Les Miserables 2012 Breaks With Years of Tradition in Musical Film-making Method – and it’s a brilliant move

Last updated on: September 22, 2012 at 8:30 am by Tim Suttle

Les Miserables 2012 Breaks With Years of Tradition in Musical Film-making Method – and it’s a brilliant move 2012-09-22T08:30:54-06:00 Tim Suttle

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Les Miserables is one of the greatest artistic expressions of grace and redemption ever created. The novel was written by the great Victor Hugo, who also penned The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The story has been told in nearly artistic medium since it was first published 150 years ago this year.

A new adaptation of the stage musical is being developed for the big screen and it looks like it’s going to be amazing. The cast includes Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and others. Although the cast will provide the magic, the director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech), came up with the method that will push this film over the top.

Instead of lip-syncing to a pre-recorded soundtrack, the actors and actresses are singing it live to film. In the filming, each actor is fitted with a tiny ear piece through which they can hear a pianist who is playing the score. The pianist allows the actor to set the tempo of the music – to ebb and flow with the emotion of their performance instead of sticking to a pre-recorded track. The impact on the performance will be stunning.

I’ll be honest. I’ve never taken some of these actors that seriously before: Anne Hathaway, and to a certain extent Hugh Jackman. If Hathaway pulls off “I Dreamed a Dream” the way it looks like she does in this trailer, she’s way more legit than I ever realized. I think this film could end up being something really special.

This is one of those stunning examples of how the Mission of God is so much bigger than the church. The folks involved in making this film are going to tell the gospel story and my guess is that most of them don’t even realize it. But, I have a feeling Tom Hooper knows. To pick this film as the follow up to The King’s Speech? Maybe there’s something deeper going on there. From the looks of this trailer, it’s going to be powerful. Granted, I made my living as a musician for much of my life. But anytime a trailer can make you weep, I think it’s safe to anticipated that we might be dealing with something very special.

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