AFI CATALOG OF FEATURE FILMS

THE FIRST 100 YEARS 1893–1993

Movie Title

Les Misérables (2012)

PG-13 | 25 December 2012

THIS TITLE IS OUTSIDE THE AFI CATALOG OF FEATURE FILMS (1893-1993)

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Cast:

Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway [ More ]

Director:

Tom Hooper

Writers:

William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer

Producers:

Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh

Cinematographer:

Danny Cohen

Editors:

Melanie Ann Oliver, Chris Dickens

Production Designer:

Eve Stewart

Production Companies:

Camack International, Working Title Films

HISTORY

The film begins with a title card containing the following written statement: “1815 – Twenty six years after the start of the French Revolution, a king is once again on the throne of France.”
       End credits contain the following stage production credits: “Produced on stage by Cameron Mackintosh; Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer; Original French text by Alain Boublil & Jean-Marc Natel; Additional material by James Fenton; Adapted by Trevor Nunn & John Caird; Original stage orchestration by John Cameron; New stage orchestration by Chris Jahnke; Additional stage orchestrations by Stephen Metcalfe & Stephen Brooker; Original London production produced in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by Trevor Nunn & John Caird; 25th anniversary production directed by Laurence Connor & James Powell.” Also in the end credits is the following written statement: “The Director would like to thank his parents Meredith and Richard Hooper, Rachel Hooper, Ben Hooper, and Roger Mortimer for introducing him to musicals.” Additional “Thanks” are given to the following organizations and individuals: Mairie de Gourdon, Alpers-Maritimes; HMS Victory; Portsmouth Naval Base; Winchester College; Royal Naval College Greenwich; The Duke of Buccleuch & all at Boughton House; Chatham Historical Dockyard; Bath Film Office; Michael Le Poer Trench; and the Osborne family. A “Special thanks” acknowledges “all the casts and creative teams that have kept Les Misérables so thrillingly alive on stage since 1985 and everyone at Cameron Mackintosh for their unstinting devotion to our darling Cosette.” Additionally, a written statement in the end credits indicates that Les Misérables was filmed “on location in England and France and on the new Richard Attenborough Stage at Pinewood Studios, England.”
       As stated in a 10 Oct 2004 Var article, Columbia TriStar had most recently optioned the filming rights to Les Misérables, but, after five years, the rights reverted to producer Cameron Mackintosh. Directors who had shown interest in the project included Jean-Jacques Annaud, Richard Attenborough, Alan Parker, Bruce Beresford, and Oliver Stone.
       On 19 Oct 2011, DV reported that Tom Hooper would direct the film. According to production notes from AMPAS library files, Hooper became interested when he heard that screenwriter William Nicholson, whom he was collaborating with on another project, was working on the screen adaptation to Les Misérables. Producer Eric Fellner stated that Hooper was the only director to receive Nicholson’s screenplay and Working Title Films’ first choice to direct. While the script was still in development, Hooper decided that the film should be “through-sung” and invited composer Claude-Michel Schönberg, and lyricists Alain Boublil and Herbie Kretzmer to collaborate in the writing process, asking them to produce new lyrics for the musical and the original song, “Suddenly.”
       As stated in the 19 Oct 2011 DV item, production was set to begin Feb 2012. For the role of “Eponine,” actresses Lea Michele, Evan Rachel Wood, and Scarlett Johansson were considered, along with singer-actress Taylor Swift; however, Samantha Barks, who had played “Éponine” in a London stage production of Les Misérables in 2010 and 2011, was eventually cast, as reported in a 2 Feb 2012 LAT item. The role marked Barks’s feature film acting debut.
       In preparation for the role of “Jean Valjean,” Hugh Jackman trained rigorously in the gym and ate a very limited diet, so that he could embody the mixture of strength and malnourishment that defined his character. Additionally, for thirty-six hours before the first shooting day, Jackman drank no water in an effort to appear gaunt. Similarly, actress Anne Hathaway lost twenty-five pounds to play the role of “Fantine.”
       According to a 24 Aug 2012 DV article, one week of rehearsals preceded principal photography. The twelve-week shooting schedule began in Gourdon, France, with a small crew. There, filmmakers shot Jean’s trek through the mountains after he is freed. Afterward, “principal photography moved into full swing” in England, where locations included the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, a naval base and home to the famous naval warship, HMS Victory ; the Tarring Yarn House, built in Chatham in the late eighteenth-century, which served as Jean’s factory; the “Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich,” that doubled as the locale for LaMarque’s funeral procession at the Place de la Bastille; Winchester College, where Jean’s death was filmed inside the school’s chapel; and Boughton House, the Duke of Buccleuch’s residence that stood in for “Marius Pontmercy’s” family residence. Elaborate sets for the “Lovely Ladies” sequence and the “streets of 1832 Paris” were built at Pinewood Studios.
       As stated in the 24 Aug 2012 DV and production notes, the cast recorded songs “live on the set.” The last “non-rock musical” to have recorded musical numbers live during filming was Peter Bogdanovich’s At Long Last Love (1975, see entry). While shooting Les Misérables, the actors wore miniscule earpieces that played an accompaniment provided by an electric piano located offstage. Music producer Anne Dudley described sound mixer Simon Hayes’s role as “crucial,” as the production sound crew acted, simultaneously, as music recording engineers. Beginning 10 Oct 2012, the accompaniment was added to the actors’ vocals during post-production by a seventy-piece orchestra.
       Though the film was initially scheduled for a 14 Dec 2012 release, a 19 Sep 2012 DV brief announced that the opening had been moved to 25 Dec 2012 due to a shift in release schedules for Life of Pi (2012, see entry) and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatbsy, both of which were initially set to release on Christmas day but had been moved.
       Critical reception was mixed. In his 21 Dec 2012 HR review, Todd McCarthy complained about the film’s through-sung dialogue and lack of subtlety, stating that actors gave “stage-sized turns for the screen.” Echoing McCarthy’s sentiment in her 24 Dec NYT review, Manohla Dargis described Hooper’s direction as “maximalist,” stating that the film had “an overblown tone that rarely quiets.” Several reviewers praised Hathaway’s performance as a standout, pointing in particular to the “I Dreamed a Dream” sequence as a high point.
       Les Misérables was named as one of AFI’s Movies of the Year. The film received Academy Awards for Sound Mixing, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Actress in a Supporting Role (Anne Hathaway), and the following Academy Award nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor (Hugh Jackman); Best Costume Design; Best Original Song (“Suddenly”); and Best Production Design. The film was awarded “Best Acting by an Ensemble” and “Best Ensemble” by the National Board of Review, and received the following Golden Globe awards: Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical; Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Hugh Jackman); and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Anne Hathaway). The film was also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song (“Suddenly,” music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil). More Less