Les Misérables Press Screening

You can probably guess from the title why I missed my usual schedule of posting today. Yesterday, I went to the press screening of Les Misérables in my country. Most of you will be doubling back, wondering 'Wasn't Les Mis ages ago?'

Yes, yes it was. But because of a little something called the Metro Manila Film Festival, its screening was delayed in the Philippines. Owell, you win some you lose some. I hear that Fast and Furious 6's Asia Premiere will be in the Philippines with some of the cast including Vin Diesel coming to visit, so I guess we make up for it with that. The irony is, there isn't much room to be 'Fast and Furious' here in the Philippines because of all the traffic x_x. But I digress.

I was originally invited to be at the January 9 screening, which was unfortunately cancelled and postponed to yesterday, January 15.

For all the hustle and bustle however, I'm pretty sure it goes without saying that Les Misérables is well worth the wait.

The event itself lacked the grandeur of the first planned advanced screening, but retained the respectable aura befitting of a movie that just won big at the Golden Globe Awards -- Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), Best Actor (Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy): Hugh Jackman Best Supporting Actress Motion Picture: Anne Hathaway.

I of course, chose to dress myself a little fancy for the occasion, being the mini-attention crave that I am LOL. But on a rather sad note on my part, I forgot to bring a battery pack for my camera, thus the lack of decent photos. *cringe* Bad photo quality. You can see more coverage of the event at http://www.wazupphilippines.com/ in the future.

Being an avid fan of the musical, and having followed the casting and progression of the motion picture after the announcements of release, I can confidently say that the film itself did justice to the emotion and historical backdrop of the circumstances the musical revolves around. You can expect iconic renditions of all the fan favorites -  'I Dreamed a Dream', 'Stars', 'Who Am I?', 'A Heart Full of Love', 'On My Own', 'One Day More' and 'Do you Hear the People Sing?'

My personal favorites from the musical itself are the songs 'At the End of the Day', 'A Little Fall of Rain', 'Red and Black', and Gavroche's 'Little People' which all have wonderful renditions in the movie. Can I just lend a special mention to the little boy they cast as Gavroche? What a charismatic young lad he is and his part in the tale is thoroughly heart-wrenching.

Speaking of casting, the all-star line up is no secret from the movie posters released - including big shots with known musical background like Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway as Jean Valjean and Fantine respectively, who earned their Golden Globe Awards with their heart-wrenching performances.

You've probably also seen Amanda Seyfried (Cosette) in her role in Mama Mia! and Russell Crowe (Javert) in his more iconic role in the Gladiator. They both have their strengths and weaknesses and while I maintain that Amanda Seyfried is a mediocre singer at best, she more than makes up for it with her on-screen presence. Russel Crowe, on the other hand, has been receiving mixed reviews in his rather different portrayal of the supposedly vindictive inspector. Some have complained of the softness of his portrayal of the role, but once you've learned to accept that Crowe is no Geoffrey Rush, you start to feel for the character, however emotionless his singing may be.

A big round of applause also to Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen to bringing a whole new side to the Thenardiers I never thought existed. Part comedic relief and part social commentary, these two know how to play the eccentric Inn Keeper and his wife to the tee and their colorful rendition of Master of the House will always strike me as one of the best setups in the movie.

The total scene stealers who I'd wish would get more recognition however, are Samantha Barks, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit and Daniel Huttlestone who play Eponine, Marius, Enjolras and Gavroche respectively. Despite not being big-named players in the movie industry, these guys showed true theatrical prowess in their powerful portrayals of the key players in the musical revolution.

For those who are not familiar with the book, the play, the musical and previous films on Les Miserables, the film adapts the strengths of all in its theatricality balanced well with good cinematography and musical arrangement. Almost all the singing in the movie was done on-set so the raw emotions of the actors and actresses can be felt through the screen. A testimony of which were the number of grown men crying audibly in the theater throughout the movie.

One happy addition that you can look forward to is the added action and confrontation to the film, that you would not usually get in the musical adaptation due tot he strain of singing during fight scenes. But do be warned, prepare yourself for inordinate amount of close-up shots during solo musical pieces. While most would find one-take closeups boring, I commend the fact that it does not take away from the meaning and emotion behind each song and instead helps you focus on each character's inner turmoil and dialogue.

A lot of key climactic build-up points which were conveyed musically were replaced with cinematic segues but all were done with class and with little left to want. Some of the build-ups I wish they could have included however are the lead-up to 'A Little Fall of Rain' and Gavroche's scrambling for ammunition. These build-ups would have done wonders for these characters' role in the greater scheme of things.

All in all, be prepared to cry as the 2012 Film Adaptation of Les Misérables is sure to be one of those films you'll remember for the rest of the year.

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!

movie stills from google images