Excellent Screen Adaptation of Epic Musical

I was trying to delay seeing Les Miserables over X'mas because the depressing story didn't seem to fit in well with the jolly Holiday Season. So having finally watched it earlier this week, I was pleasantly surprised. No wonder the movie has garnered eight Oscar nominations - Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Production Design, Best Original Music (the new song Suddenly was written for the movie), Best Sound Mixing, Best Costumes, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling - 25 years after the Broadway musical won eight Tony Awards.

Les Miserables was never one of my favourite musicals, but the large-screen adaptation is an excellent masterpiece on all fronts and, in fact, is even better than the stage version itself! Director Tom Hooper makes the transitions between scenes seamless and beautiful. Under his lenses, the distinction between good and evil;  the misery of the poor and deprived; the beautiful love story; and the vigour of the French revolution are all portrayed with perfection. After such great feats as The King's Speech and Les Miserables, Hooper is now added to my most-respected directors list.

The cast is wonderful as far as the acting is concerned. Anne Hathaway is such a talented actress that it's not surprising that she's one of the few leading actors who can really sing. Hugh Jackman's performance as the lead actor in this film certainly transcends his X-Men fame. Having said that, there's acting and there's singing. Apart from Anne Hathaway who is just outstanding as a songstress and actress, most of the other lead actors in the film are just mediocre singers. By now, we've all read about the challenges this film's actors had to face by singing live throughout the movie. Russell Crowe should definitely never take up a musical role ever again - even his acting has been kind of lacklustre of late! I heard that Paul Bettany was originally considered for the role of Inspector Javert and he would have done a much better job than Crowe. Although gifted and trained as a singer, Jackman is more impressive as an actor playing Jean Valjean instead of his vocal skills. Eddie Redmayne is one of those British actors who always exceeds your expectations, but you can never remember his name or which was the last movie he's in.

In spite of my dislike of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, both of them are convincing as buffoon characters and I'm surprised that Lady Bonham Carter can actually sing! But I thought the most outstanding songstress in this flick is 22-year-old Samantha Barks who plays Eponine. I've read that she won this role over Taylor Swift and this is certainly no small feat.

Hugh Jackman may not beat Daniel Day-Lewis in the Best Actor category, but let's hope Les Miserables the movie can do better than Lincoln at the Oscars next month.