Skip to main content

Les Miserables-Review

After seeing this film I found it very difficult to hold back any kind of strong emotion that would make me look like less of a man, but this was too difficult to do as Les Miserables destroyed any cold-hearted side of me and made me weep like hell. This film is the sheer pinnacle of the musical genre because it entwines raw emotion with beautiful music numbers. The sets were amazing and the acting was astounding.

   The film starts off with the main character, Jean Val Jean, played by Hugh Jackman, who looks amazing in this scene as he went on an insane diet for this. Already the audience gets the idea of the kind of world the film is set in: dark and enslaved. We are also introduced to the films villain, Javert, played by Russell Crowe who proves that he can sing! The introduction of this rivalry between the two characters is the corner-stone for this entire film since it shows these two different philosophies of life fight against one-another and marks the beginning of how the hunt for Jean Val Jean slowly turns into an obsession for Javert.

   Jackman and Crowe are brilliant in their roles, along side the equally talented Anne Hathaway giving the performance of her life with the tragic character Fantine, forced to go to extreme measures to support her child, Cosette. But the person who steals the stage entirely, no matter how short her screen time is, is Samantha barks with her portrayal as Eponine, the girl who sacrifices herself for her unrequited lover Marius. Barks' song "on my own" is so heart-breaking and awe-inspiring. Even the men will want to give her a comforting hug.

The sets were amazing and gritty, as is expected in this kind of story. From the grand texture of the churches to the gritty underbelly of France like the docks and the factories. Tom Hooper seriously engages you in the story line with these beautiful sets and makes you actually believe that this is 19th century France. However, there are some scenes that the set works against the film such as some scenes in Paris where it feels like more of a stage performance than a film, although the film is based on the musical this can take the viewer out of the film and make them less engaged.

Overall this was an amazing film that will captivate and enlighten you. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I have :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Auteurship: David Fincher

The Auteur theory is that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision.  I am going to use  David Fincher as an example, because he usually has similar aspects throughout all of his films such as bleakness of a setting; several single frames that flash, low-key lighting and characters that are in the shadows so you can’t see their faces. All of these styles can be found in Fight Club (1999). In most of Fincher’s films the settings seem to have a bleak and uninteresting look to them. In Fight Club this is shown in places like the office of where Jack works, the cancer support group hall, Jack’s apartment. All of these places are just different shades of the same colour (mainly green, grey or dark orange). This is to convey a sense of misery and darkness within the storyline, which the characters are just drifting through their lives. Something that Fincher portrays beautifully in Fight Club. This is a good example of David Fincher’s position as an Au...
13 comments
Read more

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Review (No Spoilers)

The final episode in the sequel trilogy, and the overall Skywalker Saga, is finally out! Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019, J.J Abrams) will hopefully answer the questions that have been set up since the beginning of this trilogy in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, J.J Abrams) . But due to fans being displeased with this new trilogy, such as the highly negative response from fans after the previous instalment Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017, Rian Johnson)  and with the latest anthology movie Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018, Ron Howard) being a financial disaster, can this movie live up to the success of its predecessors and redeem the franchise in the eyes of fans? First Thoughts This movie is good, I liked it as a movie. The action's good, the visuals are great and the characters are fun to watch. But as a finale to the overall Skywalker Saga, it's quite disappointing. The story feels more like it's trying to make up for lost time rather than tell a good stor...
Post a Comment
Read more

Oz: The great and Powerful Review

When I first heard that this film was being made I was very skeptical. The Original film with Dorothy and the wicked witch was an important part of many people's childhood that it seemed that this prequel couldn't live up to it. But after seeing it at the cinema my skepticism was laid to rest. This film is AWESOME!!!    The film follows a similar structure narrative-wise to that of the Wizard of Oz. You start off with in Kansas where everything is in black-and-white, keeping to continuity, then you have the twister that takes the character to the land of Oz. The audience is then introduced important characters like Theodora and Evanora, we even get the journey down the yellow-brick road. The writers have brilliantly taken all these elements from the previous film and used them to create a contemporary origin to the Oz that children were introduced too in 1939.    James Franco was well cast in this role as a rude and selfish magician who w...
Post a Comment
Read more