Year: 2012
Director: Tom Hooper
Country: U.S
Language: English
2012 was a great year for film. Searching for Sugarman and How to Survive a Plague were monumental documentaries that inspire the soul. Life of Pi is sure to be a classic that will stand the test of time. Unfortunately 2012 also released its share of terrible films. Perhaps the worst film of the year should be credited to Tom Hooper's Les Miserables. One would think an Oscar Winning Director would be able to make a coherent musical, but you would be wrong.
The plot revolves around Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), known as Prisoner 24601, is released from prison and breaks parole to create a new life for himself while evading the grip of the persistent Inspector Javert (Russel Crowe). Set in post-revolutionary France, the story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion.
Strangely this film was highly praised, it even received a nomination for "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards. Needless to say this definitely lowers the bar for what is considered a "great" picture, because anybody who finds this film anything above "sub-par" is either deaf, blind or completely ignorant in regards to the history of musicals. First off, there are far too many close-ups. This does not give the actor's voice any projection, therefore it feels as if they are shouting at us. The tone of the musical should not be expressed just through facial expression, but dance, lighting, set design and placement throughout the scenes. Almost every Director who has ever made a musical is competent enough to know this, which is why films like West Side Story have very few closeups.
Secondly, the singing was completely awful. Not only did every song sound the exact same, but a lot of the actors weren't even good. When your budget is $61,000,000 why not hire professional & renowned singers? It seems like a waste to give roles to Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter, Amanda Seyfried and Sacha Baron Cohen. Famed critic Roger Ebert said that "It's hard to make a period picture come alive. Les Miserables only made me feel transported back to high school history class." I agree with him, not only were some characters & subplots absolutely ridiculous and contrived, but the film didn't get me lost in the world of post revolutionary France.
In conclusion, though I have not read the novel, this poor musical adaptation already feels like a bastardization of Victor Hugo's work. One positive thing I can say about the film is that Anne Hathaway gave a magnificent performance, however I ultimately did not care for her character. Les Miserables is a dreadfully long film that will do nothing but make film-goer's absolutely miserable. Piss on it! 1/5
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