before I say anything else, I just need to get this off my chest. The POTO movie should have been this good, and I can't help but feel that just because it's Les Mis, it gets somehow preferential treatment. If Les Mis had been as bad as POTO the entire universe would have been up in arms, and it just goes to show how little the RUG care about their long-term fans. I think I will be angry about the POTO movie for the rest of my life, because I've seen so many shining examples since then of how well people can make stage musical adaptations, and I think it would have benefitted from waiting another ten yearsand having a better bloody director. I'm still ambivalent over whether a Sunset Boulevard adaptation will fail just as epically, or be absolutely brain-meltingly amazing; I fear instead it will fall somewhere between the two and end up merely average, which would be about as bad.
Anyway, Les Mis thoughts!
Stunningly beautiful throughout. I'd already noticed from the trailer that the Parisian setting especially looked amazing, which pleased me greatly - I love seeing Paris on film, but in the book, the city itself is essentially another character. There were actually a few nods to the book that I liked (even though I've not finished it yet - determined now!) - like the elephant where Gavroche lives, the labyrinth of alleyways where Valjean and Cosette escape from Javert into the convent, the bottleneck of streets where they build the barricade. Basically I just love how it wasn't purely an adaptation of the musical, but relied heavily on the book for the visuals. It looked like the novel looked in my head - which I think says more for Hugo's descriptive power than anything else. :)
There were also a few obvious nods to the stage origins. :) (I haven't seen Les Mis on stage since about 2001 and that was before it moved out of the Palace Theatre, so my memory may be a little fuzzy on details, but there were definitely some lovely homages.) Most notably, the flag-waving (of course) and Enjolras's death, as he was hanging out of the window in a perfect mirroring of how he falls on the barricade in the show. It just goes to show that you can produce a movie-musical without "jazz hands" and big dance numbers. When people think of musicals they think of Rogers&Hammerstein, big choreography and staring into middle distance - there is a new, modern generation of musicals emerging which approaches them like any other movie. There is a secret language to movie musicals, just like there was a language to silent films, and film-makers need to grasp it and help it evolve, not approach them like unchartered territory and panic when it comes to filming the songs. (Rob Marshall, take note; you are the worst culprit for this.)
Casting was mostly brilliant, too, with the notable exception of Russell Crowe. I have to admit I had my doubts when I heard he'd been cast, so I wasn't expecting great things anyway. It felt like he was holding back a bit. Javert and Valjean need to have the same vocal power and Russell Crowe just didn't stand up to scrutiny against Hugh Jackman. Consequently, in "The Confrontation" it seemed that Jackman had to hold back himself so that their voices were equal. Which is a shame, because that scene is incredibly powerful and the counterpoints should fit together whilst standing up to scrutiny separately, which neither of those renditions would have done... By the time Javert had his moment of desolate confliction, I just wanted to push the whiny sod off the bridge myself - which is not how one should feel in that scene.
Also I think he would benefit from more vocal training - there's clearly some raw skill in there but his renditions of the songs were more "pop" like than I would have expected - sliding up to notes is a lazy, cheaty way of getting there, and he did a lot of that. I wasn't particularly enamoured of his voice generally - too nasal, not enough resonance. But that's just me.
(Anyway, once you've heard Philip Quast pwn "Stars" as effortlessly as he does, nothing will ever match it...)
I worried that Hugh Jackman was too young for the role of Valjean, and for the most part that turned out to be true (considering the story takes place over such a long timescale) - he didn't seem to age very much at all. He played it well, though, and seemed to have a decent grasp of the character. My only criticism is that he simply doesn't have the range for the part - the sign of a good tenor is reaching the high notes without sounding like you're going to break something, and it was more than obvious during "Bring Him Home" that he was struggling. Which is entirely fair - it's a very challenging song and not everyone can soar like Colm Wilkinson. ;)
Oh yeah, that was a nice touch, too - Colm Wilkinson as the bishop. My mum and I had to explain, respectively, to David and Paul why we were sniggering at that bit. :)
I also enjoyed that they didn't just cast well-known faces in all the roles, so Marius, Eponine, Enjolras, etc were relative unknowns. Amanda Seyfried was a passable Cosette and did at least have the requisite upper register (and again - it's really bloody high). Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham-Carter - as expected - were hilarious and awesome, though his French accent was offputting. I always find much of the comedy of "Master of the House" comes from the silly Cockney accents, though I can see what they were trying to do with it. I really really want to watch the 25th anniversary DVD now so I can see Matt Lucas's interpretation (but first I have to inflict the 10th anniversary video on Paul. :P)
Gavroche was perfectly cast, as was young Cosette. Very talented kids, both. I would have preferred Enjolras and Marius to have been cast the opposite way around, but only because I picture Marius with curly hair - I suppose you have Michael Ball to blame for that. :P
Oh yeah, apparently he will be recording the original song for the purposes of the Oscar nod. The song in question didn't jar too badly, so that's something, although it reminded me of "Ever More Without You" from The Woman in White... I loved the additional orchestrations, too - the nuns chanting in the convent, for example. Orchestrations were by Anne Dudley (of The 10th Kingdom fame) so I shouldn't be surprised. :)
I need to mention Anne Hathway as Fantine. At first I was a little worried that she would be too 'fey' for the part, but she blew. me. away. AFAIK she was the only person to do their solo in ONE TAKE. I did think it very amusing that she got a massive credit for only being in about an eighth of the film, but it's entirely justified. She's the performance everyone will remember and if she doesn't get the Oscar there's something wrong with the world. In fact, "I Dreamed A Dream" wasn't even the key moment for me. Somehow I'd forgotten than when I saw the show in London, Fantine's death was one of the parts that made me cry, and then it got to that point in the film and I fell to pieces. :(
So beautiful, so painful, so perfect.
The comic relief of the next scene is a breath of fresh air after the bleakness of that scene; I think because I was STILL CRYING for most of it I didn't appreciate it as much as I normally would, though it somehow comes across much funnier on stage - perhaps because there's more scope for physical comedy, I don't know.
Predictably, the next bit to make me cry was Valjean's death - not because of the death itself, but because by this point just listening to Anne Hathaway singing was enough to break me a second time. (Also, we did a rendition of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" (the reprise at the end) in choir when I was about 14, so it was a massive nostalgia hit, too.) So basically I was crying from Fantine's ghost right up until the end credits. That song is the evil genius of finales.
I really want to buy the soundtrack but I think I might never be brave enough to listen to it, and it'll become like "Slipping Through My Fingers" in Mamma Mia - an inexplicable emotional trigger which will take me months to get over.
That's a good thing, by the way. :) If I hadn't cried in this film I would have been sorely disappointed.
Overall then: highly recommended indeed. First entry on my "fandom: les misérables" tag!
I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to go and see a three-hour long, emotionally draining musical after my Legal Assistant day - we didn't get back until midnight and today I'm exhausted. Definitely worth it, though.
I am happy to report that all the over-emotional reactions to Les Mis have been appropriately inspiring in terms of the Jonathan Creek flail. I think also I've been so bloody tired lately that my brain hasn't had room for much in the way of fandom, so maybe the emotional purge did its job. This morning, however, a little bit of something popped back into my head for the post-tags Angstfic. I need to make that story slightly longer, as currently the "Three Gamblers" tag is a few hundred words bigger and it should really be the other way around.
I want to do a 'flashback' of sorts, to go near the start of the story when Jonathan queries where the rest of Maddy's friends are, i.e. why he's the only one helping her pack. The answer is that they're all hungover from the night before (Maddy opts to go home instead of getting drunk when the evening becomes a lost cause). I had an idea for a scene set just before the carnage ensues where she's at the pub with Sheena, who asks where Jonathan is - it might even be that she asks if they still communicate at all, forcing Maddy to admit that yes, they do, then sort of... clam up. :) Obviously, Sheena would figure out immediately what she's hiding and be scarily intuitive when she finds out about the communication breakdown in the wake of the America news.
Of course, as a counterpoint to that I'd have Adam taking Jonathan out to the pub in order to distract him from the inevitable America situation, whereupon he can be just as scarily intuitive. I like counterpoints. :P
But before that I need to finish the post-ALTAF angstfic, and make it angstier somehow (it's still not heart-breaking enough). Then I need to get the extra scene written, done and dusted before Eni's birthday so can I get all of the tags printed off - a few more might happen after that for series 2, but I can slot them in later. :P
My leave date is now confirmed as 22nd February, with my new start date as 11th March, and I've sent an "unpaid leave" request through so hopefully payroll will get the hint and I won't have to argue with them later... The next month is going to be very very tight indeed, but at least March payday is exactly four weeks from February's, so with any luck the new job will make the month fly past...
Okay, I think this is long enough.
Before I say anything else, I just need to get this off my chest. The POTO movie should have been this good, and I can't help but feel that just because it's Les Mis, it gets somehow preferential treatment. If Les Mis had been as bad as POTO the entire universe would have been up in arms, and it just goes to show how little the RUG care about their long-term fans. I think I will be angry about the POTO movie for the rest of my life, because I've seen so many shining examples since then of how well people can make stage musical adaptations, and I think it would have benefitted from waiting another ten years
Anyway, Les Mis thoughts!
Stunningly beautiful throughout. I'd already noticed from the trailer that the Parisian setting especially looked amazing, which pleased me greatly - I love seeing Paris on film, but in the book, the city itself is essentially another character. There were actually a few nods to the book that I liked (even though I've not finished it yet - determined now!) - like the elephant where Gavroche lives, the labyrinth of alleyways where Valjean and Cosette escape from Javert into the convent, the bottleneck of streets where they build the barricade. Basically I just love how it wasn't purely an adaptation of the musical, but relied heavily on the book for the visuals. It looked like the novel looked in my head - which I think says more for Hugo's descriptive power than anything else. :)
There were also a few obvious nods to the stage origins. :) (I haven't seen Les Mis on stage since about 2001 and that was before it moved out of the Palace Theatre, so my memory may be a little fuzzy on details, but there were definitely some lovely homages.) Most notably, the flag-waving (of course) and Enjolras's death, as he was hanging out of the window in a perfect mirroring of how he falls on the barricade in the show. It just goes to show that you can produce a movie-musical without "jazz hands" and big dance numbers. When people think of musicals they think of Rogers&Hammerstein, big choreography and staring into middle distance - there is a new, modern generation of musicals emerging which approaches them like any other movie. There is a secret language to movie musicals, just like there was a language to silent films, and film-makers need to grasp it and help it evolve, not approach them like unchartered territory and panic when it comes to filming the songs. (Rob Marshall, take note; you are the worst culprit for this.)
Casting was mostly brilliant, too, with the notable exception of Russell Crowe. I have to admit I had my doubts when I heard he'd been cast, so I wasn't expecting great things anyway. It felt like he was holding back a bit. Javert and Valjean need to have the same vocal power and Russell Crowe just didn't stand up to scrutiny against Hugh Jackman. Consequently, in "The Confrontation" it seemed that Jackman had to hold back himself so that their voices were equal. Which is a shame, because that scene is incredibly powerful and the counterpoints should fit together whilst standing up to scrutiny separately, which neither of those renditions would have done... By the time Javert had his moment of desolate confliction, I just wanted to push the whiny sod off the bridge myself - which is not how one should feel in that scene.
Also I think he would benefit from more vocal training - there's clearly some raw skill in there but his renditions of the songs were more "pop" like than I would have expected - sliding up to notes is a lazy, cheaty way of getting there, and he did a lot of that. I wasn't particularly enamoured of his voice generally - too nasal, not enough resonance. But that's just me.
(Anyway, once you've heard Philip Quast pwn "Stars" as effortlessly as he does, nothing will ever match it...)
I worried that Hugh Jackman was too young for the role of Valjean, and for the most part that turned out to be true (considering the story takes place over such a long timescale) - he didn't seem to age very much at all. He played it well, though, and seemed to have a decent grasp of the character. My only criticism is that he simply doesn't have the range for the part - the sign of a good tenor is reaching the high notes without sounding like you're going to break something, and it was more than obvious during "Bring Him Home" that he was struggling. Which is entirely fair - it's a very challenging song and not everyone can soar like Colm Wilkinson. ;)
Oh yeah, that was a nice touch, too - Colm Wilkinson as the bishop. My mum and I had to explain, respectively, to David and Paul why we were sniggering at that bit. :)
I also enjoyed that they didn't just cast well-known faces in all the roles, so Marius, Eponine, Enjolras, etc were relative unknowns. Amanda Seyfried was a passable Cosette and did at least have the requisite upper register (and again - it's really bloody high). Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham-Carter - as expected - were hilarious and awesome, though his French accent was offputting. I always find much of the comedy of "Master of the House" comes from the silly Cockney accents, though I can see what they were trying to do with it. I really really want to watch the 25th anniversary DVD now so I can see Matt Lucas's interpretation (but first I have to inflict the 10th anniversary video on Paul. :P)
Gavroche was perfectly cast, as was young Cosette. Very talented kids, both. I would have preferred Enjolras and Marius to have been cast the opposite way around, but only because I picture Marius with curly hair - I suppose you have Michael Ball to blame for that. :P
Oh yeah, apparently he will be recording the original song for the purposes of the Oscar nod. The song in question didn't jar too badly, so that's something, although it reminded me of "Ever More Without You" from The Woman in White... I loved the additional orchestrations, too - the nuns chanting in the convent, for example. Orchestrations were by Anne Dudley (of The 10th Kingdom fame) so I shouldn't be surprised. :)
I need to mention Anne Hathway as Fantine. At first I was a little worried that she would be too 'fey' for the part, but she blew. me. away. AFAIK she was the only person to do their solo in ONE TAKE. I did think it very amusing that she got a massive credit for only being in about an eighth of the film, but it's entirely justified. She's the performance everyone will remember and if she doesn't get the Oscar there's something wrong with the world. In fact, "I Dreamed A Dream" wasn't even the key moment for me. Somehow I'd forgotten than when I saw the show in London, Fantine's death was one of the parts that made me cry, and then it got to that point in the film and I fell to pieces. :(
So beautiful, so painful, so perfect.
The comic relief of the next scene is a breath of fresh air after the bleakness of that scene; I think because I was STILL CRYING for most of it I didn't appreciate it as much as I normally would, though it somehow comes across much funnier on stage - perhaps because there's more scope for physical comedy, I don't know.
Predictably, the next bit to make me cry was Valjean's death - not because of the death itself, but because by this point just listening to Anne Hathaway singing was enough to break me a second time. (Also, we did a rendition of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" (the reprise at the end) in choir when I was about 14, so it was a massive nostalgia hit, too.) So basically I was crying from Fantine's ghost right up until the end credits. That song is the evil genius of finales.
I really want to buy the soundtrack but I think I might never be brave enough to listen to it, and it'll become like "Slipping Through My Fingers" in Mamma Mia - an inexplicable emotional trigger which will take me months to get over.
That's a good thing, by the way. :) If I hadn't cried in this film I would have been sorely disappointed.
Overall then: highly recommended indeed. First entry on my "fandom: les misérables" tag!
I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to go and see a three-hour long, emotionally draining musical after my Legal Assistant day - we didn't get back until midnight and today I'm exhausted. Definitely worth it, though.
I am happy to report that all the over-emotional reactions to Les Mis have been appropriately inspiring in terms of the Jonathan Creek flail. I think also I've been so bloody tired lately that my brain hasn't had room for much in the way of fandom, so maybe the emotional purge did its job. This morning, however, a little bit of something popped back into my head for the post-tags Angstfic. I need to make that story slightly longer, as currently the "Three Gamblers" tag is a few hundred words bigger and it should really be the other way around.
I want to do a 'flashback' of sorts, to go near the start of the story when Jonathan queries where the rest of Maddy's friends are, i.e. why he's the only one helping her pack. The answer is that they're all hungover from the night before (Maddy opts to go home instead of getting drunk when the evening becomes a lost cause). I had an idea for a scene set just before the carnage ensues where she's at the pub with Sheena, who asks where Jonathan is - it might even be that she asks if they still communicate at all, forcing Maddy to admit that yes, they do, then sort of... clam up. :) Obviously, Sheena would figure out immediately what she's hiding and be scarily intuitive when she finds out about the communication breakdown in the wake of the America news.
Of course, as a counterpoint to that I'd have Adam taking Jonathan out to the pub in order to distract him from the inevitable America situation, whereupon he can be just as scarily intuitive. I like counterpoints. :P
But before that I need to finish the post-ALTAF angstfic, and make it angstier somehow (it's still not heart-breaking enough). Then I need to get the extra scene written, done and dusted before Eni's birthday so can I get all of the tags printed off - a few more might happen after that for series 2, but I can slot them in later. :P
My leave date is now confirmed as 22nd February, with my new start date as 11th March, and I've sent an "unpaid leave" request through so hopefully payroll will get the hint and I won't have to argue with them later... The next month is going to be very very tight indeed, but at least March payday is exactly four weeks from February's, so with any luck the new job will make the month fly past...
Okay, I think this is long enough.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-07 03:50 pm (UTC)SO MANY THOUGHTS...
-- I caught the 25th Anniversary concert when it was up on YouTube before the bastids took it down, hence my obsession with Norm Lewis as Javert. FWIW, I loved the hell out of Matt Lucas as Thénardier, though I did not hate Sacha Baron Cohen as much as I expected to in this. I actually kind of liked what he did with the fake-French accent for the sake of the punters and the private-cockney snark, but that could just be me and my love of irony...
-- COLM YES COLM. It amuses me greatly that you had to explain to Paul "why you were sniggering at that" while I had to explain to E why I was BAWLING MY EYES OUT.
-- Your feelings on Anne Hathaway are exactly my feelings on Anne Hathaway. I was really really leery when I heard she was cast, even more leery when I heard all the hype ("...they do realise it's a five-minute part, right?")... and then I saw it and my soul broke into pieces and just. And I think my absolute favourite piece of creative license in the whole thing was moving IDAD to after Lovely Ladies. My biggest criticism of that song in the musical is that it takes place before the worst even happens, so it's like "stop whining, you have no idea how bad it's about to get". Moving it to after increases the impact A MILLION PER CENT and I burst into tears before she even started singing because YES JUST YES.
-- So so so so so glad I read the brick first, 'cause like you said, stuff like the elephant and Marius's grandfather and Éponine's death (and GAVROCHE'S FACE after) and the convent etc etc... I'm like 87% sure they'd've been lost on me if I hadn't. And I love love love love love the way it's kind of pitched itself as a halfway point between the two, realising it could never be completely true to either so picking out elements of both. Love.
-- I was not especially sold on Bring Him Home, like you said, but oh dear lord Jackman won me over with Vajlean's Soliloquy and Who Am I. You could be onto something with the age thing, because I do think his best stuff was at the beginning. Still, though, he's Hugh Jackman, and he can do no wrong in my book...
-- No comment on Empty Chairs? Really? That broke me nearly as much as IDAD did!!! His face on "forgive me" (EDIT: "don't ask me". DON'T ASK ME. I knew that...). I cannot even. Though my one highlight, I don't know if you saw the ITV special they did a few weeks ago, but there was a moment where Michael Ball was interviewing Eddie Redmayne, and they simultaneously just went "...well, Marius is a bit of a loser, isn't he?". BEST THING EVER.
I'm sure there's lots more, but I already false-start commented, so I shall leave this here...
TL;DR: I have seen it twice and cried through the whole thing both times and just perfect.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-07 04:37 pm (UTC)I was expecting Sacha Baron Cohen to be decent purely based on his role as Pirelli (not Pirella - that would give it a whole new plot!) in Sweeney Todd - he's a lot more talented than the Borat/AliG/Bruno stuff would make you believe. I am definitely expecting brilliant things from Matt Lucas, though - I saw his documentary about being in the show and he's such a massive fan I think that'll come across in his portrayal. :)
It's been SO LONG since I listened to the soundtrack that moving IDAD didn't even occur to me! But now you mention it: yes, so much more sense to put it there.
I will finish the Brick now. I'm up to the barricade stuff (post-Eponine's death) so not much further to go, it's just a slog when I'm tired and/or stuck in Fandom Mode... But yeah, I love that this movie was a halfway house between the two things, which I think is borne out of the fact that the stage musical's set is quite sparse so they had a lot to play with visually...
I completely forgot about Empty Chairs! Oddly that one didn't affect me, but I found Marius neither one thing nor the other anyway, which might be why. It did make me cry in London IIRC, though in the show I saw (it might have been restaged now) they had ghostly shadows behind him during the song - which I now realise was reflected with Fantine/Cosette earlier in the film... But hee, yes. He is a loser. Michael Ball does end up playing those roles A LOT...
Paul gets very confused when I cry in films because he doesn't know whether to be amused or concerned. :P He kept asking if I was okay and I all I could do was flap helplessly at him. Heh.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-07 05:03 pm (UTC)Hee, I mainlined all four versions of the soundtrack on a loop repeatedly for the three weeks between finishing the brick and getting to see the movie, so obviously my brain was already pretty full by the time I saw it, hence the crazy flail over moving IDAD.
And yea, the brick is a slog. I really enjoyed it myself, but then I've been working as a historian for three years, so it's right in my academic wheelhouse. Realistically, though, if asked I'd actually most likely recommend people read an abridged version. NOBODY IS THAT INTERESTED IN DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, VICTOR.
I love Empty Chairs, I think, because it's about the one moment of actual humanity we get in Marius. His character is basically... well, Raoul, but without the actually being the wronged party in anything, so Empty Chairs gives him that moment of "oh, hey, he's an actual person with feelings about stuff other than Twu Wuv with his girlfriend of two minutes and he's actually just been through something and oh look he's realising that." And there's just so so so much PTSD in Redmayne's performance, I just... augh, so much love.
LOLLLL, I think people have come to accept that with me, hysterical sobbing is just going to happen... it's more prone to incite worry if there's ~sad swelling music~ and I DON'T burst into inarticulate weeping.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-09 10:31 pm (UTC)Also yes: an abridged Les Mis would probably have helped me immensely. My 'favourite' part is when he prefaces his insanely long Napoleonic war section by saying "We cannot possibly hope to do justice to this as the history books have done" before TALKING ABOUT IT FOR 17 CHAPTERS ANYWAY. What?
Other than that I find him quite readable and occasionally amusing (and I love all the French puns!)