Les Misérables: 10 Reasons It's Awesome

If you haven't read our review of Tom Hooper's Les Misérables yet, the cut of it is that Hooper has delivered a lavish, exhaustively comprehensive take on the world's most famous musical, and one that is liable to pick up considerable awards momentum in the coming months. We expect it will receive Academy Award nominations for Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup & Hairstyling, Original Song, Production Design, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. That would mean a whopping 13 nominations, and while it might lose a few of these in the more crowded fields, it's best considered a major threat as we move forward in awards season. Outside of all that rigmarole, the film is going to be a huge treat to the show's fans above all else when it opens in the UK on January 11th next year, likely being a huge box office smash in the US before that (it opens there Christmas Day) and going down as one of the most meticulously-assembled movie musicals of all time. Here are 10 reasons why Les Misérables is awesome.

10. Tom Hooper

Tom Hooper came to our collective attention after his Oscar win for Best Director in 2011 for The King's Speech, while the film itself went on to notably win Best Picture (to the surprise of many, edging out The Social Network) and scooping Colin Firth a much-deserved Best Actor Oscar. Hooper proved on that production that he could make a fantastically assembled period piece albeit in an unconventional style, doing away with the stuffy, generic look of so many period films, instead opting for wide-angle lenses and off-kilter framing to give his film an extremely distinguished, original aesthetic. This carries over into his latest film from practically minute one. Though the project is shot through with a much higher budget - and therefore entertains some smartly-implemented CGI transitions between scenes - Hooper's old tricks are back, opting for a wealth of handheld camerawork that only makes those songs feel more intimate and personal to the viewer. The confidence with which every shot is executed is unmistakable, a perfect collaboration with his talented actors and production team.
 
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.