Les Miserables: One Thread More!

[danoyse]

I thought Crowe was fine, and comments I've seen on imdb claiming they covered their ears when he sang really strike me as the reviewers being drama queens.

No, he isn't David Bowie (or whoever you consider a talented singer), and he wouldn't work well onstage IMO, but I think for the movie (which some people can't grasp is a different medium), Crowe was fine.

It's his rep. Especially a few years ago when it seemed he was always causing trouble somewhere. I remember seeing Master and Commander in the theater with my dad, and realizing I had almost forgotten what a freaking incredible actor he is.

People weren't going to take him seriously from the moment they heard he was cast. It's really ridiculous.

There's a great moment in the movie that my mom noticed, when Javert is riding through the sick beggars at the beginning of "At The End of the Day" when just as he gets through the tunnel, he looks back at one of them like he's afraid of them. Just for a second, and he doesn't stop or anything, but there's this total look of fear. And that totally fits with his character. Javert believes that he follows the law, follows the rules, and he won't end up like those people. He needs to be on this one righteous path, and he thinks that there's no other way to go.

I saw it the other times I saw the movie after my mom mentioned it, and it's really a great shot.

 

[ComicChick]

Les Miserables 25th anniversary is on PBS right now if you have the channel peeps

 

[ComicChick]

The Stage to Screen book is awesome!

link online anywhere?

edit: found it on amazon

 

[danoyse]

My PBS channel is showing a tribute to 60s pop music right now...

...but X-Men First Class is on HBO right now. t:

 

[ComicChick]

2nd act is about to start!

samantha barks is amazing.

les mis is coming here next month and i terribly want to go

 

[danoyse]

Go! It's sooo amazing on stage.

We don't get it back on Broadway again until next year. But I'm seeing Matilda next month, so I'll get to see someone from the movie - Bertie Carvel, he played the jerk who got Fantine arrested in the movie, and he's playing Miss Trunchbull in Matilida.

 

[AnneFan]

Screen to Stage is ordered. Looking forward to it arriving now. It's always nice to have something to look forward to.

I'm currently looking for this lovely photo shoot in higher definition. No luck so far but I'm not giving up. They'd make amazing post cards, full size posters, you name it!

 

[narrows101]

I read the sections on the movie first, make sure you look at ALL the pullouts in the book. The "call sheet" in the movie section is fascinating! And there are also a few gorgeous posters. It's fascinating reading how the movie came together! The whole story on how Russell got cast is in there, and they did originally think of Hugh for Javert - Mackintosh had apparently asked Hugh for years to do Javert on stage but the timing never worked out.

It was amazing to me reading the Russell's timeline to get the role, considering I think most of us thought Paul Bettany was being cast and when it was Crowe, a lot of us where like "what????" His name I don't think was ever in the rumor mix but his road to get the role took a long time!

 

[sueb1863]

I recall that both Crowe and Bettany were discussed, and then Bettany was announced as having gotten the part by a few sources before it finally went to Crowe.

I still have never seen one shred of evidence that Bettany can sing any better than Crowe, despite some anti-Crowe people insisting that Bettany has a fantastic voice. The common feeling among the anti-Crowe group seems to be that Hooper wanted Bettany but the studio forced him to cast Crowe. Or Crowe somehow forced them to cast him, depending on who you ask.

 

[narrows101]

I recall that both Crowe and Bettany were discussed, and then Bettany was announced as having gotten the part by a few sources before it finally went to Crowe.

I still have never seen one shred of evidence that Bettany can sing any better than Crowe, despite some anti-Crowe people insisting that Bettany has a fantastic voice. The common feeling among the anti-Crowe group seems to be that Hooper wanted Bettany but the studio forced him to cast Crowe. Or Crowe somehow forced them to cast him, depending on who you ask.

There's a whole 1.5 pages dedicated to how Crowe got the role. He saw the stage show and he wasn't convinced he was the right man to play Javert. Quoting: "A walk in a London park with director Tom Hooper changed everything. 'After I had seen the show, I was thinking, 'it's not for me.' I was thinking of the politest way to bow out. As much as I loved it I just felt that it wasn't for me. Tom and I went for a walk in Hyde Park and we started breaking the character down and we talked in depth about how he would approach the film. I was engaged intelectually and it became important to me. And it's funny, because then it switches - from them pursuing you for the role, you are now pursuing the part. I really wanted to do it." Then after the initial meetings and with Mackintosh and the composers they agreed to meet again for a formal audition later in the year. His songs were "Confrontation" and "Stars." His audition was September 2011. Fascinating stuff.

 

[Ultimatehero]

I actually liked his scenes a lot. I think it had to do with his acting and emotion he put behind it which was great.

 

[Schlosser85]

I recall that both Crowe and Bettany were discussed, and then Bettany was announced as having gotten the part by a few sources before it finally went to Crowe.

I still have never seen one shred of evidence that Bettany can sing any better than Crowe, despite some anti-Crowe people insisting that Bettany has a fantastic voice. The common feeling among the anti-Crowe group seems to be that Hooper wanted Bettany but the studio forced him to cast Crowe. Or Crowe somehow forced them to cast him, depending on who you ask.

Has Bettany ever sang onscreen?

 

[sueb1863]

Not to my knowledge. There are a couple of posters over at the IMDb message board who insist Bettany has a great voice but conveniently enough there doesn't seem to be any footage anywhere of him singing.

 

[ComicChick]

Amazon.uk will be releasing a beautiful digibook blu ray of the film in May. I needs it!

 

[narrows101]

Alfie Boe interview - not sure an unknown opera singer in the movie would cut it, or the long hours and 25 takes of each song:

Snubbed star Alfie Boe: I haven't seen Les Mis movie
10 Mar 2013 12:31

Man who made his name in Les Miserables in West End was snubbed by Hollywood in favour of Hugh Jackman

He is the singer who made his name in West End hit Les Misérables, starring in the show in sold-out theatres and packed arenas.

But Alfie Boe says he hasn’t seen the blockbuster movie version of the story – after he was beaten to the role he loves by Hugh Jackman.

Alfie, 39, went up for auditions to reprise his part as Jean Valjean but was snubbed in favour of the Aussie A-lister.

He claims it isn’t a case of sour grapes, just that he has been too preoccupied with his own career, which brings him to Birmingham later this month.

“I’ve not had the chance,” he says. “I have been on the road quite a bit, so just getting to the cinema is difficult.

“I will make the effort – it’s just I have been so busy.”

Lancashire lad Alfie says he can’t afford to be sentimental about the part which helped shoot him to fame.

“I’m never going to be the last person to play that role, whether it’s in a movie or on stage,” he admits.

Even so, when he was invited to audition for Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper, he had high hopes that the blockbuster film would take his career to a whole other level worldwide.

Until he saw who he was up against.

“I went up for it alongside Hugh Jackman,” recalls Alfie.

“I went in first, but I think they’d definitely decided on Hugh before I even walked in the room. He’s obviously a big-name Hollywood actor.

“It would have been fantastic but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Alfie has been amused by criticism levelled at some of the actors following Hooper’s controversial decision to film the cast singing live, rather than recording their efforts in the comfort of a studio and adding them later.

“For me there is no question about doing it live. I do it every night on stage, every night in concert,” says Alfie.

“I would have loved to have worked that way. It might be a bit tricky for a few people to have to adapt to that on screen.”

Valjean’s big number, Bring Him Home, is the one Alfie has become most famous for.

He sang it alongside three other singers who have played Valjean in a gala at the O2 Arena to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show, then again when he played the iconic part for six months in London in 2011.

He knows his fans will be expecting it when he performs at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, on March 22.

“I don’t think I can leave the venue alive if I haven’t done it,” he laughs.

“It is the song that changed my life and brought me a lot of attention.”

Despite missing out on the film version of Les Mis, Alfie hasn’t completely given up on the idea of movie stardom.

“I would love to pursue films,” he says. “But there is so much going on with the recording career at the moment.

“Movies are something I would like to work towards. Hopefully in the next year or so I’ll be able to get some auditions.”

www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/films/snubbed-star-alfie-boe-havent-1733582

 

[Schlosser85]

I think the word "snubbed" is used a lot where it doesn't apply.

Onscreen and onstage are different mediums and frankly, having seen Boes in Les Mis onstage, I don't think he would have worked in the movie at all.

 

[ComicChick]

i agree about Boes. would've been kinda cool to give him a cameo like they did Colm Willkerson as the Bishop

so glad that they cast Barks though. She was amazing imo, especially with facial expressions and I wouldn't mind seeing her get more work from this

 

[ComicChick]

The scene where Fantine is assaulted by a rejected customer is based on an actual incident from Victor Hugo's life that resulted in Fantine's creation: he was on his way to his editor's office when he encountered a young man harassing a prostitute. When she rejected his advances, he shoved a handful of snow down her dress and shoved her to the ground. When she defended herself with her fists, he immediately called the police to arrest his "assailant". Hugo was a minor celebrity at the time and spoke up on the woman's behalf when the police arrived and was able to have her set free. Hugo said he was horrified by the unfairness of the woman's situation and began to imagine that she might have children depending on her, and thus Fantine appeared in his mind.

 

[danoyse]

I think I read somewhere that Alfie even went back into the show for a few nights so the Universal brass could see him in the role.

I thought he was outrageously good in the anniversary concert, and I'm hoping the rumors are true that he'll be coming to the Broadway revival next year, but I'm still glad they went with Hugh. While he doesn't match Alfie or Colm vocally, he brought so much dimension to that character that the stage version wasn't able to do - and I hadn't even realized how much was missing until I saw the movie version.

It all worked out.

 

[Schlosser85]

The scene where Fantine is assaulted by a rejected customer is based on an actual incident from Victor Hugo's life that resulted in Fantine's creation: he was on his way to his editor's office when he encountered a young man harassing a prostitute. When she rejected his advances, he shoved a handful of snow down her dress and shoved her to the ground. When she defended herself with her fists, he immediately called the police to arrest his "assailant". Hugo was a minor celebrity at the time and spoke up on the woman's behalf when the police arrived and was able to have her set free. Hugo said he was horrified by the unfairness of the woman's situation and began to imagine that she might have children depending on her, and thus Fantine appeared in his mind.

Hugo's two best-known works, Les Mis and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are positively seething with scathing social commentary.

 

[ComicChick]

yes they are

and on a lighter note they've had the power to stand the test of time and the amazing ability to become musicals (broadway and disney respectively)

 

[danoyse]

The scene where Fantine is assaulted by a rejected customer is based on an actual incident from Victor Hugo's life that resulted in Fantine's creation: he was on his way to his editor's office when he encountered a young man harassing a prostitute. When she rejected his advances, he shoved a handful of snow down her dress and shoved her to the ground. When she defended herself with her fists, he immediately called the police to arrest his "assailant". Hugo was a minor celebrity at the time and spoke up on the woman's behalf when the police arrived and was able to have her set free. Hugo said he was horrified by the unfairness of the woman's situation and began to imagine that she might have children depending on her, and thus Fantine appeared in his mind.

Yep. In the movie, you even see the guy shoving the snow down her dress.

When the woman was released, she reportedly referred to Hugo as, "How good the gentleman is..."

In the show: "Good Monsieur, you come from God in heaven..."

I've also read that "to love another person is to see the face of God" has been taken as criticism against the church. The Vatican had it on a list of banned books for years.

 

[Earthland]

I've also read that "to love another person is to see the face of God" has been taken as criticism against the church. The Vatican had it on a list of banned books for years.

But that line is from the show, not the book. I've read the book and though I've heard it criticized the Church I don't remember it at all, though it must be admitted I skipped some parts of the book (such like the entire 19 chapters on Waterloo). I do remember that Jean Valjean attended masses daily, and the lack of religious education Mdm. Thenardier's gave her daughters was portrayed in a bad light, which doesn't seem very anti-Church.

 

[narrows101]

I think I read somewhere that Alfie even went back into the show for a few nights so the Universal brass could see him in the role.

I read that too. I just can't imagine an "opera singer" headling a Hollywood movie, where you have to do 25 takes of one song and do that five or six days a week for four months, not to mention non-Les Mis fans going "an opera singer??? Who????? I'm not seeing that!" He apparently couldn't even do six shows a week. And I read he had a bad back - how was he going to carry Marius, lift the cart, etc. not to mention going from the convict look to the mayor look? We read what Hugh did for that - I can't imagine Alfie (or anyone else) losing 25 pounds, working out in the gym every day to get the "massive" look, not drinking water, etc. and then having to put that weight back on. But I'm sure he's basking in all the "Jackman's Bring Him Home sucked, you should have been in the movie!!!!" stuff his fans are telling him.

I'm thinking they gave him an audition just as a courtesy.

 

[sueb1863]

No movie studio in the world would have cast Boe over Hugh Jackman.

Boe did a good job onstage but he's not a movie actor and despite what his fans say he wouldn't be able to get butts in seats the way Hugh can. And as Narrows pointed out, he was not up to the physical challenge. I can't picture him shaving his head, losing weight and going without water for three days and still being able to function. He simply isn't conditioned the way Hugh is.

Boe seems a very mellow guy and I doubt there's any regret over not getting the movie role. His career is going great and his attitude always was, if I get it fine, if I don't that's OK too. His fans wanted it a lot more than he ever did, I think, but in the end it worked out the best for everybody. And I'm sure he'll be in the Broadway revival.