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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 10:08:35 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 10:28:28 GMT
Do it properly, BBC. Make it so true to the book we could all cry. Break off after four episodes of plot to give us one episode that is a documentary on the Paris sewers before returning to the story.
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Post by crowblack on Jan 10, 2018 11:49:07 GMT
Not sure we need another version, but looks like a very interesting cast so I'll defo be watching. I do wish the BBC would be more adventurous in their period drama, though - how about an adaptation of A Place of Greater Safety, or Richard Attenborough's long-nurtured project These Are The Times, about Tom Paine? There was a Shardlake adaptation mooted a decade ago, but nothing became of that.
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Post by viserys on Jan 10, 2018 11:55:25 GMT
It would definitely be nice to see OTHER books being adapted than forever the same ones. However, in this case I'm okay really as the last movie version (not counting the musical one) is from 1998 and the last mini series from 2000 and while that one was originally 400 mins long in France it was shortened to 171 in a dubbed English version.
So, I think there's a good argument for a fresh adaptation for a new generation and with greater length it will also be able to better do the huge book justice than the movie/musical version.
I would kill for an adaptation of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle personally.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 12:39:42 GMT
This cast list reads suspiciously like the cast list of the musical, so let’s hope Andrew Davies can bring “this intense and gut-wrenching story” (his words, not mine) to new life. There are so many other characters to explore, and so many other little stories within the story that need to see the light of day. I can do without Hugo’s long history lessons... A totally original version of Les Miserables was the 1995 Jean-Paul Belmondo film. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_(1995_film) It also has a fabulous soundtrack with contributions from Francis Lai, Michel Legrand and Patricia Kaas. It also features the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s version of Cheek to Cheek. (A gut-wrenching moment in the film if ever there was one...) |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 12:45:06 GMT
The one classic not done recently that I'd like to see is Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, Dickens' Hard Times not been seen for ages either (anyone else see the West End musical version at the Haymarket with Roy Hudd and Brian Blessed?).
On a more contemporary note aren't we supposed to be getting a His Dark Materials TV version? The badly emasculated Hollywood one, which never got past the first book, is a poor representation.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 12:49:53 GMT
I only know the musical, but going off this cast list, can we expect unknowns for the roles of Gavroche and Enjolras or are they not as major a character in the book?
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Post by peggs on Jan 10, 2018 13:11:29 GMT
Is this a book I should try reading since my understanding is based entirely on the film which I apparently did not fully understand as I kept waiting for the bit that would make me cry and it never happened. Of course I may just be a cold hearted b******.
Or is it one of those books I'd start and give up as I no longer seem capable of reading something that can be a bit hard in places (attention span seems to be shrinking as I get older).
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Post by viserys on Jan 10, 2018 13:23:00 GMT
Is this a book I should try reading since my understanding is based entirely on the film which I apparently did not fully understand as I kept waiting for the bit that would make me cry and it never happened. Of course I may just be a cold hearted b******. Or is it one of those books I'd start and give up as I no longer seem capable of reading something that can be a bit hard in places (attention span seems to be shrinking as I get older). If you wrestle with a short attention span Les Miserables might not be the thing for you - Victor Hugo takes you on endless detours to the battlefield of Waterloo, the sewers of Paris and many other places for several pages while absolutely nothing happens to the main story. If you can stomach that (or skip), I'd say it's worth it, because there is SO MUCH MORE to the story than the bits shown in the musical. The movie version at least brought Marius' grandfather in and gave Marius a bit more background this way, but it's still nothing to the richness of the characters in the book. Personally I also find it interesting to see how some characters changed, for example Eponine is a very small part in the books and described as an ugly scrawny brat, while the musical turned her into this saccharine weepy damsel whining about unrequited love because obviously Cam Mack knew that every female teenager in the audience would fully identify with her and the feeling of being invisible to the dashing hunk at school. |
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Post by londonmzfitz on Jan 10, 2018 13:36:35 GMT
The one classic not done recently that I'd like to see is Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, Dickens' Hard Times not been seen for ages either (anyone else see the West End musical version at the Haymarket with Roy Hudd and Brian Blessed?). Yes! Roy Hudd was, from memory, very good indeed. Got a programme somewhere at home ... Read the title of the thread and immediately thought Oh Gawd, done to death! Always up for a new interpretation, of course, but there really is so much more out there. Anyone catch Little Women over Christmas - a travesty! Running around in their scanties and Meg having a pee in the background of the camera shot of Jo! I'm a fan of H E Bates, lets have one of his updated. |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 10, 2018 13:45:17 GMT
Dickens' Hard Times not been seen for ages either The BBC have just commissioned several new Dickens adaptations by the Taboo/Peaky Blinders team, so maybe they'll tackle it rather than going for the more familiar ones - though the first one announced is going to be A Christmas Carol (again!). There was a Schools or OU version many years ago (1994 - blimey!) with Alex Jennings, Richard E Grant etc. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 13:56:06 GMT
I really wanted a side storyline in the musical where Marius and/or Enjoras were secretly gay, and assuming that is not in the book, if they wanna add that bit in the miniseries, i'm game.  |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 10, 2018 14:33:08 GMT
Well, it's adapted by Andrew Davies, so chances are... |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 10, 2018 14:46:03 GMT
which never got past the first book, is a poor representation. The first book was the strongest, though - I thought the second and third were meandering and lost focus, and would be much harder to adapt. Some of the Sally Lockhart books were adapted a few years ago, and they were very well done. |
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Post by londonmzfitz on Jan 10, 2018 15:29:41 GMT
Is this a book I should try reading since my understanding is based entirely on the film which I apparently did not fully understand as I kept waiting for the bit that would make me cry and it never happened. Of course I may just be a cold hearted b******. Or is it one of those books I'd start and give up as I no longer seem capable of reading something that can be a bit hard in places (attention span seems to be shrinking as I get older). If you wrestle with a short attention span Les Miserables might not be the thing for you - Victor Hugo takes you on endless detours to the battlefield of Waterloo, the sewers of Paris and many other places for several pages while absolutely nothing happens to the main story. If you can stomach that (or skip), I'd say it's worth it, because there is SO MUCH MORE to the story than the bits shown in the musical. The movie version at least brought Marius' grandfather in and gave Marius a bit more background this way, but it's still nothing to the richness of the characters in the book. Took me 5 months to read Les Miserables. Highlights - Gavroche is the son of Thenardiers. Marius and Eponine flirt for weeks without speaking to each other, coy looks and dropped hankies, etc. |
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Post by Jon on Jan 10, 2018 15:40:33 GMT
I enjoyed the recent BBC adaptation of War and Peace so I hope Les Miserables is similar in scale and with six episodes, they should be a good adaptation, the novel of War and Peace much like Les Mis, has sections that go on and on which most adaptations wisely cut
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Post by peggs on Jan 10, 2018 15:45:36 GMT
Sounds a bit like war and peace, meandering off round how to write history while the plot has a lie down. Will see if the library has it when it reopens.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 16:21:32 GMT
Took me 5 months to read Les Miserables. Phew, thought I was the only one who took that long. True story, a French lady I once knew was impressed that I'd read it at all... until I told her I'd only read it in English... Five months?!?! You obviously weren’t skipping through enough pages... 😂 |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 10, 2018 18:47:29 GMT
Olivia Colman is in serious danger of over exposure.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 19:13:48 GMT
Took me 5 months to read Les Miserables. Phew, thought I was the only one who took that long. True story, a French lady I once knew was impressed that I'd read it at all... until I told her I'd only read it in English... You think thats long, a friend of mine wrote a novel in 2016 that is 217 pages. I'm still on page 15. 😂😂 |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 9:57:44 GMT
Can any of them sing?
I also don't like 'Les Miserables' without a revolve.
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Post by theatreian on Jan 11, 2018 10:13:22 GMT
Well I hope I'm not on my own in hoping we will hear the people sing as I have a heart full of love for Les Mis.There do seem a decent amount of stars in this production but who am I to comment? I will just have to dream a dream of a great production I don't want to look down on it as a poor reflection.
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Post by ali973 on Jan 11, 2018 22:37:16 GMT
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Post by crowblack on Jan 11, 2018 22:48:36 GMT
Wonderful Les Mis sequence in the Harry Hill Movie.
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Post by crowblack on Jan 12, 2018 16:10:41 GMT
aren't we supposed to be getting a His Dark Materials TV version? They're location scouting in Wales at the moment, according to Cultbox, so sounds like it's going ahead. |
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