Les Miserables

I watched Les Miserables the day after Christmas and also on New Year's Eve.  I was so impressed with the film and fell in love with the music!  Going into the movie, I had only been exposed to "I Dreamed a Dream" and "On My Own" from a couple of Glee episodes, and I had only seen the movie version with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush.  While I was excited to see this 2012 version, I had no expectations, and I was completely blown away by the story (the 1998 version's plot was incredibly lacking without music), the intense emotions, the themes about life, love, forgiveness, equality, honesty, passion, desire, regret, God, etc., and the beauty of the music that portrayed these themes.  I wanted to write a paper about it all!  I wanted to be 10-15 years younger, so I could pursue a career in Broadway.  I wanted to marry Marius.

These past few days, I have been talking to others who have also seen the movie but found it disappointing.  Their disappointment was disappointing to me, because I enjoyed the movie so much.  Although everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, and although they are not maliciously attacking mine, I felt a bit that their dislike belittled my taste in music/film.  Now, I know that this is not the case, so fortunately, I held my tongue and decided to think about what was upsetting me and how to interpret my feelings.  I do understand why the film may have been disappointing and somewhat unimpressive compared to the musical, but I believe that comparing the movie and stage production is unfair.  One is visually pleasing-- the other is all about musicality and vocal performance.  Compared to the musical, the movie's singing is inferior; however, the emotions that the film's actors were able to convey via facial expression and additional acting during the songs are unmatched.  It's enough that the lyrics are touching, but the fear or pain or passion in the actors' eyes (especially when the camera is inches from the actors' faces) becomes more personal and emotional than if I am merely listening to or watching the musical from afar.  Also, there are things about the movie that you just can't pull off during stage productions, such as the pouring rain and dirty, puddled streets, the disgusting sewage waste in the underground tunnels, or the extremely grand and massive scale of the ship with the stormy backdrop when the prisoners were pulling it into its docking place at the very beginning.  You cannot compare the movie's effects with that of the musical.  Similarly, you cannot and should not compare the vocal performance of the musical with that of the movie.  I did not watch the movie for the vocal abilities of the actors.  I do not listen to the original London cast's recording for their acting skills.  It is unfair to pin the two against each other, because each brings a certain magnificence that the other cannot.  It's kind of like arguing which Star Trek was best, which, by the way, is clearly the original series ;)

Still, while people will say what they like, I believe that this film will catapult a new generation into the Les Mis fandom, which is awesome.  I've been so inspired by the music and story, and I know that other will be inspired as well, which is the bigger picture anyway.  The musical is coming to Sacramento in May.  Who's coming with me??