Les Miserables
has been making huge splashes in the news with its star-studded cast and as a
film remake of the world’s most famous musical. Not everybody speaks French, however,
so how do we walk into the theatres this season sounding less like miserables and
more like a seasoned Les Mis fan?
Presenting: The Les
Misérables Survival Guide
Song of songs: 'I dreamed a dream by Anne Hathaway
Pronounciation guide
for the English-speaking Audience
Les
Miserables: Lay-Miz-er-ahb-le
(the ‘le’ is very short)
Les Mis:
Lay-Miz
(Nothing like short forms to help avoid a long
name prone to mispronounciation)
Jean
Valjean (Hugh Jackman): Schjon Val-schjon
(‘Jean’ sounds like something between John
and Shawn)
Javert
(Russell Crowe): Schja-Vair
(‘Schja’ sounds like something between Sch
and Ja)
Fantine
(Anne Hathaway): Faun-teen or Fon-teen
Cosette (Amanda Seyfried): Koh-zet
Marius (Eddie Redmayne): Mair-ee-us
(accent on the ‘Mair’)
Eponine (Samantha Barks):
Thenardiers (Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen):
Tay-nar-dee-A
(Accent on the last syllable)
 |
| Hilarious villians Mr & Mrs Thenardier, hugging young Cosette |
10 things to know before watching the Les Mis movie:
1. ”Les Miserables” is “sung-through,” meaning all
of the action takes place in song and the movie was true to this.
2.
Unlike other big screen adaptations of musicals,
Hooper insisted the cast sing live instead of lip-synching to prerecorded
tracks, painstakingly erasing the actors’ mics frame by frame after the
filming.
3.
For the added touch of realism, Hathaway lost 25
pounds for her role as Fantine while Jackman stopped drinking water 36 hours
before the shooting to achieve the gaunt prisoner look. Talk about sacrificing
for art.
 |
| Emaciated prisoner Valjean |
4.
‘Suddenly’ is an original composition for the
film, sung by Valjean after rescuing young Cosette from the thieving Thenardiers.
5.
‘I
dreamed a dream’, sung by Fantine and slated to win Anne Hathaway an Oscar, was also performed by Susan Boyle (on Britain’s Got Talent) and Lea Michele Feat. Idina Menzel (on
Glee) most recently.
6.
Hugh Jackman is a broadway veteran and has won a
Tony Award for his role in The Boy From Oz.
7.
Debuting in 1985 (London), the show has been
seen by more than 60 million people in 42 countries and in 21 languages.
That’s 28 years!
8.
Les Mis is the world's longest-running stage
musical because of its London production.
9.
It takes place amidst the backdrop of the Paris
Uprising of 1832.
10. Early
reviews of “Les Mis” were not ecstatic. “Watching it is rather like eating an
artichoke,” Kenneth Hurren wrote in London’s Daily Mail. “You have to go
through an awful lot to get a very little.” Michael Ball, the original Marius,
told the BBC later: “We thought we’d be looking for new jobs after the first
night.”
 |
| 5 volumes of books which will take quite a while to read, if you finish reading it. |
Les Misérables Review:
Set in the
gritty streets of Paris in the 1800s, Les Misérables served up a platter of heart
wrenching loss, noble sacrifice and tragedy on Christmas Day (or in my case,
Christmas Eve) with a side of earnestness.
For many of
us, this movie was remarkable in changing our perception of Hugh Jackman as
X-men’s claw-wielding Wolverine (not so different in circumstances if you
really think about it; ex-prisoner, heart of gold under the rough exterior) and
Anne Hathaway of recent sultry Catwoman fame. Who would have thought they could
sing? And sing, they did. The roles of Valjean and Fantine stretched these two extraordinary
actors and got them to emote like no other films had previously.
 |
| Valjean carries the dying Fantine away |
Valjean started
off as a prisoner receiving his parole notice in the rain, as the song “Look
Down” boomed in the background with a grand military style and the other prisoners
marched along. This scene does what the original play cannot in its grandeur
and scale, and sets the show for the eternal battle between Valjean and
Inspector Javert. Throughout the movie, Valjean plays the role of a reformed
man determined to make good his new life as mayor of a town and a loving,
protective father of Cosette, a role Jackman played to tear-jerking perfection.
Ill-fated
Fantine burnt brightly as a shooting star while she lasted. Hathaway’s
rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” was a showstopper as she performed it (in Anne’s
words) “not [as] an iconic song…but as this woman’s howl. It’s her processing what’s
just happened to her.” The desperation and hopelessness of Fantine’s situation
was evident as the cinema fell quiet with awe.
Inspector
Javert pursued Valjean throughout the show, a pillar of determination and an instrument
of blind justice. His suicide was a tragic moment in the show. Not able to live
with himself for letting Valjean go, his mercy towards Valjean caused him to
take his life.
 |
| Inspector Javert |
 |
| Eponine |
Three Best
Songs: I dreamed a dream (Anne Hathaway), On my Own (Samantha Barks), Castle
on a Cloud (Isabelle Allen as young Cosette)
*All pictures credit to their respective owners.
Sources:
Sources:
Update (29 Dec 12, 12.43am): Published in ST Communities with 445 retweets and 7 likes! Thank you for appreciating my work (:
ST Communities: Les Mis Survival Guide
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