Universal Pictures Ireland just sent over this behind-the-scenes look at Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables. The film is opening here in January 2013, and I’m actually quite curious to see how it pans out. We’ve had juke box musicals, and modern movies like The Muppets incorporating songs, but there really haven’t been too many legitimate old-school-style musicals in the past number of years. Even Sweeney Todd seemed remarkably subversive. I’m fascinated with this attempt to play the genre straight, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a musical in a cinema. I can’t remember a large-scale musical like this, with a lot of pundits suggesting the genre has been relegated to history.
I actually find this snippet quite insightful, because I would have assumed – for purely practical purposes – the film would have been shot with actors recording the songs separately to filming the scenes. It also illustrates just how skilfully Hooper has put all this together – even offering an off-hand reference to a tune from the musical, Hugh Jackman has a fantastic singing voice. Anyway, check it out below.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Amanda Seyfried, anne hathaway, arts, Eddie Redmayne, Hooper, hugh jackman, Les Misérables, russell crowe, Tom Hooper, universal studios |
the m0vie blog 
I am desperately looking forward to this, I love the stage musical and given this whole live singing thing it looks like there may actually be some reverence for the source material. I mean, assuming they’re taking the musical as the source rather than the novel.
I don’t think my eyes and ears can take another Glee-ified juke box musical…
I actually don’t mind a bit of cheese with my musical (I liked Rock of Ages more than most, if only because of the audacity of basing a music about not selling out around a selection of tunes that you bought from the former rock icons you’re saluting – I kinda admire how brazen that was), but agreed on the interest in seeing a proper old-school musical translated to the big screen.