Can I be completely honest with you guys? I am freaking out. I am seriously, honestly freaking out over this movie. I am so excited about this whole thing. Les Miserables lives in such a dear, deep place in my heart, and when I go to see this movie, I have a feeling that it’s going to be like the time my dad took me to see Cats when the touring company was coming through back in high school. And by that, I mean that I’m going to hyperventilate and cry throughout the first two songs while surrounded by old ladies.
And if I wasn’t freaking out enough after Sarah posted those stills the other day, I certainly am now that I saw this video. The footage is from the filming of the show’s finale, and it looks so beautiful. I think Hugh Jackman is going to do such a phenomenal job with this (even though my BFF, who I have lengthy discussions of this movie with, thinks he’s a little too clean-cut and handsome for the role), and Anne Hathaway … well, to be fair, I always love Anne Hathaway. I think I’m going to have a hard time finding any fault at all with this whole thing. I just love it too much already.
But wait! That was a set-up, because I already had a serious fault in mind. See, the finale of Les Mis is … let’s just say that I have never, ever been able to listen to it without crying. Ever. I cried the first time I heard it, I cried when I saw the show, I cried just now, watching this video, and I cried every single time I’ve listed to it in between all that. If you’re not familiar, then, ok, Hugh Jackman’s character, Jean Valjean, lives this whole big life (you can’t honestly expect me to tell you everything that happens. It’s a lot), and spoiler alert, he’s about to die. Then Fantine, Anne Hathaway’s character, who died a while back, comes down to escort him to heaven. Eponine, who died recently, comes down to escort him too. And then everybody comes on in, like you see in the clip, to do the “Do You Hear The People Sing?” bit. And that’s great, but listen: Fantine and Eponine are supposed to be next to Valjean when he dies, not just Fantine, and certainly not just Fantine with Valjean all alone. Valjean is supposed to hold hands with Fantine and Eponine and sing the part that reduces me to a weepy mess of tears and grief: “take my hand, and lead me to salvation. Take my love, for love is everlasting. And remember the truth that once was spoken: to love another person is to see the face of God.” This is one of the most touching moments of the entire show for me, and if it’s done with Fantine and Valjean up high on a tower, away from everyone else, with no Eponine in sight, then I’m going to be a little hurt.
In an attempt to balance out my long-winded nerdiness, let me go ahead and show you this picture of Amanda Seyfried as Cosette:
What do we think?
Emily, there’s no shame in your game….Les Mis is my absolute favorite musical, and I too cry every time I listen to it. It is so beautiful!
It is the MOST beautiful thing. Ahhhh, so much excitement!
I’m sooooo excited to see Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean. He is going to be amazing. I have pretty high hopes for Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried, but who I really wanna know about is this Samantha Barks lady. She’ll be Eponine, who is my favorite character. I hope this Samantha girl does her justice.
Yes, I too bawl through most of Les Mis, I just love it so much!!
Samantha Barks is all over the YouTube, since she did the concert thing. It’s been a hot minute since I watched it, but I remember liking her. Eponine is my favorite character too, and I’m so, so glad that they got someone who has so much experience playing the role, and the original producer himself seems to totally love her. I feel good about it, and I hope you love it too!