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It is a classic novel, a hit musical, and every ten years or
so, it is made into movie. “Les Miserables” has been made, remade, done,
redone, adapted and readapted. People just keep going back to the well. This is
neither surprising nor unfortunate, though. “Les Miserables” is, after all, one
of the best stories ever told.
So the challenge, at least as I see it, for director Tom
Hooper in remaking “Les Miserables” is, first, to not mess up one of the best
stories ever told and, second, to add something—to do something that has not
been done before, to bring new life to the story. The challenge is to give us a
reason to want to see this particular
version of “Les Miserables”.
The story is familiar. Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is imprisoned
for a petty crime, and his terrible experiences in prison turn him into the
criminal he was assumed to be.
But then an uncommon act of mercy furnishes Valjean with a
second chance. Valjean reforms. He takes on a whole new identity and character.
He repays the kindness and mercy that was once shown to him by helping others,
including poor Fantine (Anne Hathaway) and her daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen
and Amanda Seyfried).
The only problem is that Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), a
tireless and unyielding enforcer of the law, is after Valjean. Valjean just
wants to live his life in peace, but Javert will stop at nothing to see that
the strict letter of the law is obeyed and Valjean is back in prison for
breaking parole.
Oh yeah, and meanwhile, a revolution breaks out in Paris,
Cosette falls in love with a rebel—Marius (Eddie Redmayne)—and Valjean tries desperately
to dodge Javert while holding together the various shards of his life.
There is a lot to work with here. There is a lot of water in
this well. So does this version of “Les Miserables” find it? Does it shed new
light on a particular character—perhaps one that as been overlooked? Or does it
bring new life to the rich and powerful themes found in the book? Or at least do
we, the audience, get bowled over by knockout vocal performances?
Unfortunately, I think the answer to each of these questions
is mostly “No”. Some of the songs are well sung, but others are not. Some of
the themes about redemption, mercy, love, and the law are detectible, but I never
got the feeling that this is what the
movie is about. Too much of the movie is about Hugh Jackman’s face and
voice, Anne Hathaway’s face and voice, and Russell Crowe’s face. And that means
that not enough of the movie is about Jean Valjean, Fantine, Javert, and the
themes that these special characters evoke.
I should clarify my position here. I enjoyed “Les
Miserables”. Of course I did. It’s “Les Miserables”! And it is not a bad
rendition of “Les Miserables” either. However, this movie does face certain
difficulties because it is a remake of the Broadway musical. You see, with live
theater, there is a certain connection between the characters and the audience.
The characters—Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Javert, Marius, etc.—are right there. They are there, in the
flesh, singing, moving, dancing, and acting. So you somehow know the characters
on the stage.
You lose that connection when the characters are projected
on a screen. That, of course, does not mean that an audience cannot feel a
connection with characters in a movie. It just means that filmmakers have to
avail themselves of other techniques and devices in order to establish the
connection. And I think that it is very difficult to make use of some of those
techniques when the script was written for the stage, when the plot is
structured around a series of songs and, to be honest, when the actors are
singing all the time.
The result is a merely decent version of a great story. If
you are like me, you will enjoy “Les Miserables”, but when you feel that itch
to revisit this story, you will return to a different telling of it.
