My wife had been waiting and hoping that the BD of Les Miserables would arrive before before her birthday. It arrived the day before.
I have to tell you, I was suspicious of the enterprise, but my wife was excited about it.
So we retired to our theater last night. My wife reminded me it was not opera.
From the very beginning this film is a truly excruciating experience and I was wishing it was an opera I was watching.
Not one of the principals can hold a tune, or get on pitch let alone stay on it. Anne Hathaway can briefly get on pitch in the softer passages, but as soon as she tries to swell her voice she if off pitch by a mile.
Even the chorus can not sing on pitch!
The musical standard is well below any high school performance I have attended, or any production I have ever been involved with. If that had been produced in the Grand Forks school system my children attended, there would have been a rumpus and some contracts would not have been renewed. I attended some truly remarkable performances at Red River High School and Central High School ND. The sort of sub amateur performance on this disc I tried to listen to last night would not have seen the light of day and this production should not have either.
About a third of the way through, as I was holding my piece, my wife said, " I just can't watch this any more."
I said "every nerve I own is just raw". So off it went never to disgrace this theater again.
This is a pity. I like Les Miserable. I have seen it on Broadway.
This movie requires singing actors, and not famous actors who can't sing. This is what opera signers are. They can sing and in terms of acting are the equal of any cast members here. We now have an abundance of fine singing actors. I would have cast h
Barbara Hannigan .:. soprano in place of Anne Hathaway for a start.
This production is a total disgrace and my advice is to pass up this disc, it is a total waste of money, in fact worse as you will be quickly climbing the walls if you try to watch it.
Any member who wants my disc, is welcome to it for the postage. However it is not worth the postage.
