Superlatives

There are times when attending a performance leaves a profound impression on one’s soul, and such is the case with Les Miserables. Yes, it’s an operatic musical, and everyone sings their lines, but this is one of the most raw, the most natural and perfect “opera” I’ve attended. I saw Les Mis on stage many years ago and it left me wanting something I could not name. Now I know what that lack is: the musical performance is too large for a stage. Shakespeare said that "all the world's a stage," and this musical needs the world's stage, the big silver screen, to reach the pinnacle of performance.

It doesn’t matter if actors cannot sing perfectly as much as if they can act believably, and this performance is believable. Hugh Jackman sings one of my favorite songs (Let Him Live) in a key a bit too high for his singing talent, but it’s okay because it’s so raw, so gritty, so believable. None of us perform perfectly during life’s real moments, so it’s okay if the actor singing his role isn’t exactly right on perfect. Russell Crowe captures the essence of the stoic military bearing of Chabert, even in his most passionately emotional scenes, not because he’s a talented singer, but because he knows how to perform the role in which he’s cast. Anne Hathaway’s voice is one of the better in this film, but her acting is what makes her voice cut deeply into the heart of the viewer. Amanda Siegfried’s vibrato adds a layer of fragility to her performance as Cosette, a fragility that is perfect for an innocent young girl who suddenly finds herself in love at first sight.

But what the big screen can capture that a stage cannot contain is the largeness of the story: it’s the early days of the French Revolution and that story needs all of Paris, not just what a stage in a theater can capture through staging. The poverty and oppression of the people contrasts better with the opulence of the rich upper class when it’s shown in the carriages and frippery of the wealthy traversing the streets of Paris, the rich elite who ignore the pleadings of the abject poor standing aside to let them pass. The tension between the rich and the poor, and the passion of the poor to revolt and gain their freedom, needs the grandeur of the city in which it occurs, a grandeur that the stage could not capture for me during a live performance.

The comedic relief steals the show in the characters of Sasha Bowen Cohen and Helen Bonheim Carter, who are wonderful as the King and Queen of the streets. Their appearances are garish, a mishmash of costume elements and farcical make-up that mock the upper classes without a word being spoken. They are witty, they are comical, they are tragic representations of what their lives lack, and when they are front and center of the performance, they provide the emotional moments of release that the story demands of its viewers before going another layer deeper into the heart of the drama.

The symphony that tells the story in musical performance is incredible: the score provides the background that keeps the story moving forward for well over two hours, but it takes center stage to underscore both the depth of the tragedy and the lightness of the comedic moments. Much has been made of the technique of having the actors sing their performances and then adding the musical score to match the performances – and it works beyond imagining. Rather than being a music-driven production, it’s an actor-driven performance, and it’s excellent.

The theaters in the CV have been packed with the "grey brigade" of seniors, but this is a film that could teach many lessons to high school students who lack depth in their own lives. Of course, viewing demands sitting still and focused for over two hours, no cell phones allowed, which could be a deal-breaker for a younger audience. I recommend Les Mis as a must-see in the theater at least once, but the kind of film experience that can be seen again to enhance the richness of the experience. Just as the stage experience left me wanting something more, viewing this production on a TV screen will not create the same "surround sound" emotionally encompassing experience.