![]() ![]() Every generation has their retelling of it. Maybe I was spared the disappointment felt by fans and maybe I was able to be less cynical that the staunchest critics, but it all came out fine and I'm happy to share my thoughts.įans and non-fans likely know the melodramatic story all too well. ![]() Why can't you just judge the two separately? In the end, when I finally bit the bullet to see it, I found that my open mentality to judge Les Miserables as its own creation and not as a comparison to the stage helped me appreciate it immensely more. No matter if they were positive or negative comparisons, I found them unfair. Upon its Christmas release, all I read were criticisms comparing the film to the musical. I knew the Victor Hugo story, but I've never seen the Broadway show. That was my ongoing initial dread and reservation to putting in the time to Les Miserables. "Get to the point already" is what commonly comes out of my mouth far too often. I always appreciate the talent and effort to put them on, but I don't have the patience to sit through moments where singing for the sake of singing replaces frank words and simple dialogue. Few ( Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story) ever move me or gain my respect. ![]() That's exactly what you get in Hopper's Les Miserables. #FILM LES MISERABLES FULL MOVIE MOVIE#Simply put, I'd rather see a movie with professional actors doing their best to sing than world class singers that can't act to a high enough level. More emotion and more convincing are needed, because the performers in a film can't hide behind a good singing voice (heaven forbid it's dubbed too). On the contrary, in a movie, in my opinion, more real acting is involved because the camera is on them and right up close. Other than inflection in song, you don't get the full emotional range of performance from your seated distance in a theater. Maybe I'm selling them a little short (remember, I'm not a fan), but actors and performers on stage have to merely put on their costumes, hit their marks on stage, and sing their hearts out to match the voice range required for the role. No matter what, no movie musical will ever be like the stage musical. ![]() Musicals and plays are a completely different art form, production, and process than what you see in a film. I'll go back to the same argument for the book readers. If a film treatment dares to change things or behave even just a little differently than their impossible expectations, you've lost the fans. Like book readers, Broadway fans have a very well-crafted and specific preordained vision built, with high expectations, for any movie that is based on a popular musical or play. You would think someone pissed on hallowed ground. This has entirely become apparent for me with the recent release of Oscar-winning director Tom Hopper's Les Miserables film adaptation. I have now found a second section of the movie-going audience that has the same problem as book readers: Broadway and musical fans. They are completely different mediums, different experiences, and have different mechanics and goals. As I often state, no movie will ever be like the book, ever. I just went through this with Jack Reacher and how Tom Cruise couldn't be more opposite to the description of the title character from the page. I get in arguments all the time on this site with my movie reviews with those members of the audience that read the book versus those, like me, that didn't or don't care to read the book before the movie. ![]()
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