Monday, January 7, 2013

Movie Monday: LES MISERABLES & THE IMPOSSIBLE

Thanks to the holidays, I've got two movies to share with you this morning.

The first, LES MISERABLES, which we saw with our youngest son (he turns 13 this month).

I don't know which was more fun: my own enjoyment or watching his enjoyment.

He LOVED it. He said afterward that he wasn't lost at all, he understood everything. He asked me how long it was, and when I told him, he couldn't believe the movie had kept his attention the entire time. (This son has never been one to sit and watch ANYTHING. He must also be drawing or building lego or otherwise fiddling.)

As for me, I cried more than once and have to agree that Anne Hathaway was brilliant as Fantine. We've seen the musical twice on Broadway and once here in Birmingham as part of a Broadway traveling series, so the story and songs are of course familiar to me. The movie made everything clear-er, actually, and aside from missing the magic of the rotating circular stage, I was pretty darn happy with Hollywood's version.

Also: My son said he sure was glad Eponine finally gave Marius the note from Cosette -- he's a romantic, like his mom. :)


Next we saw THE IMPOSSIBLE. We really weren't planning to see this one -- we'd planned to see SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. But it was at the far-away theater at an inconvenient time, so we opted for the tsunami movie instead.

I guess it's kind of hard to get excited about a tsunami movie. You know right away that's going to be some tough viewing. And you know, it was tough. I was cringing at times, crying at others. It was real and horrifying and about as close to a tsunami as I ever want to get.

Yet it was beautifully shot and acted, and oh man, I felt it. Thank goodness for some tiny happy (true story) endings in the midst of so much tragedy. Love is powerful and inspiring always.

3 comments:

  1. Wow... powerful critiques... I might just have to make a point of watching them when they come out on OnDemand... I'm cheap when it comes to movies.

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  2. I can't wait to take my daughter to see Les Mis. I hope it's still in theaters next time we are in the US. My husband brought home a DVD of a stage performance, thinking it would be a nice evening's entertainment, and it grabbed her and obsessed her completely for months and months. (She was 14 at the time.)

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  3. I loved Les Mis, too....they really emphasized the Mis part, didn't they?? But I'm glad they did.

    Anne Hathaway said in an interview somewhere that to prepare for the role, she researched human trafficking and prostitution (and saw Fantine as a victim of human trafficking). That reality has really stayed with me...it's so disturbing (and in the musical, Fantine's story is, of course, tragic....but Anne Hathaway's performance gave such context and realism to the character).

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