Film Review | Les Miserables

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I finally got to see Les Miserables this week, I've literally been so excited to see this film since I saw the first trailer. I am a massive musical geek so of course it was at the top of my list of films to see. The reviews I'd heard were really good and all my friends who had seen it were raving about it and they were most definitely right. I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to see the film in the cinema as the cinematography was incredible and the beautiful singing sounded amazing with surround sound, I literally had shivers every time they opened their mouths. So if you haven't seen it please do so it really is brilliant and definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

I think as its a musical it only seems right to first of all comment on the singing and the songs. I love the fact that they filmed the songs live, I think it adds such depth and emotions to all the songs. I think everyone did a really good job with the songs, obviously I'm not a singing expert so I don't know how good they all were technically but to my ears all the songs sounded very good. I was pleasantly surprised when I watched it because I didn't really know the songs before seeing it, apart from On my own & I dreamed a dream because I'd sung them previously at the theater company I was in. I thought every single song was amazing, there wasn't really any that I found boring or dull, which is surprising as in musicals there is normally one or two I'm not a fan of. So the fact that I liked them all is very good in my opinion.

In terms of performance I think every actor did a wonderful job but there are a few standout performances which I'd like to mention:

Anne Hathaway - It is no surprise that she has been nominated for and won awards for her role as Fantine, I definitely felt the most emotion towards her character aka pretty much cried buckets when she was on screen. Her performance of Dreamed a dream was epic and the raw emotion in her voice was heartbreaking. The fact that she actually cut her hair for the role shows her seriousness about the character and you can definitely see that in her performance. Bravo Anne, you go girl!

Amanda Seyfried - I have always been a massive fan of Amanda and her work, but I must admit I was abit skeptical when I first heard she had been cast in the film, as I'd obviously heard her singing in Mamma Mia and so wasn't sure how she'd do in this sort of film. Bear in mind that I didn't know much about the character of Cosette prior to seeing the film. I was very very wrong I think she suits the character perfectly and in my opinion her voice was remarkable and meshed so well with the portrayal of the character.

Helena Bonham Carter & Sacha Baron Cohen - The partnership between these two was great, I know they had a more minor role in the film, but I thought that they did a really good job at lightening the mood of the film as most of you will know it is rather a depressing film but I thought the two of them really added that much needed comic relief. I've had Master of the house in my head constantly since I went to see it, so they must be doing something right.

The film as a whole was beautifully filmed and really was amazing to watch, I loved the barricade scenes as I thought the set looked really wonderful. I really think this film has been a massive success and it is definitely well deserving of all the awards its been nominated for. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so I can relive it all again, until then the soundtrack will have to do. I also now really want to see the show on the West end, as I've been told it is even better than the film which I can definitely imagine, better get saving the penny's.

What did you think of the film? Whats your favourite Les Mis song? If you've seen the show, how does it compare?

Speak Soon

Charlotte xx

(please bear in mind that this review is purely my own opinions)