'Les Miserables' first trailer debuts online
An official teaser trailer has been released for Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper鈥檚 adaptation of producer Cameron Mackintosh鈥檚听 stage musical. The film chronicles the struggles of lower-class citizens in early 19th century France 鈥� as seen through the eyes of characters like the ex-convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) and struggling single mother Fantine (Anne Hathaway).
Yesterday鈥檚 batch of (colloquially known as Les Miz) teased the design of the film鈥檚 period setting, along with the look of its cast 鈥渋n character.鈥� The first theatrical promo offers even more of that, along with an excerpt from Hathaway鈥檚 rendition of the famous Les Miz tune 鈥�I Dreamed a Dream.鈥�
Something that immediately jumps out about Hathaway鈥檚 singing (in a good way) is how naturalistic and unprocessed it sounds. Of course, that is a direct result of Hooper鈥檚 decision to have the entire Les Miz cast perform their songs live during production. Hence, Hathaway鈥檚 musical performance feels all the more organic to her surroundings 鈥� as opposed to, sounding like something that was (literally) recorded and dubbed over at a separate time, similar to just about every other movie musical in recent memory.
Speaking of the film鈥檚 scenery: Les Miz聽has the appearance of an authentic period piece, as is nicely illustrated by the teaser trailer (in combination with previously-released聽).聽Beyond attention to little details 鈥� such as the cast鈥檚 gaunt appearances 鈥� the squalid state of the city architecture and sets in the movie are quite impressive. That also goes for the different styles of camerawork on display in early footage, varying from swooping shots of rebellious French peasants, to rough handheld shots of riding his horse through the rain. Credit for all that belongs to the triumvirate that is director Tom Hooper, cinematographer Danny Cohen, and production designer Eve Stewart, who all previously worked together on .
Overall, Hooper鈥檚 take on Les Miz comes off as a hybrid of prestigious period fare and musical melodrama 鈥� and thus, probably聽not something that will win over moviegoers who generally do not care for either聽sub-genre. However, for fans of the Les Miz stage musical, there鈥檚 good reason to be happy about Hollywood鈥檚 treatment of the show (going off what鈥檚 been shown so far).
Sandy Schaefer blogs at .
