Kurjat

After the mixed responses to Hooper’s Les Misérables from both American and Czech critics, I was convinced I would hate it with all my heart and I went to the cinema basically as an obligation. But I did well because Les Misérables enchanted and emotionally disarmed me. At the beginning my resistance was still successful, but it took about three songs for me to dive into the story, and I really enjoyed the rest of the movie. Overall, I think this musical conception was a very interesting experience: there’s filth and realism, on one side, and a display of musical performances and singing on the other… a very interesting experience. For me it’s more interesting and bolder than the over-hyped The King's Speech, I can’t reproach Tom Hooper (and before the première I though Les Misérables was a cowardly safe bet.). 9/10 (15.01.2013)

The musical is the only film genre that I can’t stand (with the exception of Moulin Rouge! until today), so my review is rather biased. I always suffer through the singing parts, as they are the necessary evil between dialogue scenes. In this film, however, the singing constitutes about 99% of the overall 160-minute running time and it’s not always done by actors who can sing (Russell Crowe). This was a very painful experience that I survived thanks only to the perfect set designs and camerawork, which makes the film more three-dimensional than most 3D movies. (13.01.2013)

Suffering. It is solid craftsmanship with excellent production design, where inexperienced viewers will say, “this was a truly valuable and artistic film after a long time”. The qualities are debatable, but not due to my dislike for the genre. Not even Russel Crowe and Hugh Jackman singing can save it, no matter how good they were in their roles. Throughout the film, I had the impression that if there was no singing, it would have been a considerably better experience. (27.01.2013)

A world where there is no place left for searching for mistakes or inaccuracies. Les Misérables by Hooper is filled with emotions, captivating performances, and breathtaking production to the very edge. And when I suffer with Fantine, search with Javert, or cry with Éponine, there is no defense against the resulting enthusiasm. The stunning finale resonates in every sense almost relentlessly. (24.01.2013)

Honestly, it took a lot of effort to make it through the final hour, so tediously drawn out was the last "revolutionary" act. Yet the film didn't start off badly at all. For the first twenty minutes I was getting used to the singing and learning not to expect the spoken word, but I quite liked the next hour or so (especially Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were great) and Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe were the perfect choice for acting and singing. But the ending(s)... I don't know the original musical, so I had no idea how long any song would be, and so with Javert's finale came the real hell (in my mind I was thinking: "Now! Come on! Now!" and it didn't, the next verse came) and the very end made the hell even hotter. Two and a half. (02.11.2014)