Les Misérables (2012 film)

 

Les Misérables (2012 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Les Misérables
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tom Hooper
Produced by	Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Debra Hayward Cameron Mackintosh
Screenplay by	William Nicholson Alain Boublil Claude-Michel Schönberg Herbert Kretzmer
Based on	Les Misérables (musical) by Alain Boublil Claude-Michel Schönberg
Starring	Hugh Jackman Russell Crowe Anne Hathaway Amanda Seyfried Eddie Redmayne Helena Bonham Carter Sacha Baron Cohen
Music by	Claude-Michel Schönberg
Cinematography	Danny Cohen
Editing by	Melanie Ann Oliver Chris Dickens
Studio	Working Title Films Relativity Media
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	7 December 2012 (2012-12-07) (London, premiere)[1] 11 January 2013 (2013-01-11) (United Kingdom)
Running time	160 minutes[2]
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$61 million[3]
Box office	$81,038,000 [4]

Les Misérables is a 2012 British musical drama film produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is based on the musical of the same name by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg which is in turn based on Les Misérables, the 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo.

The film is directed by Tom Hooper, scripted by William Nicholson, Boublil, Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer, and stars an ensemble cast led by Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Amanda Seyfried. The film tells the story of Jean Valjean, a former prisoner who becomes mayor of a town in France. Valjean agrees to take care of Cosette, the illegitimate daughter of Fantine, and must avoid being captured again by Javert, a police inspector.

Development of Les Misérables began in the late 1980s. After the musical's 25th Anniversary concert in October 2010, producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that the film resumed development. Hooper and Nicholson were approached in March 2011 and the main characters were cast in 2011. Principal photography commenced in March 2012,^[5] and took place in various locations in Winchester and Portsmouth in Hampshire, England, as well as Paris in France.

Les Misérables premiered in London at the Empire, Leicester Square on 5 December 2012, and released on 25 December 2012 in the United States. It will be released on 11 January 2013 in the United Kingdom.^[1][6][4][7] The film has received initially positive reviews, with many critics praising the acting of Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, and has also been nominated for numerous awards. Before the film's release, it was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, including Best Film (Musical or Comedy), Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) for Jackman and Best Supporting Actress for Hathaway.^[8]

Plot

In 1815, convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is released on parole by prison guard Javert (Russell Crowe) after serving a nineteen-year sentence. He is offered food and shelter by the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson), but later steals the Bishop's silver during the night. He is caught by the authorities, but the Bishop says that the silver was given as a gift, and secures Valjean's release. Ashamed by the Bishop's generosity, Valjean breaks his parole and vows to start an honest life under a new identity. Javert swears he will bring the escaped convict to justice.

Eight years later, Valjean has become a factory owner and mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Fantine (Anne Hathaway), one of his workers, is discovered to be sending money to her illegitimate daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen), who lives with the unscrupulous Thénardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) and their daughter Éponine (Natalya Angel Wallace), and is dismissed by the foreman (Michael Jibson). Left with no option, Fantine turns to prostitution. During an argument with an abusive customer, Javert, now a police inspector, arrests Fantine, but Valjean intercedes and takes her to a hospital.

Later, Valjean learns that a man believed to be him has been arrested. Unable to condemn an innocent man, Valjean reveals his identity to the court before departing for the hospital. There he promises a dying Fantine that he will look after her daughter. Valjean finds Cosette and pays the Thénardiers to allow him to take her, and promises to be like a father to her.

Nine years later, Jean Maximilien Lamarque, the only government official sympathetic toward the poor, is nearing death. Students Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) and Enjolras (Aaron Tveit), together with street urchin Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone), discuss fomenting revolution. Later Marius catches a glimpse of Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), now a young woman, and instantly falls in love with her. Meanwhile, despite Cosette's questioning, Valjean refuses to tell her about his past or Fantine.

At a café, Enjolras organises a group of idealistic students as Lamarque's death is announced. Meanwhile, Éponine (Samantha Barks), now Marius's friend, leads him to Cosette, where the two profess their love for one another. Lamenting that her secret love for Marius will never be reciprocated, Éponine fatalistically decides to join the revolution. Later, an attempted robbery of Valjean's house makes him mistakenly think that Javert has discovered him, and he flees with Cosette. As they leave, Enjolras rallies the Parisians to revolt, and Marius sends a farewell letter to Cosette.

The next day, the students interrupt Lamarque's funeral procession and begin their assault. Javert, disguised as one of the rebels, spies among the revolutionaries, but is quickly exposed by Gavroche and captured. During the ensuing gunfight, Éponine saves Marius at the cost of her own life, professing her love to him before she dies. Valjean, intercepting the letter from Marius to Cosette, goes to the barricade to protect Marius. After saving Enjolras from snipers, he is allowed to execute Javert. When the two are alone, Valjean frees Javert and fires his gun to fake the execution. Initially disbelieving, Javert wonders at Valjean's generosity.

With the Parisians not joining the revolution as the students expected, they resolve to fight to the death. Everyone is killed but Marius, who is saved when Valjean drags his unconscious body into the sewers. Thénardier, scavenging the dead bodies, steals Marius's ring. Valjean recovers and escapes the sewers carrying Marius, but is confronted at the exit by Javert. Javert threatens to shoot Valjean if he doesn't surrender, but Valjean ignores him. Unable to reconcile the conflict between his civil and moral duties, two things which he always considered the same, Javert commits suicide.

Later, Marius mourns for his friends but Cosette comforts him. Revealing his past to Marius, Valjean tells him he must leave because his presence endangers Cosette, and makes Marius promise never to tell her. Marius and Cosette marry; the Thénardiers crash the reception and testify that they saw Valjean carrying a murdered corpse in the sewers. Thénardier unwittingly shows Marius the ring that he stole from him as "proof." Recognising the ring, Marius realizes that it was Valjean who saved his life. Marius and Cosette rush to Valjean after being told his location by Thénardier.

As Valjean sits dying in a local convent, he perceives the spirit of Fantine appearing to take him to Heaven. Cosette and Marius rush in to bid farewell. Valjean hands Cosette his confession of his past life, and the spirits of Fantine and the Bishop guide him to paradise, where he joins the spirits of Enjolras, Éponine, Gavroche, and the other rebels at the barricade.

[edit] Cast

Before filming began, the cast underwent an extensive seven-week rehearsal period.^[9] The film is noted for having an ensemble cast,^[10] and some of the cast and their respective characters include:

• Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean: A Frenchman released from Toulon prison after 19 years of imprisonment for stealing bread and failed attempts of escaping from the prison.^[11] Around June 2011, Jackman met with producer Cameron Mackintosh to audition in New York.^[9] To prepare for the role, Jackman avoided drinking coffee, warmed up at least 15 minutes every day, kept Ricola lozenges, drank as much as seven litres of water per day, sat in steam three times a day, took cold baths and used a wet washcloth over his face while flying. He also cited the musical's original co-director Trevor Nunn for his training.^[12]
• Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert: A police inspector who releases Valjean on parole, then later dedicates his life to imprisoning him again.^[11] Crowe was initially dissatisfied with the character. on his way to Europe for a friend's wedding, Crowe came to London and met with producer Cameron Mackintosh. on meeting with Tom Hooper, he told the director about his concerns about playing Javert, and after meeting with him, Crowe was "determined to be involved in the project and play Javert. I think it had something to do with Tom's passion for what he was about to undertake, and he clearly understood the problems and he clearly understood the challenge."^[13] on visiting Victor Hugo's house in Paris, Crowe said, "[The house's curator] told me about [19th century detective Eugene Francois] Vidocq, a man who had been both a prisoner and a policeman, the man credited with inventing undercover police work when he established the Brigade de Surete."^[9]
• Anne Hathaway as Fantine: A struggling factory worker and mother of an illegitimate child, Cosette. At the 83rd Academy Awards which Hathaway and James Franco hosted, Hathaway sang a small parody of "On My Own", a famous song from the musical, about Hugh Jackman who wouldn't do a song with her during the broadcast.^[14][15][16] on her casting, Hathaway said, "There was resistance because I was between their ideal ages for the parts — maybe not mature enough for Fantine but past the point where I could believably play Cosette."^[9]
• Amanda Seyfried as Cosette: The illegitimate daughter of Fantine.^[17][18][19] on developing the character, Seyfried said, "In the little time that I had to explain Cosette and give the audience a reason [to see her as] a symbol of love and strength and light in this tragedy, I needed to be able to convey things you may not have connected with in the show"^[20]
  • Isabelle Allen plays the younger Cosette.^[21] on working with her fellow actors, Allen said, "They gave us lots of tips and mostly [made] sure we were all OK. They were really nice."^[22] She was later cast in the same role in the West End production.
• Eddie Redmayne as Marius Pontmercy: A student revolutionary who is friends with the Thenardiers' daughter, Éponine, but falls in love with Cosette.^[23][24][25] He found director Hooper's vision "incredibly helpful." on collaborating with Hooper, Redmayne said, "He was incredible collaborative. Certainly during the rehearsal process, we sat with Tom and the Victor Hugo book adding things."^[26]
• Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier: A swindling innkeeper and Éponine's mother.^[27][28] Hooper previously collaborated with Bonham Carter in The King's Speech, in which she portrayed Queen Elizabeth.^[29]
• Sacha Baron Cohen as Thénardier: A common thief and an innkeeper along with his wife. He is also the father of Éponine.^{[30][30][31][32][33]} Baron Cohen and Bonham Carter previously co-starred in the film adaptation of the musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
• Samantha Barks as Éponine: The Thénardiers' destitute daughter.^[34] Barks previously played the role at the 25th Anniversary concert and in the West End production from 2010–2011. Taylor Swift was previously rumoured to have been offered the role.^[35] Scarlett Johansson, Evan Rachel Wood, and Lea Michele were reportedly considered for the role.^[36] on playing the role, Barks said "there was similarities in playing the role -- they’re the same character -- but Eponine in the novel and Eponine in the musical are two kind of different girls, so to me it was the thrill of merging those two together, to get something that still had that heart and soul that we all connect to in the musical, but also the awkward, self-loathing teenager that we see in the novel, trying to merge those two together." She also found Hugh Jackman "fascinating to learn from, and I feel like that’s the way it should be done."^[37]
  • Natalya Angel Wallace plays the younger Éponine.

Les Amis de l'ABC

• Aaron Tveit as Enjolras: The leader of the Les Amis de l'ABC. Tveit sent in a tape for Marius, which included "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" and "In My Life". He also said that once I got more and more familiar with the material and when I read the novel, I was like, 'Wow this is a really, really great role," and I felt very much better suited for it.'"^[38]
• George Blagden as Grantaire: A drunken student revolutionary who idolises Enjolras;^[39]
• Killian Donnelly as Combeferre: The philosopher of Les Amis de l'ABC.
• Fra Fee as Courfeyrac: A friendly and open student who introduces Marius to the society.
• Alistair Brammer as Jean Prouvaire: The youngest student member of Les Amis de l'ABC.
• Hugh Skinner as Joly: A medicine student.^[40]
• Gabriel Vick as Feuilly: The only non-student member of Les Amis de l'ABC.^[41]
• Iwan Lewis as Bahorel: A good-humoured member of Les Amis de l'ABC.
• Stuart Neal as Lesgles: The oldest member of the Les Amis de l'ABC.

The cast also includes: Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche, a streetwise urchin who helps the revolutionaries (Huttlestone previously played the part in the West End production). Colm Wilkinson (the original Jean Valjean in the Broadway and West End musical productions)^[42] makes a cameo appearance as the Bishop of Digne, a man who gives Valjean shelter in his church and becomes Valjean's inspiration to become a good man. Frances Ruffelle (the original Éponine in the West End and Broadway musical productions) plays a prostitute.^[42] Bertie Carvel portrays Bamatabois, a young gentleman who tries to buy Fantine's services and is responsible for her arrest.^[43]

Thénardier's gang includes Adam Pearce as Brujon, the brutish and cowardly but dissatisfied member of Thénardier's gang;^[44] Marc Pickering as Montparnasse, a young member who appears to be close to Éponine;^[45] Ian Pirie as Babet; and Julian Bleach as Clacquesous. Michael Jibson plays the foreman of the factory in which Fantine works and is fired from.^[46] Hadley Fraser plays the Army General of the National Guard^[47] (Fraser previously played Grantaire in the 25th Anniversary concert, and later Javert in the West End production). Patrick Godfrey plays Gillenormand, Marius's grandfather.

[edit] Musical numbers

See also: Les Misérables: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack

A highlights soundtrack album was released via Universal Republic on December 21, 2012; there is no official word of a complete soundtrack album. ^[48]

The film contains every song from the original stage musical itself with the exception of "Dog Eats Dog" as well as some missing verses and rearrangement of the order of several songs.

1. "Look Down" – Chain gang, Javert, Valjean
2. on Parole" – Valjean, Farmer, Laborer, Innkeeper's wife, Innkeeper, Bishop of Digne
3. "Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven" – Policemen, Bishop of Digne
4. "Valjean's Soliloquy" – Valjean
5. "At the End of the Day" – Poor, Foreman, Workers, Factory Women, Fantine, Valjean
6. "The Runaway Cart" – Townspeople, Valjean, Fauchelevant, Javert
7. "Lovely Ladies" – Sailors, Old Woman, Fantine, Crone, Whores, Pimp
8. "I Dreamed a Dream" – Fantine
9. "Fantine's Arrest" – Bamatabois, Fantine, Javert, Valjean
10. "Who Am I?/The Trial" – Valjean
11. "Come to Me (Fantine's Death)" – Fantine, Valjean
12. "The Confrontation" – Javert, Valjean
13. "Castle on a Cloud" – Young Cosette, Mme. Thénardier
14. "Master of the House" – Thénardier, Mme. Thénardier, Inn Patrons
15. "The Bargain/The Thénardier Waltz of Treachery" – Thénardier, Valjean, Mme. Thénardier, Young Cosette
16. "Suddenly" – Valjean
17. "Stars" – Javert
18. "Look Down" – Gavroche, Beggars, Old Woman, Prostitute, Pimp, Enjolras, Marius
19. "The Robbery" – Thénardier, Mme. Thénardier, Marius, Éponine, Valjean
20. "Javert's Intervention" – Javert, Thénardier
21. "Éponine's Errand" – Éponine, Marius
22. "ABC Café/Red and Black" – Students, Enjolras, Marius, Grantaire, Gavroche
23. "Rue Plumet/In My Life" – Cosette, Valjean, Marius, Éponine
24. "A Heart Full of Love" – Marius, Cosette, Éponine
25. "The Attack on Rue Plumet" – Thénardier, Thieves, Éponine, Marius, Valjean, Cosette
26. on My Own" – Éponine
27. one Day More" – Valjean, Marius, Cosette, Éponine, Enjolras, Javert, Thénardier, Mme. Thénardier, Gavroche, Company
28. "Do You Hear the People Sing?" – Enjolras, Grantaire, Students, Beggars
29. "Building the Barricade (Upon These Stones)" – Enjolras, Javert, Marius, Éponine, Valjean
30. "At the Barricade (Upon These Stones)" – Enjolras, Students, Army officer
31. "Javert's Arrival" – Javert, Enjolras
32. "Little People" – Gavroche, Students, Enjolras, Javert
33. "The First Attack" – Enjolras, Grantaire, Students, Valjean, Javert
34. "A Little Fall of Rain" – Éponine, Marius
35. "Night of Anguish" – Enjolras, Marius, Valjean, Students
36. "Drink with Me" – Marius, Gavroche, Students
37. "Bring Him Home" – Valjean
38. "Dawn of Anguish" – Enjolras, Students
39. "The Second Attack" (Death of Gavroche) – Gavroche, Enjolras, Marius, Valjean, Feuilly, Students
40. "The Final Battle" – Army officer, Enjolras, Grantaire, Students
41. "Javert's Suicide" – Javert
42. "Turning" – Parisian Women
43. "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" – Marius
44. "Every Day" – Marius, Cosette, Valjean, Gillenormand
45. "Valjean's Confession" – Valjean, Marius
46. "Wedding Chorale" – Chorus
47. "Beggars at the Feast" – Thénardier, Mme. Thénardier
48. "Valjean's Death" – Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Marius, Bishop of Digne
49. "Do You Hear the People Sing? [Reprise]" – Company