Les Miserables (2012)

Artwork for Theatrical Release

By now you've made up your mind on this film, and let's face it, without a single spoken word or utterance, it's a hard sell to anyone but the most diehard fans of musicals or the stage version proper.  But not watching this film would be an absolute mistake, even for the most casual of film fans.

The much mentioned live singing (sometimes with anachronistic errors to boot) is phenomenal, and lends a raw sense to the acting, even if that means the audience has to get used to less than stellar singing, but that's the point.  This musical is closer to Hair (1979) and Cabaret (1972) in logic and aesthetic than to Moulin Rouge (2001) which covers approximately the same geographic space, even if 30 years later.  It's supposed to feel like a dramatic film that happens to be put to music.

That same raw aesthetic though, tricks the camera work into the tightest of corners.  Requesting that it work in an ever more quickened pace, sometimes forcing it to assimilate to the selfsame mistakes that culminate on some of the flaws of the film, regardless of whether you liked them or not.  Case in point, the focus seems to be a problem during some of the closeups, to the point of being a nuisance, and it doesn't appear to be a stylistic choice, which is a shame for a film that uses the close-up so much, ridiculously so.  But in the raw unnerving nature of the scenes you don't really care to question it, and maybe that apropos act is the point.

The singing is good, and some of it, specially Anne Hathaway, is phenomenal.  Full of coarse, gut clenching emotions that heighten the narrative and tugs at heart strings that were not there before.  Particularly with Ms Hathaway and the very humanized Hugh Jackman, the acting/singing has a quality that rips you past their celebrity clad status to the point of sympathetic projectionism, and that's the most vulnerable of all those plucked strings.

Artwork for Theatrical Release

Apart from the over-use of the close-up the cinematography is spotless, and let's face it, with a musical staged in such a grandiose place as revolutionized Paris, one would expect alot more of an epic feel, but the film here feels more like a introspective experience, and less so an overt musical.  But again, I think that's the point, regardless of whether you like it or not.

The color palette, the least resigned of the cinematography, is beautiful, and appropriately gloomy, taking the gloom and doom of a Burton film, and adding the muted colors of the French Revolution.  The pale blues and yellows of the iconic forget-me-nots and the red of the blood to be spilled are ever present and automatically place the film in its proper context, even if the audience can't exactly ascertain the motives.

If you're a fan of Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, musicals, or Oscar bait, than buy this film on Blu-ray, it's worth the extensive analysis. 

If you're just a casual fan, or don't want to miss out on future cultural references, than rent this out if you can manage to get your hands on a copy in a timely fashion. 

Either way, whatever you do, try to avoid any online streaming method, it's really not worth the compression issues and the digitized packets of the dark aspects.