Les Miserables

Long awaited the musical stage phenomenon finally hits the big screen – and how. Fans of the stage production will have much to enjoy, cinema goers will surely be drawn to see this on stage. Producer Cameron MacIntosh and director Tom Hooper have done a fine job in creating a visual and musical feast. Innovative recording methods make the whole a far more exciting experience as the cast sing live to camera creating a great dramatic experience through song. The art department have created a feast too, the best screen musical in that sense since Oliver!

All eyes and ears of course have been on the cast and in particular on Russell Crowe. He has perhaps the toughest job with some of the shows more iconic numbers, and he does them pretty well – but sadly not as well as some of the Javerts we have heard on stage. Were it not for them we would all be hailing Crowe’s efforts as great. Anne Hathaway is stunning, acting and singing her way to an Oscar surely? Hugh Jackman returns to what he does best, to hell with werewolves, Jackman is a formidable musical theatre talent and a great straight actor too and he brings a raw physicality to the role of Jean Valjean that few have achieved on stage (I say this having seen the stage show 12 times). Samantha Barks is a moving Apennine, Eddie Redmayne a vulnerable Marius and Amanda Seyfried a winsome Cosette.

The real triumph though is that the film is a fabulously true cinematic rendering of the show. No one has seen fit to meddle with the product. Except for a reasonably good extra song for Jackman it remains true to the original staging but with the addition of sensational sets and locations and powerful close-ups not achievable on stage. At 150 minutes it’s not a minute too long and a very mixed first night audience sat in rapt silence throughout – thank heavens. I can’t wait to see it again.

Duke of York’s Picturehouse, 11 January 2012

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