To tell the truth, it takes a while for the fact to set­tle in that Les Mis­érables, the musi­cal film adap­ta­tion of the acclaimed, long-running the­atre show that is in turn based on Vic­tor Hugo’s clas­sic novel, is sung through. Which means, instead of speak­ing their lines, the illus­tri­ous cast sing them. That’s what movie musi­cals do, right? And yet with this film I always found myself won­der­ing how it would be if there weren’t any singing, cer­tainly at the begin­ning; the first encounter of gaunt, feral con­vict Jean Val­jean (Hugh Jack­man) with puffed-up prison guard Javert (Rus­sell Crowe) made me laugh, as they sing their names to each other with unspo­ken cur­rents of hate cours­ing between them. How funny! But that’s Les Mis­érables. Not quite sub­tle, this epic sym­phony deals in rather broad and painterly strokes at the risk of being self-indulgent, inces­santly slather­ing on the audi­ence an entire gamut of emo­tions that are, it seems, best expressed through song. And so they are. read more »