Les Miserables film with good singing — Page 2

I still haven't seen the film yet, but from your clip, the dubbed vocals following the ones from the movie are indeed much better. I mean like night and day much better. I can see your point. I've heard bad things about the vocals in the movie and that's why I haven't really rushed to see it yet but I will give it a chance :)

Updated On: 1/11/14 at 11:27 PM

My problem with that is that if it was not the way to go then it would not have made money and audiences would have stayed away. For this film, at that time, it was the way to go. It worked. It brought people in, likely more than once. The film was a success. Just because it did not work, does not mean it didn't work in general and that it wasn't the way to go.
I found the results to be fairly mixed, personally. But given the circumstances, I can't say the choice was a mistake. It wasn't. The world wide box office was over 440 million dollars. It worked. Will the film hold up over time? Probably. There is a built in legacy and the nomination count favors a life beyond the now. I think that the masses will continue to appreciate it, even if we theatre snobs remain apprehensive or refuse to embrace it.

My 2 bits worth--I think Les Mis would have been the success it was with the singing either way.I am sure a huge percentage of people couldn't have cared less-or known-though the 'live' singing promotion was relentless before its release.

"nobody seems to be saying they really love Russell Crowe's singing."

Does anybody think sticking him in a recording studio would have produced a better vocal performance?

"We have seen what worked best for this film"

No, we now see what actually works better. The visuals stay the same only better audio takes it to a higher level emotionally.

Patty and Devonian, great points!

Liza, it's my sisters yt account.


"Does anybody think sticking him in a recording studio would have produced a better vocal performance?"

Yes I do. And if that still doesn't give the required quality, dubbing by others is an option. It worked for captain von trapp in TSOM and many other films and it works in the clip. It's about the final product, not about actor's ego's.

Updated On: 1/11/14 at 07:26 AM

What a lot of fuss over a very mediocre film!

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I love the debates on bbw in which some posit that creative success of a work depends (or is corresponding) on how many people see it and how much money it makes, or that anyone, like me, who dares to look objectively at something apart from its success with money and awards, is a 'snob."

Great works can make money and win awards.

Horrible works can make money and win awards.

(and everything in between can make money and win awards)

That's apples and oranges.

Or are we to simply be automatons who have to agree with the marketplace and award machine/trends and not have our own opinions?

Yes, commerce is important, show business is a business. But that doesn't mean one is a snob by having one's own point of view about what one has seen or that one is a snob if one doesn't like everything that is apparently popular (there is of course, an opposite pattern, some people revel in indiscriminately objecting to anything that is popular, but the fact that one doesn't like the movie of Les Mis doesn't mean that one is in that camp). I paid my money and I give my opinion. (the commercial success of the work is based on the fact that people pay to see it, not all people who pay to see it like it).

Updated On: 1/11/14 at 11:12 AM

Elite, who cares about that? This is about sharing our opinions and respecting each others (although, of course, we can all get snarky now and then, that's part of the fun).

Frankly, my probs with the movie of Les Mis were mostly directorial and editing. I think, for instance, that Jackman's and Seyfried's performances could have delivered much better if their scenes had been crafted and cut better (much better!); for me it has far less to do with the singing being at its very peak (although I think Dave's experiment is somewhat persuasive). What I wouldn't have wanted, at any cost, would have been synching of another actor's voice for the singing, that's a cop out that has never worked for me (even when watching My Fair Lady, Gigi, West Side Story and King and I, movies which I otherwise enjoy, it bugs me that the actress in the lead role is not singing (or is not always singing)).

I also disagree with Dave that outstanding singers are always required in musicals. It depends on a great many things, including the particular musical role and how much a great voice is demanded of it.

For instance, Renee Z. may not be a great singer or the very best dancer, but, in my opinion, she was a superb Roxie. I also believe, getting back to an earlier discussion, that Chicago was a great movie, and the fact that it was a huge financial hit and an oscar winner is, as I said before, not proof of that, it is just an illustration that sometimes great movies can be big hits and win oscars.

Updated On: 1/11/14 at 11:48 AM

Kad, didn't realize that. As is often the case, I'm late to the party and somewhat out of context, responding to just what's in front of me at the particular moment.

Of course we can't know that, but if you see edited clips that actually work better, combined with all the critisism that many performances got, it would be silly to stick your head in the sand and think it can't get better than what happened in the actual film. I always base my opinions on things I have heard and seen, so don't portray me as a person with prejudices please, thank you.

And thanks Henri(k), for your reply.

I'm just curious, what made you think of this film again? Is it that it's been all over HBO lately? Or that's coming in March to Broadway? The film was absolute sh*t as far as I'm concerned but I was just wondering.

Updated On: 1/11/14 at 03:58 PM

Dave has also implied, especially about Miss Saigon, that more theatrical and evocative sets are more appropriate than realistic sets.

I wonder if he just believes that theatre and film are not entirely compatible at all beyond a certain point.