Les Misérables 2012; [pronounced leɪ ˌmɪzəˈrɑːb (Fr)]
Back in the spring of 1995, as I was wandering around the streets of London aimlessly after the clinical examination That is the advantage of having name starting with the first alphabet. You are mostly in the first few names of the exam register, hence you sit for your practical exams first and have to wait the rest to finish theirs!
So, my partner in crime then, LSC, insisted that we should not leave London without watching at one show in the theatres there. Living on a shoestring budget, the only plausible way to purchase their ticket were from a kiosk in Soho selling last minute tickets. Of course, this is before a time when Soho (at least in UK) only meant a strip "SOuth of HOuston (Street)" which was famous for nightlife, theatres and Chinese food! The concept of Small Office Home Office was unheard then!
To me then, theatres did not excite me. I thought it would like the school dramas that they staged in school. I did not expect it to blow my mind as it did.
Due to unavailability of tickets we ended up watching 'Miss Saigon' instead of 'Les Misérables' or 'Cats'. The highlight of 'Miss Saigon' was the scene of people trying to board a helicopter. The whole theatre hall shook violently as if a helicopter was indeed on stage, with the excellent make believe stroboscopic lights and powerful acoustics to mimic the sound and sight of the rotating rotor blade of a chopper! My impression of the theatres changed forever.
18 years later, I finally got the opportunity to watch Victor Hugo's 'Les Misérables' on film.
Set in the depressing times of 1815 in Paris, two decades after the French revolution where everybody seem restless, poor and unsettled. The state appears like a open sewer and poverty is everywhere. Children are running around aimlessly with nothing to do. Against this backdrop, our hero Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is released from jail after hard labour of 19years for stealing bread to feed his starving child. The years were added on when he unsuccessfully tried to escape incarceration. His jailer, Javert (Russel Crowe) has a personal vendetta against Valjean (gaol no. 24601) and promise to bring him down.
Even as a free man, he is unable to secure a place to sleep in peace because of his checkered past. He is given shelter and food at a church, but being the thief that he has changed to be, he even steals silverware for the church. He is caught by the police but is given a lease of new life when the pastor denied any wrongdoing on Valjean's part. Valjean repents and changes his wayward ways.
Fast forward... 8years later, 1823...
Valjean jumps parole but made himself successful. He owns a factory and is a mayor of a town. One of his workers, Fontine (Anne Hathaway), is ostracized and sacked for having an illegitimate child. She sells her hair, teeth and finally her body to fend herself and her daughter who is actually treated as a child slave by the paid caretakers. After a dramatic display of emotions, Fontine dies. Even though Hathaway appears for a short segment of the film, she made an impressionable impression on its viewers. (she went on to win many awards).
Valjean goes on to adopt her daughter, Cosette, as he felt bad as Fontine was his employee. The story goes on to explore the complex emotions, turmoils that the characters go through - the relationship between adult Cosette and her adopted father, Cosette and her boyfriend (Marius), Marius and his revolutionary seeking friends and of course the duel between Valjean and Javert who is forever trying to bring him back to jail.
An excellent musical with a complex layered story with rich characters depicting a time in the past.
Set in the depressing times of 1815 in Paris, two decades after the French revolution where everybody seem restless, poor and unsettled. The state appears like a open sewer and poverty is everywhere. Children are running around aimlessly with nothing to do. Against this backdrop, our hero Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is released from jail after hard labour of 19years for stealing bread to feed his starving child. The years were added on when he unsuccessfully tried to escape incarceration. His jailer, Javert (Russel Crowe) has a personal vendetta against Valjean (gaol no. 24601) and promise to bring him down.
Even as a free man, he is unable to secure a place to sleep in peace because of his checkered past. He is given shelter and food at a church, but being the thief that he has changed to be, he even steals silverware for the church. He is caught by the police but is given a lease of new life when the pastor denied any wrongdoing on Valjean's part. Valjean repents and changes his wayward ways.
Fast forward... 8years later, 1823...
Valjean goes on to adopt her daughter, Cosette, as he felt bad as Fontine was his employee. The story goes on to explore the complex emotions, turmoils that the characters go through - the relationship between adult Cosette and her adopted father, Cosette and her boyfriend (Marius), Marius and his revolutionary seeking friends and of course the duel between Valjean and Javert who is forever trying to bring him back to jail.
An excellent musical with a complex layered story with rich characters depicting a time in the past.
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