Les Misérables- The name is in the title

Its been hyped up ever since arriving to our screens and at the top of every DVD list and shelf currently known to man, but until last night, I didn’t even know the plot of Les Misérables.My only knowledge of the story was the terrible sound of Susan Boyle’s rendition of ‘I dreamed a dream,’ which still haunts me (in the wrong way) every time I hear it.
So last night, I kicked my feet up during a sleepy Sunday night chill out and pressed play.

 

Here are my thoughts:

Singing? The whole way through? Really?

Having not ever watched, or heard of the story, I genuinely had no idea what to expect. So when the film began and I watched as lines of dirty beaten slaves hummed about their woes as they heaved a giant ship into the port; I suddenly felt a little bit cringe. To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure if there was going to be any dialogue to break up the singing in the film at all and, if that was the case, I didn’t know if I could a) follow the film’s plot or b) actually cope with two and a half hours of this. The fact that the name of each character was introduced in an operatic style voice meant that it took me ‘til half way through to actually get who they were.

A grim tale.

To be fair, I was genuinely surprised at how grim the portrayal of the unfortunate ones featuring in Les Misérables actually was. The times in, around and leading up to the French Revolution was certainly a brutal one. Don’t think I was expecting smiles and flowers, because I wasn’t, but nevertheless, the lives of those people were pretty horrific. Pulling out teeth, battering with bludgeons, chained slaves, bubbling sewage, dark docks filled with prostitutes with painted faces, drunken pick-pockets and pure misery, certainly made interesting viewing.

A far step away from my childhood favourites.

If anything, it was Anne Hathaways involvement in the film which particularly surprised me. Playing factory worker, Fantine, a young women working her fingers to the bone for the love of her daughter; Hathaway’s role was far from what I am used to seeing her do. I am a nineties kid, so Mean Girls and Clueless is right up my street. Just like Disney’s Princess Diaries, where Hathaway stars as the typical American girl whose life is transformed when she finds out she is the Princess of Genovia (just googled it and my childhood memories are crushed as I find out it is a fictional European country!) I am used to seeing her as a princess in beautiful dresses, or starring alongside Kate Hudson in Bride Wars, not blasting out ‘I dreamed a dream’ whilst lying in a gutter somewhere. For me, Hathaway’s role was the most disturbing in the film- thrown onto the streets, selling her hair for ten franks, teeth ripped out by some crazy wirey haired man; selling her body to dirty old men and eventually dying, fevered and clammy in a dingey hospital bed. I am impressed how one hell of a beautiful woman could be made to look so damn awful just for a film to be honest.

‘East Side#West Side.’

I recently discovered that Ali G is a fictional character played by Sacha Baron Cohen. I knew who Cohen was, and I knew who Ali G was, or so I thought.- 

'Any ting for my Julie.. ayeeeee.' 

Must say I am pretty disappointed that Ali G isn't real!! 

But yes… Cohen was a bit of a legend in Les Miserables. Playing the crazy deranged inn keeper, who is out for money, his own personal gain, and yep.. more money. With tangerine hair, dirty face and a wife that comes in the form of Helena Bonham Carter, his involvement made the film for me. The introductory scene for the Thenardier crooks was the highlight of the film for me, welcoming the audience to see into the secrets of their ‘one hell of a messed up pub.’ Comedy gold in its weirdest form.

So basically, this isn’t a review, or an in-depth study of Les Misérables but rather my garble on the few things that shone out for me. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. It is entertaining, informative, historical, real and completely EPIC. I came away feeling like I learnt something, if not a little exasperated. I think most of all, I came to understand and respect, the bravery, the patriotism and pure strength of the men who fought in the French Revolution.

Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!