Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 24, 2024 17:37:39 GMT -4
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 14:52:23 GMT -4
roisin54, I don't know how much you care about reading the book (and can't blame you if you don't), but if you're super interested there are abridged versions out there. I read an abridged version and do not personally feel that I am any less of a person for it, mostly because I do not need to read 200 pages of backstory on the bishop. Ha! That's exactly the part I'm hung up on, the pages and pages about the bishop and his sister. I'm sure my library has an abridged copy somewhere so I'll try that. Thanks for the tip!
|
|
boxofrocks
Blueblood
Posts: 1,769
Aug 25, 2007 11:01:39 GMT -4
|
Post by boxofrocks on Jan 2, 2013 15:57:25 GMT -4
Regarding a French version, there's one starring Gerard Depardieu as Valjean, John Malkovich as Javert, and a bunch of other European stars like Virginie Ledoyen, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Asia Argento, and Jeanne Moreau. It's on YouTube with English subtitles.
|
|
|
Post by kateln on Jan 3, 2013 21:12:35 GMT -4
roisin54, I don't know how much you care about reading the book (and can't blame you if you don't), but if you're super interested there are abridged versions out there. I read an abridged version and do not personally feel that I am any less of a person for it, mostly because I do not need to read 200 pages of backstory on the bishop. Ha! That's exactly the part I'm hung up on, the pages and pages about the bishop and his sister. I'm sure my library has an abridged copy somewhere so I'll try that. Thanks for the tip! Wait until you get to the convent Cosette was schooled at, or the 50 something pages on the flowers in the field at Waterloo. Great story, too many damn tangents!
|
|
|
Post by lpatrice on Jan 4, 2013 1:36:53 GMT -4
Just saw the film and I loved it. But I will admit, that I am now even more perplexed that Anne Hathaway is a front runner for a best supporting actress nod. I really was not that impressed with her. I loved the kid that played Gavroche (Daniel Huttleston). After seeing the movie, I finally get the appeal of Eddie Redmayne, so I guess that is a plus.
|
|
|
Post by GoldenFleece on Jan 5, 2013 17:38:26 GMT -4
I went into this movie not being a musical purist and never having seen the musical before, but Russell Crowe's voice was so distractingly bad. His vocal range seemed to amount to about five notes, which probably would've been fine to play a Thenardier, but even without really knowing the songs, it was obvious the ones for Javert were written for someone with much more of a voice than he had. I felt the same way to a lesser extent about Hugh Jackman. Great performance (and a far more likable character), but I didn't feel the songs showcased his voice as well as I have heard it on other occasions (hosting the Oscars/Tonys, the clips I've seen of him in Oklahoma). I've never had a problem with movie actors in musicals but most other musicals aren't quite so heavy on the singing, so for one like Les Mis, you really want to open the movie with the best voices in the cast...which really wasn't the case here. I was able to get into the movie more as the singing improved. I don't really want only stage actors to be considered for movie musicals because that can bring its own set of problems (some of them don't know how to turn off "projecting" to the back of the room and it looks so over the top on film) but I don't know, I really don't think a Les Mis movie needed Russell Crowe's star power in order to be a big hit. I guess he was far too big an ac-tor to get shown the door before filming began a la Taylor Swift *allegedly*.
|
|
|
Post by forever1267 on Jan 5, 2013 20:26:06 GMT -4
The music was lovely. The directing was distracting. So many close close-ups! And establishing shots are a good thing! I still don't get the plot (all this over a loaf of bread!) Jackman and Hathaway and Redmayne very good. Cohen and Carter very funny. Javert, just admit you're in love with Valjean and you'll be happier! Does no one learn anything from Epotine?
|
|
|
Post by bklynred on Jan 5, 2013 22:22:34 GMT -4
LOL it does seem like a tad much over bread. Crowe didn't even seem that passionate about the chase, just determined. He was the June Revolution Terminator with one, passionless objective: Kill Jackman.
I wonder what the others thought of Crowe's singing.
|
|
boxofrocks
Blueblood
Posts: 1,769
Aug 25, 2007 11:01:39 GMT -4
|
Post by boxofrocks on Jan 7, 2013 3:08:12 GMT -4
Well, five years for the bread (admittedly an egregious amount compared to the offense), the remaining 14 for escape attempts. Valjean, in Javert's mind, isn't just a petty thief, but someone who doesn't pay his debts to society as mandated by law.
In the book, Valjean commits a second theft even after the Bishop covers Valjean's theft of the Bishop's property. It's only after this second theft does Valjean repent and change his ways. Valjean's a repeat offender after release in the book, which doesn't make a sympathetic character in a musical. (Safe to say that about a lot of the characters, actually.)
|
|
WestEndGirl
Landed Gentry
Posts: 978
Mar 14, 2005 22:12:17 GMT -4
|
Post by WestEndGirl on Jan 13, 2013 18:03:53 GMT -4
But I will admit, that I am now even more perplexed that Anne Hathaway is a front runner for a best supporting actress nod. I really was not that impressed with her. I agree. I saw it today with my mother and while I admit I can't stand Hathaway, I'd heard such great things about her performance here that I went into it with an open mind. I thought she did a good job but I didn't find it to be a show-stopper. Mainly because her accent (why did she have an accent??) was distracting, along with her over-acting tics that I've seen her use before. I turned to my mom and one point and was like, "when does she die, already??" I thought Samantha Barks' performance was more impressive.
|
|
|
Post by clementine74 on Jan 13, 2013 18:44:32 GMT -4
I thought they all over-acted, and that's what kept it from being truly moving, for me.
If they all had just turned it down a notch, were a little more subtle, I think it would have worked much better. It's already a MUSICAL, for christ's sake. But that also could have been the direction , with the camera all up in their shizz.
|
|