Die Elenden

Das Musical ist das einzige Filmgenre, das an mir vorbeigeht (eine Ausnahme ist nur Moulin Rouge!), deshalb ist meine Bewertung sehr subjektiv. Die gesungenen Passagen überstehe ich immer als notwendiges Übel. Zum Glück nehmen sie meistens nur einen kleineren Teil der Länge ein. In diesem Film bilden sie jedoch 99 % der 160-minütigen Länge und nicht immer singen Schauspieler*innen, die das können (Crowe). Für mich ein schmerzhaftes Erlebnis, das ich nur dank der perfekten Ausstattung und der famosen Kamera ertragen konnte, welche den Film dreidimensionaler als die meisten 3D Filme wirken lässt. (13.01.2013)

After the mixed responses to Hooper’s Les Misérables from both American and Czech critics, I was convinced I would hate it with all my heart and I went to the cinema basically as an obligation. But I did well because Les Misérables enchanted and emotionally disarmed me. At the beginning my resistance was still successful, but it took about three songs for me to dive into the story, and I really enjoyed the rest of the movie. Overall, I think this musical conception was a very interesting experience: there’s filth and realism, on one side, and a display of musical performances and singing on the other… a very interesting experience. For me it’s more interesting and bolder than the over-hyped The King's Speech, I can’t reproach Tom Hooper (and before the première I though Les Misérables was a cowardly safe bet.). 9/10 (15.01.2013)

Three hours of singing about how people have a hard life or how they're not loved. The camera's ten inches from their faces and it's raining. Three hours! (26.12.2012)

A world where there is no place left for searching for mistakes or inaccuracies. Les Misérables by Hooper is filled with emotions, captivating performances, and breathtaking production to the very edge. And when I suffer with Fantine, search with Javert, or cry with Éponine, there is no defense against the resulting enthusiasm. The stunning finale resonates in every sense almost relentlessly. (24.01.2013)

Well. Not that I don't enjoy a good musical, but I’ll definitely pass this emotional close-up study of suffering faces next time. The production design is great, the actors are focused, but what good is that when... (17.03.2019)

Suffering. It is solid craftsmanship with excellent production design, where inexperienced viewers will say, “this was a truly valuable and artistic film after a long time”. The qualities are debatable, but not due to my dislike for the genre. Not even Russel Crowe and Hugh Jackman singing can save it, no matter how good they were in their roles. Throughout the film, I had the impression that if there was no singing, it would have been a considerably better experience. (27.01.2013)

Ehrlich gesagt hatte ich große Probleme damit, die letzte Stunde auszuhalten. Der letzte, "revolutionäre“ Teil war unglaublich langwierig. Dabei fing der Film gar nicht mal so schlecht an. Die ersten zwanzig Minuten habe ich mich an den Gesang gewöhnen müssen und mir abgewöhnt, gesprochenes Wort zu erwarten. Die nächste Stunde hat mir aber im Grunde genommen gefallen (toll waren vor allem Sacha Baron Cohen und Helena Bonham Carter). Hugh Jackman und Russel Crowe waren – was die Schauspielleistungen sowie den Gesang angeht – eine perfekte Wahl. Aber das Ende. Das Originalmusical kenne ich nicht. Deshalb habe ich nicht geahnt, wie lange die einzelnen Lieder dauern werden. Mit Javerts Finale kam eine echte Hölle (ich habe mir gedacht: So, jetzt! Na! Na komm! Und wieder nichts, es kam eine nächste Strophe). Und ganz am Ende wurde es in der Hölle noch heißer. Zweieinhalb. (02.11.2014)

"Les Misérables" is truly a beautiful musical, which is the main reason why it has stayed on theater stages for so long. We also have a Czech version, which I had the pleasure of seeing. I must say that I was captivated by the musical and was looking forward to the film version with an interesting cast. I had heard Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, and Amanda Seyfried sing, but I had doubts about Russell Crowe. Although my opinion of him as an actor changed after the movies "A Beautiful Mind" and "A Labyrinth of Lies," I couldn't believe that he could sing. However, I placed my trust in Tom Hooper, whose film "The King's Speech" dazzled not only me. Moreover, this is material that can be transformed into a truly magnificent spectacle. After the first few minutes, I thought that I would get exactly that kind of spectacle. The grandiose opening at the gala was truly magnificent, and I expected the rest of the film to be the same. Unfortunately, I didn't get that at all. It suddenly turned into one and a half hours of suffering, as I survived from one musical number to the next. Hugh Jackman was to blame for that. His voice didn't impress me at all, but an even bigger problem was Tom Hooper's treatment of the song "I Dreamed a Dream." Such a beautiful and emotional song was poorly filmed and poorly sung, turning it into just another piece in a flood of individual songs. The biggest mistake lay in Hooper's choice of mostly good actors who are not professional singers. It's nice that they sang it directly during filming and didn't dub the songs in the studio, but even though it shows their abilities, it also emphasizes the fact that they simply aren't singers and are weak in that regard. This applies to both women in leading roles and to Jackman. The biggest surprise was "Russell Crowe," of course, who sang his parts absolutely brilliantly. His voice is wonderfully strong. When he started singing his four lines in the song "One Day More," I got goosebumps. This song was one of the greatest experiences of the film, exactly as colossal as I imagined the whole film to be. Then it came to the barricades, and the film became more than bearable, but that simply cannot excuse the first hour and a half. Non-singers being focused on in great detail, the music being muffled or missing completely, this is not a well-thought-out move. If the actors receive any awards for this, it still ruins the overall impression of the film for me. Russell Crowe was excellent, the actors were good, but the execution was simply not handled well. Just as "Anna Karenina" was knocked down, Hooper also managed to knock down "Les Misérables." It's not bad, but damn it, it could have been so much better. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/01/tobruk-valcik-s-basirem-2-dny-v-new.html (04.03.2013)