Les Miserables (December 14, 2012)

[Gokulo]

Your post just reminded me of when I saw that picture and I had to post it ;x

[Aksannyi]

I saw it a second time on Saturday night. Believe it or not, I've never seen a stage production of the show. I knew I would love it because I loved the story and anything musical just tickles me quite honestly, but I didn't know a lot of the songs so I went in with an open mind and just let myself enjoy them.

The second time I really was able to experience it better because when I got home after the first time I saw it, I watched a shit ton of videos on YouTube and learned a lot of the songs.

I still cried though.

[Seraph]

Saw it on Saturday. It was pretty good. There were a few things I had issues with though. Two things really: despite the fact they cut what I think is a ton of stuff from the book, it still felt like the movie was dragging on at times which kept snapping me out of the experience (I thought the singing would do that, but it didn't). Also, for some reason, I felt like they kept making Russel Crowe sing outside his comfortable range. When he was lower, it seemed fine, when he started getting higher pitched, it started getting worse. Everything else was pretty well done though. Easily passed the no cry challenge, simply from having read the book a long time ago, so I knew roughly when the wham scenes were coming.

[noblemountain]

There are 5 books, they had to cut a TON to make it a musical. They did a good job transferring it to screen without losing much at all though. The book -> musical they obviously had to cut a ton though. I will just go ahead and assume most people only read the abridged version of Les Mis, which is just one book with 5 "parts"...so you've already read the condensed version. This story has been condensed multiple times to make it viable for anything. People did get paid by the word back then. lol I had to read all 5 books in high school, then the condensed version, and then write a paper on the differences. It was torture.

[Andalusian girls]

i think it's one of the greatest things ever written and the main problem i have with the musical is that they it dispensed with all his subtlety + nuance and ignored Hugo's societal themes almost entirely in favor of his melodrama

i understand you have to cut a ton out, my translation clocks in at 1200+ pages, but when they climactic barricade scene goes from republican revolutionary students who were assailing the lack of universal compulsory education and lack of a social safety net while standing in fierce opposition to the Bourbon resoration (who were only joined by the Bonapartist(!) Marius because of his suicidal depression) to LOOK, beautiful young men who are the best of friends singing about generic liberties and freedoms, you lose a lot. you lose everything except the contrived appeal to emotion

[noblemountain]

I agree with everything you said, but the musical is more about Valjean's life and struggle than it is about the themes that Hugo wrote. I think the musical captures the revolutionaries intentions better than the movie did, but still doesn't touch a lot on the political struggle besides poor and oppressed vs rich and entitled which is a pretty universal theme that is timeless.

[Laugana]

Easily passed the no cry challenge, simply from having read the book a long time ago, so I knew roughly when the wham scenes were coming.

I think even if you've read the book(s)* you'd still be hard pressed not to cry because of the emotions of the actors either on screen or on stage. I haven't seen the cinema version yet, but just the clips of Anne Hathaway are a guarantee for me that I will cry.

*I read the book many years ago in secondary school and I recall there being just one book, not five...

[noblemountain]

I think even if you've read the book(s)* you'd still be hard pressed not to cry because of the emotions of the actors either on screen or on stage. I haven't seen the cinema version yet, but just the clips of Anne Hathaway are a guarantee for me that I will cry.

*I read the book many years ago in secondary school and I recall there being just one book, not five...

Almost everyone reads the abridged version. It isn't 5 separate novels per say, but 5 volumes of the same novel. It is one of if not the longest novel ever written.

Volume I – Fantine
Volume II – Cosette
Volume III – Marius
Volume IV – The Idyll in the Rue Plumet and the Epic in the Rue St. Denis
Volume V – Jean Valjean

[kuronosan]

Perhaps the most interesting fact is that the movie adds a lot of parts from the book that the musical left out. If anything, i'd say it's more true to the source material than most other adaptations we've had.

[Eurell]

Yeah, my wife read the unabridged version and said it took her forever. She's also seen the play and the concert about 6 times, so she kept pointing out all the differences throughout the movie lol. I kept looking over at her to see if she was crying, but she noticed and held them back because she's stubborn as shit lol.

This was my first time seeing it (aside from hearing her sing these songs in the shower and seeing bits and pieces of the concert) but I got her tickets to see the musical this March. Looking forward to it.

[noblemountain]

It's a great show, I recommend anyone who hasn't seen it live to check it out. The barricade scene is beyond amazing live.

[Aksannyi]

It's actually on my list of things to see if it comes around.

Spoilers for some discussion about the social unrest and stuff, not sure if any of this is spoiler-worthy so I went for safe because it's my day off and I don't need a break from BG tyvm.

Spoiler: show

Also, I disagree that all of the socio-economic undertones aren't there, I'm most certain a lot was cut from a such a massive book, but look at scenes like "Look Down" (Gavroche's version) and you can tell there's social unrest, it's maybe a bit more subtle but it isn't like the students are planning their revolution because it's cool, they're genuinely unsatisfied with things - there's a line somewhere toward the end of the barricade where they realize that the people are still too scared to join in with them and fight against the power and they realize they will probably die.

Again, I'm sure it's missing a lot, but I didn't see it quite the same way as was pointed out above. You can tell that there is plenty of political unrest, you can tell that there is plenty of fear as well, watch as the men at the barricades realize they're going to lose and beg for residents nearby to let them in, and watch as the residents, previously onlookers on the whole spectacle, avert their eyes and shut their windows because they're terrified of being killed just for showing the rebels some kindness. I think it was more subtle but upon the second viewing, I saw a lot more than the first time and it's there, it's just not blatant. For the sake of a movie - which was pretty long - I think they got their point across.