Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net
 


       Musicals.Net Forums -> Les Miserables
Aimee

Does anyone know much about these two specific films please?

The Les Mis film from 1982 with Lino Ventura and the 1934 version with Harry Baur.

Are they any 'good' and are they available with dubbed English or with English subtitles?

All opinions on these films, good or bad will be welcomed.

Thanks all. xx
bigR

I still haven't seen the 1934 film. I have it in my computer and plan on seeing it as early as possible, but haven't done it yet. But I've seen some clips on youtube and it doesn't look bad at all. The Amis have personalities and period-accurate clothes and hairdoes, which is always a good sign.

The 1982 one is very interesting. It is very faithful to the Book, and at the same time it mirrors the musical in several scenes (Robert Hossein was also the director of the original french version of the musical). It's dark and rainy, and in spite of some minor absurdities (cosette is about 12 years old when her mother leaves her with the Th�nardiers, and Fantine wears very visible eye-liner Laughing ), it is probably the closer to the book that you can get.
Its main problem, though, is that the direction is very stiff, and it tries to be "arty" in an old fashioned way, and this makes the film rather boring to watch. By the end of the whole thing I was dozing on my couch. But if you want accuracy (isnt'it Loony?) and musicalverse winks, that's the one you should see.

No idea about whether you can get it with english subs, though.
MariekeLovesEnjolras

I own a VHS tape with Dutch subtitles of the 1982 Lino Ventura version. People were all laughing at me when I went crazy by seeing a VHS tape Razz Strange huh?
The Very Angry Woman

http://www.pontauchange.com/Media/1933movie.html

http://www.pontauchange.com/Media/1982tvmovie.html
Monsieur D'Arque

Be warned- both films are individual movieverse. They're close to bookverse, but far from musicalverse.

The only Les Mis film even remotely close to M.netVerse is South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. But even it leaves out most of the major characters and plot points- must unforgiveably, no Australian Eponine or VMC.
Orestes Fasting

The 1934 one is available subtitled through Amazon as part of a collection of the director's work. The 1982 version is widely available on French-language sites (ebay.fr, amazon.fr, etc) but has no subtitles. The only problem is that the 1934 one is only available in Region 1 (US/Canada) and the 1982 one is only available in Region 2 (UK/Europe). So unless you have a region-free DVD player...
Artemis Entreri

My problem is that I have the '82 version, but it's apparently cut. It's 3 hours long and awesome, but as I read Loony's review there's a longer version. I want that so badly.
The Pirate King

The 1934 version is simply amazing. One of the best films I've ever seen.
Thom_Boyer

The 1934 film (almost five hours in three parts) was ahead of its time in every respect. The sound design and production values still hold up seventy-five years later. Every shot is gorgeous, the adaptation is faithful, and the acting is superb. I never get the feeling I do from early sound films that the director and actors are confined and huddling around a microphone.

Having viewed it several times, I'm convinced that the musical uses this version as its major inspiration -- brilliant piece of work, and as a bonus, you get one of the best war films ever made in "Wooden Crosses" in that Raymond Bernard Eclipse set.
Aimee

Thank you so much all of you.

hugs xx
Ulkis

One of the best things about the 1934 version is the score. The score is gorgeous.

Quote:
The Mme Victurnien Worst Excuse For A Human Being Award is awarded, posthumously, to Josseline Ga�l, who plays the adult Cosette (!). During the selfsame WWII, while Harry Baur was getting the worst of what the Nazis could offer, Ga�l was a collaborator. Yep, she ran off with a French Gestapo officer who belonged to the worst of the worst, the "Red Gang" who ratted out their fellow Frenchmen and lived the life of Reilly until of course the Allies kicked their asses and they were arrested. Sentenced to death, only the intervention of her estranged husband spared her life, but she was condemned with an interesting French sentence called "National Degradation", meaning that while she was not imprisoned, she was stripped of all her civil rights as a French citizen for the rest of her life) and fined well into her next life. She never appeared on film again. Watching her in this one, it gives you chills down the spine that someone this seemingly guileless and innocent could be capable of this kind of betrayal. Either that or she was the best ---- actress on the planet. Which I doubt. (Special thanks to IMDB for the above information. What did I ever do before them, and what would I do without them?)


!!!!! This, needless to say, slightly taints her Cosette for me. Boo to the extreme.

ETA: Could anyone please link me to all the movie reviews on this page? For some reason my browser isn't letting me see the menu that is supposed to be there on the left side of the page. Thanks!
Orestes Fasting

So I just watched the 1933 version and wow. I wanna send a copy of the DVD to the directors of the 1998 and 2000 versions with a note saying "Learn, guys." It's approaching the same level of book-faithfulness as the Jean Gabin version without looking or sounding the slightest bit dated, which is freaking impressive for something that was filmed in the early days of non-silent movies.

Even aside from the faithfulness, the wonderful performances, and some pretty excellent directing decisions, the design and production values are incredible. It doesn't look like the 1930s. It looks like they opened up a window on France a century earlier and filmed it.
Ulkis

Only tangentially related, but for anyone interested and who has Turner Classic Movies USA channel, they're airing an old French movie called "Marius" with Orane Demazis (Eponine in the 1934 movie) on tomorrow night, Sunday May 3rd. For some reason one part of the site says it's on at 11 p.m. and another at 2 a.m. (Sunday night/Monday morning) It's probably 2 a.m. though, since that's when TCM usually airs its foreign imports.
Ulkis

Some undubbed dtrung together clips of the baricade scenes from the 1957 Jean Gabin version.
       Musicals.Net Forums -> Les Miserables
Page 1 of 1