Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Some Miserable Opinions

Jordan (check out her blog, Pamina's Opera House) surprised me today with a Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

Thank you so so much, this makes me feel very flattered!

The rules go that whoever gets this award must share seven facts about themselves. Seeing how I'm very bad at coming up with facts about myself, and seeing how Jordan also asked me to talk a little more about my opinions considering the Les Misérables movie...


Siiri's Top 7 (Unpopular) Opinions on the Les Mis Movie
...in no particular order.
  • I enjoyed Russell Crowe as Javert, both vocally and acting-wise. Stars was the highlight of the movie for me. I couldn't see the screen through my tears during the scene, it was that good. With the visuals of Paris at night and Javert looking at the skies... I finally saw Javert as a real, flesh-and-blood person, not just as an opposing force to Jean Valjean. Weirdly enough, Javert's Soliloquy later on didn't touch me in a similar manner. I blame the cuts, and the fact that Stars had squeezed all the tears out of me an hour earlier.
  • I think it's a shame the movie didn't do more with the orchestrations. Stars was rearranged beautifully, but other than that, nothing in the orchestrations caught my attention. I don't mean to say the music wasn't pretty. It was, I especially love the end credits medley. I'm just a bit sorry the movie didn't reimagine the orchestrations like it reimagined, for example, the costumes.
  • I didn't think Aaron Tveit was anything special as Enjolras. He sung the part well but didn't make me feel a thing. I wonder, though, if seeing all the cut scenes would affect my opinion.
  • Other than Russell Crowe, my favourites were Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche and Isabelle Allen as little Cosette. Usually, I don't much care for the kid roles, but these two were perfect! Finally, Castle on a Cloud actually made me feel for the character instead of making me feel like fast-forwarding to the next scene. Also, got to mention Colm Wilkinson as the Bishop of Digne. It was sweet seeing the original Valjean pass the candlesticks onwards on the big screen. I grinned so widely my face hurt.
  • The movie could've done so much more with the locations. On My Own, for example. Why didn't they show Éponine walking the streets of Paris, actually give us the visual of the lights in the river? I felt there were way too many closeups and way too few shots establishing the environment.
  • Jean Valjean's death was the most beautiful part of the movie. I'm glad the movie made many fans' dream come true and had the Bishop welcoming Valjean into heaven, instead of featuring Éponine. Do You Hear the People Sing reprise didn't work as well. Are they stuck in an eternal battle at the heaven barricade? You'd think a revolutionist's heaven would be a world where barricades don't need to exist. It must've been a hard scene to adapt, and I can see why they chose to feature the barricade. I guess it can't be helped the abstract theatrical take works better.
  • Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean was the least pleasant vocal performance in the movie. I don't want to hear his Bring Him Home ever again.

There's no specific number of blogs the award should be given to. I'll give it to three inspiring bloggers (though also check out my blog's sidebar, every blog is there for a reason):
  • Laura, One Night in Theatre. In her theatre reviews, Laura often puts my thoughts into words better than I could – and when we disagree, her opinions are still interesting to read about. Mostly in Finnish, but you can find English entries in the archive too.
  • Marine, Marine - Art! Some of the cutest illustrations out there! In French and English, but the art speaks for itself. I'm especially in love with her traditionally coloured works.
  • Talle at Teatterikärpäsen puraisuja 2. I'm impressed by the sheer amount of shows she sees and reviews! Thumbs up for the actor interviews. In Finnish.
I'd love to hear seven facts about you (or about anything you find interesting, if you want to cheat a bit like I did here) – but no pressure, just enjoy the award if you don't feel like fact-sharing!

9 comments:

  1. True: I don't want to hear Jackman's Bring Him Home version ever again. (I actually prefer the Glee version...)
    And I would have loved to hear more orchestra.

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    1. Yeah... I think BHH's a somewhat boring song in the stage version. The movie made it almost like torture... Oh well. Jackman's singing as a whole was a bit of a unpleasant surprise for me – the whole fandom was pretty sure he'd do a good job, being a former Broadway star and all!

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  2. Thanks ! :) Seven facts coming soon...

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  3. This is Jordan - I'm just so glad I could give you this award! I've always loved reading your opinions and insights on musical theatre, particularly about all the productions in Finland and other parts of Europe that I only wish I could see! Keep up the good work! :)

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    1. So glad to hear you enjoy the blog, thank you so much! :) Thanks once again for the award!

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  4. Orkestroinnit olivat omituisen... tasaiset. Kauniit, kyllä, mutta mitään ei oikein noussut esille ja musiikki muuttui vain taustaksi. Ymmärrän niitä, jotka valittivat että musikaalissa ei ole mieleen jääviä melodioita, koska leffa jotenkin tasoitti minusta kaiken musiikin yhdeksi pitkäksi putkeksi. En tiedä, oliko syynä aplodikohtien puuttuminen, ne kun rytmittävät esityksen selkeämmin erillisiksi biiseiksi.

    Pidän Jackmanista, mutta Bring Him Homeen hänen äänensä ei riittänyt niin millään. En ylipäätään pidä ko. kappaleesta, eikä tämä versio parantanut tilannetta. :P

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    1. Leffassahan saa istua käsiensä päällä, ettei alkaisi taputtaa One Day Moren jälkeen... ;) Mutta voit hyvin olla oikeassa!

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  5. My Dad's with you on Russel Crowe-- and he has a musical background of sorts(High School and College Glee Club).

    And I cry my eyes out during Valjean's death :((

    (LuxCompagno from dA <3 )

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  6. Nice to know someone else liked Russell Crowe's Javert, so many people seem to think he was like sooooooooooo bad :(

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