DVD Movie Review: "Les Miserables"

"Les Miserables" the epic novel from Victor Hugo is a tale of morality, right and wrong, sin and penance, redemption, fate, greed, compassion and other components that stir the human soul. The movie is based on Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg’s operatic stage adaptation. The movie, directed by Tom Hooper, is the retelling of the stage musical. But it seems that Mr. Hooper lost his far sighted glasses during the production because what he has made is a two hour and thirty-eight minute YouTube video.

The number one job of a film director is to tell a story that stimulates emotion from an audience whether it be a comedy, musical, drama, thriller or horror. The director must light an emotional fuse within each scene that carries the audience through the movie. This includes the development of the characters and their connection with each other in a way that moves the plot forward. The major discrepancy with Mr. Hooper’s movie is that every scene is done in a close-up. A close-up should be used as a tool to extract a certain emotion such as surprise or anger but for it to be used effectively it must be used sparingly. And when it is continually used the audience misses the connection between characters as well as a sense of mood and place since we are up close in a character’s face. This tactic dulls an emotional and epic story.

If there is any story that should bring out the craftsmanship in a director "Les Miserables" is it. It is the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) who is released from prison after nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread. He has the plague-like status of a parolee which keeps him from being hired. He finds shelter in a chapel run by the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson- the original Jean Valjean from the stage). Loathed to go back out into the world with nothing he steals the bishop’s silver but is caught. The authorities bring him back to the bishop to verify that it was his silver which was stolen. In an act of kindness the bishop informs the authorities that he gave Valjean the silver and adds more to the loot. Valjean is deeply moved by the bishop’s response and makes a promise to God to do good deeds for others and to live an honest life with his new found wealth. In accepting his new life he breaks parole setting loose Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) who vows to bring him back to justice. Javert is a man who is incorruptible as an officer of the law which makes him a good man unless he is unable to see that some parts of the law might be unjust. Fantine (Anne Hathaway) is wrongly dismissed from her job in a factory owned by Valjean. Her only means of supporting her daughter, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried, young Cosette- Isabelle Allen), afterwards is through prostitution. Valjean discovers the wrong that forced Fantine out into the streets and he adopts Cosette as his own daughter when Fantine dies.

The movie starts out strong enough with a great visual of prisoners doing slave work by pulling in a damaged battleship onto a dry dock. The action takes place in an impressive digitally reimaging of nineteenth century Paris. But after the introduction we are only able to catch glimpses of the city in between all of the close-ups. It would seem that if a production was going to spend its time and money recreating in minute detail a place that plays an important part of the story they would show it. Emotional moments are continually lost throughout the film from the continual use of head shots. When Fantine informs Valjean that she fell into prostitution due to his factory kicking her out into the streets the news fills him with guilt and alters his destiny. But cutting from one face to another we are robbed of watching two wonderful actors play off of each other during a devastating scene. During certain songs Mr. Hooper gets it right when he does a nice job of framing his actors so they have an opportunity to deliver the full emotional impact of a song. He does this with Ms. Hathaway when she sings "I Dreamed a Dream." He puts her off center against a white back drop. It is beautiful to watch. The only problem is that we’ve seen Ms. Hathaway and the rest of the cast members in close-ups before the scene and he has them in close-ups after the scene so the impact is flat.

The lack of emotional weight brought by continual close-ups lends the first half of the film a redundancy that doesn’t go away until the second half begins with a young group of rebels. As young rebels are wont to do they are enthusiastic about condemning the old guard while crying out for revolution in the name of justice and thank goodness for that as they appear just in time to give the movie a must needed shot of adrenaline. The rebels almost dare Mr. Hooper to use his close-up technique on them and he makes the attempt but the group’s infectious enthusiasm cannot be confined to one head shot. The group is led by the actor Eddie Redmayne who has an affair with the camera while his singing turns any song into electricity. The actress Samantha Barks makes her debut here and it’s a shame that musicals aren’t as prevalent as they once were. If they were Ms. Barks, who presents a striking figure on film and whose voice is angelic, would have laid the first brick toward building her legacy.

Others, whose legacies are all ready well establish, do their best but are ill-served by Mr. Hooper’s filming technique. Mr. Jackman carries the film. He is the right Valjean. Ms. Hathaway is multi-talented and is proving her acting prowess can cover anything whether action, drama or comedy. Mr. Crowe is a great actor but miscast as Inspector Javert. The Javert character is a good man who is dedicated to his job and the law; dedicated so much so that he does not see any room for compromise. Mr. Crowe, whether by his choice or Mr. Hooper’s, turns Javert into a brooding avenger instead of a man devoted to God and righteousness who discovers that his mission in life was wrong and cannot handle the burden of that mistake so he ends it.

The story has many emotional layers to it and the songs are important emotional blocks to the piece but when Mr. Hooper fails to show his characters together so we can see what effect they have upon each other he leaves the scenes emotionless. "Les Miserables" is a classic tale of human foibles as well as human triumph but the biggest foible is the director’s filming technique.

Directed by Tom Hooper; written by William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer; based on the novel by Victor Hugo and the stage musical by Mr. Boublil and Mr. Schönberg; music by Mr. Schönberg; lyrics by Mr. Kretzmer; director of photography, Danny Cohen; edited by Melanie Ann Oliver and Chris Dickens; production design by Eve Stewart; costumes by Paco Delgado; produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 2 hours 37 minutes.

WITH: Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette), Eddie Redmayne (Marius), Samantha Barks (Éponine), Helena Bonham Carter (Madame Thénardier) and Sacha Baron Cohen (Thénardier).