The Magic of a Movie-Musical

September 2, 2013 at 1:28 PM

I finally got around to watching Les Misérables last night and tonight. Last night we (my family) watched the beginning with Young Cosette and Fantine and today we finished it off. It was an amazing film, and definitely had a holidy-esque feel at the end, due to it being released around Christmas. The thing I loved about the film – which should come as no surprise – was the score. It’s a musical! The entire film was based around song, and this was not just a musical with synth instruments or drums and guitar. This was for a full orchestra in the background, with children’s and adult’s voices mingling together to create a fantastic sound. I really could focus on the music because I was forced to in order to follow the plot. Along with the lyrics, though, I could also say in my head, ooh! Violins follow Cosette’s melody, or ooh! Flutes flurry up here! You know. Things like that. It was all very well done, and what was cool was when there were two singers singing in complete homophony, each with different lyrics. There was a wide range of musical textures, of course, to represent the different sides of the story, like romance, and action. I also loved reading A Tale of Two Cities, so I knew a bit about the French revolution coming in. This is pretty much my favorite film now, so maybe throughout this week I can try to listen to the soundtrack and relive the magic. This is why I love musical films… it’s cinema, but you’re forced to focus on the beautiful music, which is amazing.