The trailer for the big screen adaptation of Les Miserables has finally made its debut, and the Internet is abuzz.
The highly anticipated movie, directed by Tom Hooper, is based on the globally successful musical of the same name. The film is due out this Christmas.
The musical, based on the 1862 French novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, is set in France in the early 1800s. A man by the name of Jean Valjean is released from prison on parole after 19 years.
Soon after he falls back into habit and steals. On the run from police, he assumes a new identity and eventually becomes a successful factory owner and mayor of a town called Montreuil-sur-Mer. An employee of his named Fantine is fired from the factory after it is discovered that she has an illegitimate child and eventually ends up as a prostitute.
After her arrest for an incident with an abusive customer, Valjean demands Fantine’s release and takes her in. Due to poor health, Fantine dies, but not before Valjean makes a promise to retrieve her child and look after her. This barely scratches the surface of the play so if the movie is anything like the musical, it is bound to be quite the emotional rollercoaster.
The trailer for the film is gripping on its own merit. Featuring Anne Hathaway as Fantine singing “I Dreamed a Dream,” the preview is a montage of powerful images such as Hugh Jackman as Valjean working on a boat at a military port after a second arrest, Hathaway’s Fantine having her hair chopped off for money, the brief moments we see a young version of Fantine’s daughter, Cosette, and then seeing a grown up Cosette as portrayed by Amanda Seyfried.
We also get glimpses of Russell Crowe as Javert, the inspector who dedicates his life to capturing Valjean after releasing him on parole.
Ending with the line “Life has killed a dream I dreamed,” this trailer is demanding attention. Surely, many people who had never seen or even heard of Les Miserables will want to go and watch it.
As the trailer states, the dream lives this Christmas.
