'Les Miserables' international trailer shows almost every cast member singing
The 'Les Miserables' new international trailer features vocals by stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, and Samantha Barks.
'Les Miserables' actor Hugh Jackman stars as convict Jean Valjean in the musical.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Previous for the聽 musical 鈥� from Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper (The King鈥檚 Speech) 鈥� featured Anne Hathaway鈥檚 rendition of 鈥淚 Dream a Dream,鈥� but kept a lid on the rest of the cast鈥檚 singing performances (which were ).
The new international trailer for Les Miz also showcases the vocal capabilities of stars like Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, and Samantha Barks (covering songs such as 鈥淎 Heart Full of Love,鈥� 鈥淥ne Day More,鈥� and 鈥淒o You Hear the People Sing?鈥�). Moreover, we at last get footage of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter (with a customary crazy hairdo) bringing the loathsome聽Th茅nardiers to life on the big screen.
For novices, the film (based on the award-winning Broadway musical adaptation of Victor Hugo鈥檚 novel) tells the tale of unjustly-imprisoned Jean Valjean (Jackman), who seeks redemption once he is released. However, his decision to break parole incites the wrath of Inspector Javert (Crowe), an obsessive policeman determined to bring Valjean 鈥榯o justice鈥� no matter what. Hathaway plays a struggling factory worker named Fantine, whose daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen as a child, Seyfried as an adult) eventually comes under the care of Valjean 鈥� having previously been forced to work as a servant by the聽Th茅nardiers, who were entrusted to care for her by Fantine and treat her like their own daughter 脡ponine (Barks).
Les Mis茅rables certainly looks strikingly different than most of the other Broadway musical-turned films released in recent years, thanks to some picturesque visuals and unusual camera angles conjured up by director of photography Danny Cohen (who received an Oscar nod for his similar work on ). The singing is raw and unrefined, but that absence of pitch-perfection seems in keeping with the overall gritty design of the film 鈥� not just in terms of cinematography, but also the by Paco Delgado (The Skin I Live In) and聽Eve Stewart (another King鈥檚 Speech alum), respectively.
However, Hooper鈥檚 approach might divide the Les Miz fan base between those who approve of his attempt to give the show real cinematic flavor 鈥� while preserving the emotional impact of the music 鈥� and those who would鈥檝e preferred there to be more emphasis on making the songs percussive and booming (like an excellent recorded version of the stage show). Of course, we will have to wait for the actual film to see if that鈥檚 indeed the case.
Kevin Yeoman blogs at .