157 minutes of wow.
A truly breathtaking film that left me in absolute awe. I loved every minute of Les Misérables and I really want to see it again (and again). There was something so real and live about it. I can list all the little (and big) things I loved about it but I’ll limit myself to three.
Tim Hooper directed the film beautifully. How he captured the raw emotion of the actors is beyond words. I was never a big fan of Anne Hathaway, but now I am. Her performance was heart breaking. Not a dry eye in the house.
Then there’s the shots. The ability to follow the characters singing in the moment while catching the right balance between light, shadow and stillness was just so inspiring. And of course, the cinematography. I loved the detail in each facial expression set against a textured backdrop, slightly off center with colours that literally popped out of the screen. The shots emphasised the moment, the talent and the emotion. They’re my favourite shots. Almost candid shots taken at an event, a stolen snapshot of how someone felt in that split second. They’re the kind of shots I aspire to take, they’re the shots that leave me wanting more.
Finding Intention 
I thought it was rubbish.Singing every line in the script is unnecessary. The lines didn’t sound like they were meant to be sung, felt very force and prevented me from being immersed in the movie. I recall one line where ‘Juan’ was sung as ‘jew-arn’ in a horrible attempt to make a line fit vaguely with the music. ridiculous.The cinematography was appalling. Every shot was a close-up of a face (with the exception of the ship in the opening scene, and the cannons being wheeled to face the barricade). That meant all the great opportunities for setting and costume were lost.The motivations of the characters were implausible. The police-guy was ridiculously single minded. Devotion to your mission is one thing, but it becomes silly at a point. Then the suicide was entirely out of character. The ‘we saw each other across a street and both fell madly in love’ was a silly way to develop a love story. Sure, have attraction and first-sight, but they have to get to know each other.The film entirely and actively ignored all the potentially interesting themes associated with the French revolution and the correlations between modern political issues. That’s just inexplicable.
Worst film since War Horse.
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