Review: Saving Mr Banks

Cinema trips are often rare in my life. I know that's unusual, being that I'm a media student and all, but I also have a strong Christian faith and a lot of films produced nowadays heavily feature violence, sex and profanity, so whenever I see a film advertised, it has to be one that I really want to see and know that it will be entertaining.

Saving Mr Banks was one of them. Being a fan of Disney and of course Walt Disney who I think is an absolute creative genius, I did not hesitate to go and see the film on its' opening weekend.

Saving Mr Banks is an Australian-British author P.L Travers, who is most famous for writing the Mary Poppins books. Walt Disney has been chasing after the author for 20 years, after making a promise to his daughters, who's favourite book was Mary Poppins that he would turn her creation into a film. Travers initially rejects Disney's proposal, however due to lack of money and her books not selling as well she has no choice but to go over to LA for 2 weeks to discuss the making of her book into a Disney film.

P.L Travers is played by British actress Emma Thompson and Walt Disney played by Tom Hanks. Both portray these two creative minds very well and although they have to very different views, there is a chemistry there between them, which seems to make it work very well together.

Travers meets the creative team behind Mary Poppins, including songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman (this was the first project they worked on). She is initially horrified to find out that Mary Poppins will be made into a musical and insists that "Mary Poppins does not sing." Travers also meets the screen-writer Don DaGradi and reminds him that he is co-screen writer and she will have her say in how the film is to be run. Immediately things start to go wrong for the creative team as Travers basically opposes of everything they suggest, from how the Banks' house looks to Dick Van Dyke being cast as Bert. She also almost never approves of the songs penned by the Sherman brothers. One amusing scene in the film has the Sherman Brothers play the opening song in the film and sings a line "the constable's responstable now how does that sound?", while Travers replies, "No! No! No! 'Responstable is not a word'. The Sherman Brothers gleefully say, "We made it up", as if very proud of their efforts, however Travers, unimpressed replies: "Well un-make it up." The Sherman Brothers then hide their sheet music to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Phew, now that's a word and a half to say!  While she struggles with the team at Disney between having to choose between granting the rights to the film or losing her home, she thinks back to her childhood in 1906 in Australia and how the characters of Mary Poppins was based on her real life family, particularly her father Travers Goff (played by Colin Farrell) an alcoholic who kept on having to move his family around due to job and drink problems. These flashback sequences tug at the heart strings and there will not be a dry eye in the house.

Travers, after hearing about Disney's own personal childhood and his relationship with his father, Elias Disney, eventually agrees to hand her creation over to him, ensuring her that she "won't be disappointed." The film end's with the premiere taking place at the Grauman Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on August 27th 1964. Now according to online sources and through documentaries and interviews, P.L Travers called the film version of Mary Poppins 'vulgar' and 'disrespectful' and she vowed never to sign over the rights to the rest of her Mary Poppins books ever again, despite Disney making several attempts to change her mind. However at the end of this film, there is a slightly different ending, which was made probably to soften down the character of P.L Travers and not show her as this spiteful witch that she really was. An interesting fact in the film and which actually happened in real life was that Travers was not invited to the premiere of Mary Poppins (Disney must have been fed up of her by that point and quite rightly so - the whole creative team who worked on Mary Poppins hated her guts). She flies back to Los Angeles from London and turns up in his office, asking him if her invitation got lost in the post. Walt Disney couldn't actually refuse her at that point so in the end she had to come along to the premiere. Well, I suppose without her books the Mary Poppins film wouldn't have been made in the first place.

I would rate Saving Mr Banks 5 out of 5 stars - it's moving, it's funny, interesting and the characters of Travers and Disney excellently portrayed by Hanks and Thompson, who seem to grasp their character's mannerisms really well. At the end credits, you actually hear the real P.L Travers' voice recorded on tape taking with Don DaGradi and the Sherman Brothers in 1961 and Emma Thompson had just captured her down to a tee - from her accent, to her harshness and her firmness in how things were to be done her way and not their way. However the funny thing is that most of the elements she definitely DID NOT want in the film, ended up being in the film - i.e. the animation sequences when Mary, Bert, Jane and Michael jump into the chalk painting, the 'Jolly Holiday with Mary' - remember that scene?

To see a fresh perspective on Mary Poppins, head to your local cinema to see Saving Mr Banks. One word of advice - bring a packet of tissues. Trust me, you'll need them.

Saving Mr Banks is in cinemas now. Mary Poppins is available to buy on DVD. 

Above: The trailer for Saving Mr Banks. 

Hungary - Part 3

On Monday morning, the four of us gathered together with Ilona, Zsolt and Istvàn for a time of prayer and devotions. This prepared us for the day ahead. We continued to do that for the rest of the week. 

The first day was the hardest as we were meeting the children and we weren't sure how they would take to us. It would be difficult, as here we were, four foreigners who didn't speak their language and children who didn't speak our language. But, that was a hurdle we would soon overcome. 

Throughout the week we would all meet in the church (which was on the campsite) and Ilona in Hungarian would go through the theme of the day and also the Bible verse, which was both in English and Hungarian. She would then call all four of us  English speakers up to the front to teach the children a song. The songs were in English and we made up actions with them to help make it easier for the children to learn. The songs were as follows: 

Day 1:

Our God Is A Great Big God


Day 2:

God is Wild About Us


Day 3:

Lord I Lift Your Name on High


Day 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKVery4zI2c

No Greater Gift than God's Great Love

(I couldn't get the video to come up on the page, so you can see the video by clicking on the link above).


Day 5:

Walking in the Light of God

We did encourage the children to join in with us and by the end of the week even the teenagers were doing the actions - which we were really pleased about! The five days each had different themes all of them relating to God and His son Jesus Christ. The main aim of the camp was to teach children the Gospel and the unconditional love of Jesus, as well as teaching them the basics of English. The theme of the days all corresponded to a different colour and each colour had a different message and a different story.

On the first day the theme was Yellow is for God. The story relating to that colour was the story of Creation and during our English teaching lessons we would teach the words that come up in the version of that story for example: sea, stars, sun, moon, land, animals, birds and fish. The children would learn the Bible verse for that day which was taken from Jeremiah 29 v 13: "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

On the second day the theme was Black is for Sin. The children learned the story of Adam and Eve and how sin had separated them from God. They also learned that God can forgive them if they sin and they are truly sorry for what they have done. In the English teaching lessons, I asked the children if they knew what different English words were good and which were bad. They answered correctly each time and I was really impressed that they knew their good from bad in English. The Bible verse for that day, Romans 6 v 23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." 

The third day the theme Red is for Jesus. This day was slightly different to the others as the children were shown a film simply known as 'Jesus'. The Jesus film was made in 1979, but various translations and different versions of the film have been produced since then. This one was a children's version and it was in their native language, so was easy for them to understand. Normally back at home children become restless when sitting down for an hour watching a film which normally they're not interested in, but here it was different. At the crucifixion scene the room was silent and there were a few tears shed from a number of the leaders there. It was just amazing how the kids were able to sit still and take it all in. During our English lesson we read the story of Jesus to them again and filled in various worksheets and towards the end of the lesson got them to occupy themselves by colouring in. The Bible verse for that day is probably the best known of them all John 3 v 16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life."

Day four had the theme White is for a Clean Heart. The story was that of the Ten Lepers, whom Jesus healed and only one came back to say thank you. The Bible verse learned that day was from John 1 v 12: "To all who received Him to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." The final day we learned about the vine and the branches, how the Lord made us to produce much fruit, in other words to do many good things. The colour for the day was green and the theme Green is for Growing. As Christians we are still very much growing spiritually, praying and reading God's word and trying to live like Christ. The final Bible verse: "I am the vine, you are the branches if you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit." John 15 v 5. 

During the afternoons at the camp the children involved themselves in crafts and in games which were a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed learning the numbers in English through card games such as Skip-Bo and Uno, learning names of animals and objects in the game Who Am I? and of course playing games where we were just simply having fun. 

We encouraged the children as much as we could to learn these Bible verses and if they had any questions about God or Jesus to ask us and we would try and answer them as best we can. It was so incredible to see these young lives touched by the camp and how by the end of the week we were their friends. It was also great to meet the parents of the children on the Saturday, where we spent the day playing games, talking and interacting with them and generally having a good time.

The camp is probably the only place these kids get to hear the Gospel and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. 

Hungary - Part 2

The next morning started off with breakfast between 8-9am. We all took the opportunity to get to know each other more and talk about what we were expecting for the week ahead. 

At 9.30am Jill started the orientation session. It was a morning and afternoon session getting us prepped up for the children's camps which were happening that week. The orientation including being given a talk on Hungarian culture and also an intense Hungarian language lesson, courtesy of Istvan. We were often put on the spot but it was so much fun! 

During the session, Ilona and Zsolt Csernus came to the Training Center. They serve with OM Hungary and have two sons called Benjamin and Daniel. They would be the leaders at the Balatonfűzfő English Camp, which was the camp myself and three others were helping at. 

Ilona and Zsolt at the campsite

In the afternoon, we learned the actions to the songs we would be teaching the children at our respective camps. For 'Walking in the Light of God', we tried all the different moves to the song (hop, skipping and jumping) and ended up almost falling over each other. Later on, the Pest Lorinz group stayed downstairs to discuss the week's programme, while us, the ones going to Balatonfűzfő went up the stairs with Ilona to discuss the teaching materials and which age groups we were going to take. 

After an afternoon of preparation for the camp it was time for dinner and another chance to get to know the people I was on the mission trip with. To break the ice we played a few games with one hilarious miming game and another game called 'Consequences' where we had to finish one another's stories on a piece of paper. Well, I have to say I haven't laughed so hard in ages!

It was also the last night before some of us were separated from each other for a week. The Pest Lorinz team were leaving early for their church on Sunday morning and then spending the week at a camp near Budapest. At 8am on Sunday morning, eleven people left along with Jill for the Pest Lorinz camp. It was only four of us going to Balatonfűzfő. Despite the small numbers I knew we would still do well and I think we were all glad we could relax before the busy week ahead! 

Our Sunday morning was spent at Erd Baptist Church, where a woman who attends that church was actually going out on mission to the ship with Operation Mobilisation. So it was very exciting to actually meet a Hungarian woman going away from Hungary on mission and we were in Hungary on mission from the UK and Canada. After church was over, it was time for lunch and we headed to the food court in Tesco, where we tried some  delicious Hungarian cuisine. The rest of the day was spent being given a tour of the OM Hungary office and then relaxing at the training center, before Ilona and Zsolt came and picked us up at 8pm. We arrived at Balatonfűzfő around 10pm, where it was very dark but the stars were scattered around the sky shining beautifully. Once we were settled into our chalet it was time for bed. When we would wake up in the morning it would mark the start of a very hectic, but exciting week. 

Hungary - Part 1

In March this year I applied to go on a short term outreach with the well known Christian organisation 'Operation Mobilisation'. In April I was accepted onto the outreach team and from then prepared for what was going to be a very exciting step in my life.

The country which the outreach was based in, was as you have read from the title, Hungary. Not much is known about the country apart from it was once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and two-thirds of their country cruelly taken away from them after World War I. The country was also affected by the harsh rule of communism until 1989. Despite that,Hungary today is very much a thriving country with areas of opportunity and prosperity.

The outreach was taking place at an English language camp in a town called Balatonfűzfő. It is one of the many towns which surround Lake Balaton, the largest lake in central Europe and also known as the "sea of Hungary".

On Friday 9th of August I arose at 5am and headed off to Aberdeen Airport with my parents. Once I had checked in and had breakfast it was time to say goodbye to my mum and dad as I went through the departures gate, through security and to the gate where my first plane would take me to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. 

I arrived at Schiphol airport at 11.30am, twenty minutes earlier than scheduled. I had over two hours to wait for my next flight, so time was spent wandering the duty free, giggling at the fact that they sold Scottish shortbread there.

At 2pm I then boarded the plane to Budapest. It was all very exciting, as soon I would be in Hungary. The day which I had been waiting for since the end of April was finally here. The plane landed at 4pm and by the time I picked up my suitcase it was about quarter past four.  I knew that there would be a delay in getting picked up by OM, but I didn't know just HOW long the delay would be. It turned out I was waiting 2 hours and 35 minutes. For the first hour I was okay, as I knew that they would be a bit late, however after the first hour has passed I started to get a little bit worried. Texts were going back and forth to Jill Hitchcock, Personnel and Member care of OM Hungary to ensure that someone was picking me up and was just running late. Eventually at 6.45pm, István a worker with OM Hungary came and collected me from the terminal, much to my relief. It was there I met Jonathan, Susanna and Lena - two of whom were going to be at the other camp during the week and Lena who would be with me in Balatonfűzfő. The journey to the training centre took roughly 40 minutes from the airport and during that time, we all got to know each other in the van, Jonathan and Susanna had just finished studying at Oxford University. Jonathan, originally from Suffolk had finished studying music and after the mission trip was heading to Kent to teach music at a school there. Susanna, originally from Northern Ireland had finished studying Hebrew and Jewish studies and would be taking up a post as a student support worker at her church. Lena was from Winnipeg, Canada who ran her own health and well being business. To top it off Jonathan had been in Britain's Got Talent in 2011 with an Oxford University all-male acapella singing group called 'Out of the Blue'. So it was interesting to meet so many talented people!

At the training centre we met the rest of the group: Alexia, Jorgen, Carolyn, Andy, Meike, Hayden, Chandler, Ellen, Catriona, Kristi and Carolin. It was a real mix of different people from Germany, Mexico, Canada, the UK (Scottish, English and Northern Irish) and the USA. We all got to know each other at the dinner table and everyone was really friendly. In the dorm room, I shared with Susanna and also with Lena. 

Soon after it was time to go to bed before a full day of orientation training.

The front of the OM Training Center in Érd, a suburb of Budapest

My dorm room in the OM Training Center (my bunk is the one next to the chair)

The front and back of the OM Training Center

Edinburgh Zoo

Hi all

I'm SO sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while. I haven't found anything exciting to write about. Until now that is.

My church, Fraserburgh Baptist organised a trip to Edinburgh Zoo. It had been a year in the making and now on the 8th of June 2013 it was finally here. The alarm on my phone went off at 5.30am (which should be illegal on a Saturday!), but I didn't seem to mind as I was filled with excitement about going to the zoo. My parents got up roughly the same time as I did, so once we were showered and dressed we spent about half an hour making sandwiches and finishing preparing packed lunches. Although it was a gloomy morning I had my shorts on, as the forecast was set to pick up later in the day. When we arrived at the church, there were only a handful of us wearing shorts, but at least I wasn't the only one. I would have felt pretty stupid if I was. After almost being knocked out by my friend Tony's camera tripod we boarded the bus.  Me and some of my friends from Youth Fellowship headed to the back of the bus (well that is where the most fun is had, right?)

At 7.10am we headed off into the great unknown (well Edinburgh, but I like to think it was an adventure, okay?) and most of the journey was spent listening to music, chattering away to Andrew, Rebekah and Kellsey and just generally getting excited about seeing all the animals in the zoo. Normally it takes an hour to get from Fraserburgh to Aberdeen, however we were there in about 45 minutes and we picked up a wayfaring stranger (Edward, Andrew's friend from uni). The bus was now complete and drove on to Dundee, where we were desperate to get out breakfast.

Around 9.30am the bus arrived at Dundee Camperdown Park. McDonald's and KFC must not have known what hit them as fifty of us descended upon them for breakfast. I ordered blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, which was accompanied with a side order of bacon and eggs. The bacon and eggs were not so great, but the pancakes were delicious! Fifty satisfied tummies later and we were back on the bus for the last hour of our journey to Edinburgh Zoo.

We arrived at the zoo about 11.10am and all gathered in the main reception area. Once we were given maps of the park we were free to roam about and discover the zoo to our hearts content. We saw monkeys energetically swinging from vine to vine, hippopotamuses lazily basking in the sun and chimpanzees munching on fruit.

At 1pm, our group was booked in to see the two giant pandas Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine). After the zoo employees worked out there was fifty of us, they decided to have us all in one big group.

Now pandas are notoriously known for sleeping 16 hours a day, so it's no wonder people who have visited the zoo complained about not seeing them! However this day was going to be a little different. Despite being a very hot day for Scotland, Tian Tian emerged from her usual slumber and walked around her enclosure much to our delight. She clambered over the rocks, came back down and walked against the glass window, with many delighted viewers happily snapping away on their cameras of this energetic panda. Tian Tian had then decided she had enough and without hesitation climbed up a tree and slumped down on the branch, where she had decided that was probably her exercise for the day. We were all so thrilled that we got to see at least one panda awake (Yang Guang wasn't one for getting out of bed!).

Every day at 2.15pm there is a penguin parade called Penguins Rock! The penguin parade is voluntarily, so once the zoo keepers open the gates it's up to the penguins if they want to come out or not. Fortunately, on this day the penguins did want to come out so there were about 15 penguins waddling around a short distance of the park. It was very entertaining and hilarious to see. Once the penguin parade was over, it was time to see more animals - this time the King of the Forest, the Lion and also various different leopards and tigers from different countries. We also saw zebras and a horn bill bird from South Africa (which was part of the Animal Antics show). During the Animal Antics show it was very, very hot and I was sitting wishing I had brought a hat, as the sun was beating down on my head. However, it only lasted for about 15 minutes and soon were on our way again to see more animals.

Our tour of the zoo ended by seeing pelicans, ostriches and many different kinds of birds. At 5pm we all met at the gift shop where we purchased some zoo merchandise before heading off on the bus. Our day ended by getting a McDonald's and KFC for dinner and then coming back to Fraserburgh at 10pm. Despite our tiredness, we had a great day and cannot wait for the
trip to the safari park next year.

Tian Tian

Penguins on parade

Zebras

Birthday presents

I recently turned 22 (8th February) and I thought I would show all you lovely readers of my blog what I got for my birthday. Among money and gift cards (which of course I look forward to spending and saving!) these are the wonderful gifts which I was very fortunate to receive:

The first is this Navy Owl Jumper from Next. I love this because I love to wear navy and I'm also partial to knitwear. Of course the owl design is absolutely adorable and it can teamed with wearing a lace collar, to give it that little bit of glamour. The great thing is it is so cosy and comfortable, perfect to wear on these cold, harsh winter nights. 

The next present I got was 'Hugo Boss: Sunset'. A few Christmases ago, I was given 'Hugo Boss Orange' and it is among one of my favourite perfumes. 'Sunset' has a tangy, delectable  sweet fragrance and is great to spray on whether you're in the house or if you're heading out.


Next have recently launched 'The Collection' which are perfumes named after the world's most famous cities. Currently they have New York, Paris, Milan, London and now Florence. I bought New York before Christmas and while the perfume doesn't last all day, it's great to carry around and spritz whenever you feel like having a little touch-up. I noticed in Next that they launched a new fragrance called 'Florence'. Having already been to the real Florence in North Italy I was intrigued to find out what the perfume smelt like. It is enticed with lily and red rose  on a sensuous base of sandalwood and white musk. Whenever I spray it, I instantly think of spring and all the flowers that will soon grow. I look forward to wearing it more often. The box it comes in is pretty as well, adorned with a cute black and white bow.




Miranda Hart - all round comedic genius. Read her book Is It Just Me? - I trust you, you will laugh!

No, I didn't get Miranda Hart for my birthday unfortunately! Although that would be brilliant if I did. We would have so much fun making fruit friends, dancing around to Spice Girls and making origami pants...

Now you're looking at me weird. RUDE. Anyway, I have tickets (or will have tickets once they arrive) for her show My, What I Call, Live Tour in Glasgow on March 17, 2014. Yep it's a whole year away and by that time I will have passed my 23rd birthday. Still it will come sooner than I think and will officially dub it Miranda Day!



As a child, I loved reading books and spending time in bookstores. Now as a young adult, I still have that same passion for books and you will often find me browsing in Waterstones, thumbing through paperbacks and admiring these stunning hardback books. I received one for my 21st birthday last year Han Christian's Fairy Tales. This year, it was Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I have already read the abridged version of the novel, but now I'm reading the full 1,200 of Hugo's marvellous work. I have started it and it will take a while, especially as the main story does not take place until the middle of the novel, however I do look forward to spending some of my afternoons being whisked away to 19th century revolutionary France, experience the hope, forgiveness, redemption, love and war which are featured in this novel. And isn't the cover gorgeous? A great one to add to my book collection.

Also going along the French theme, I received a poster of the most iconic landmark, The Eiffel Tower, which has a vintage postcard look to it. I can't find a photo of it online, so I will post a picture of it at a later date - possibly when I've finished Les Miserables or when I actually get round to re-learning my French!



From my sister, the Les Miserables Film Highlights Soundtrack. I went to see the film the first weekend it was out and fell just as much in love with the film soundtrack than I did with the stage musical soundtrack. I played it full blast on the CD player in the living room on my birthday and sang along to every song. The music is fantastic and of course it is recorded from the film itself, as the actors were singing live to every take, so you can really hear the emotion and the reality of their voices.




I received a 6-set of beautiful Accessorize Eden earrings, also from my sister. I love wearing earrings but tend to lose them quite a lot and I tend to feel naked without earrings, however there's no excuse now! They are exquisite and elegant and I look forward to wearing them.


As blue is my favourite colour I was delighted when I received this Ice Maiden Stretch Bracelet also from Accessorize. I love bracelets and I really feel they compliment an outfit.


And the last part of my present from my sister was a DVD of The Muppets. 

Since I was a child I have loved the colorful characters, created by Jim Hensen and now owned by Disney. I saw it when it was released in cinemas a year ago and there are some very funny moments, combined with some cheesy musical numbers. Well worth a watch for any Muppets fan.

From my friends, I received lots of chocolate. I am a chocoholic and I have to try and stop, but it's just so addictive! I got a lovely Easter basket made up of Lindt and chocolate Marks and Spencer goodies, Celebrations and Quality Street (don't need to put up pictures of those, as we all know what they look like!) I also got my first Easter egg - a Creme  Egg one, yum yum!

The non-chocolate present I received from my friends was the delightful Mari Foldover Wrist Strap Wallet and also a lovely turquoise bag/key charm with my initial on it, a shoe and a dice on it (I can't find a photo for it, unfortunately but may post one). I love the little wallet bag, just exactly what I was looking for.



Thank you everyone for all the gifts and money you gave me! It is safe to say, I've definitely been spoiled!

Les Misérables

I first was introduced to the musical phenomenon of Les Misérables (colloquially known as Les Miz),when I was 16 years old. It was on a school trip to London and Mr Hawkins, the trip organiser and depute head teacher at my school cited that it was one of his favourite shows. He then proceeded to sing a few songs from the show much to our amusement. He also explained the story to us to avoid confusion when we saw it.

I have to admit the first time I saw it I didn't really care much for it. There was only one song I recognised from the show and that was 'I Dreamed a Dream'. I first heard Martine McCutcheon sing that song on a Musicals CD I owned. Perhaps it was because I was surrounded by classmates who were not normally used to this type of musical where it's all sung through, but I have to admit I didn't really enjoy it at first.

Perhaps I was much like the critics who panned the show when it first opened at London's Barbican centre in October 1985. They referred to it as 'The Glums' and found it all too depressing. Well with a title like Les Misérables, which translates into English as 'The Miserable', 'The Wretched', 'The Poor', you would expect it to be glum and depressing wouldn't you?

A year later, I revisited the music from the musical and instantly from that moment on fell in love with it. It was that same year, I read the abridged version of the novel on which the musical and countless film and TV adaptations have been based. Les Misérables was written by Victor Hugo and was published in 1862. The full version has over 1,200 pages and I'm attemping to tackle reading it this year. I fell in love with the story and in my opinion it is one of the best stories ever written.

I went back to see Les Misérables with my family at the Edinburgh Playhouse in 2010 (fantastic production) and that year bought both the Original London Cast and 25th Anniversary Cast recordings. It was also the year I became a fan of Alfie Boe (see my blog post about him), who played Valjean in the 25th Anniversary Concert (which I've got on DVD) and in the West End in 2011.

Imagine my delight when I found out that a film version of the stage musical was going to be made. I wondered who would play the memorable characters of Jean Valjean, Javert, Fantine, Marius, Cosette, Eponine, The Thernardiers amongst others.

Just a few weeks ago I went to see that film version and I was not disappointed. I saw the trailers for the film a few months ago and was very skeptical that the actors would match with those of the stage show. I was proved wrong however, as the vocals of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were impeccable.

The story in a nustshell: Jean Valjean (Jackman) is a prisoner forced to hard labour for nineteen years, just for stealing a loaf of bread. He is then paroled by Javert (Crowe), a prison guard who later becomes a chief inspector. Valjean breaks his parole and becomes a mayor of a small town and owns a factory, where Fantine (Hathaway) works. Fantine is then fired for refusing the foreman's advances and for having an illegitimate child. She tries to find another job but fails and then turns to prostitution just to help provide and save her daughter Cosette (played as a child by Isabelle Allan and as a young woman by Amanda Seyfried). Cosette lives with the greedy Thernadiers (played to perfection by Borat and AliG star Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, aka Mrs Tim Burton) and their daughter Eponine (played as a child by Natalya Wallace and as an adult by Samantha Barks).

Jean Valjean promises Fantine  that he will take care of Cosette and he looks after her as she grows up. Meanwhile a revolution is happening in Paris and Marius (Redmayne) and his friend Enjolras (played by the gorgeous Aaron Tveit, drool) are at the front of it. Also fighting for freedom is little Gavroche (played brilliantly by Daniel Huttlestone). They are all dreaming of a better life 'when tomorrow comes'.

I loved all the characters, but my favourite character of all has to be Eponine. She has such a tragic life, spoiled when young, but impoverished when older. Her parents are the scrupulous Thernadiers and often she goes out robbing with her father. She is also desperately in love with Marius, who in turn is in love with Cosette. I think a lot of girls can relate to Eponine that way.

Both  Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks' solos were amazing. Hathaway really injected emotion into her character Fantine's 'I Dreamed A Dream.' Her character was in a desperate situation and that seemed to come out in the song. Barks' sang 'On My Own' like an angel and her character sang her heart out while walking barefoot in the heavy rain. I really enjoyed Hugh Jackman's singing in the film, as well as the singing voice of Russell Crowe, he was very impressive, especially as I had never heard him sing before. Eddie Redmayne has a delightful voice and Amanda Seyfried, as we all know from Mamma Mia! can sing, with her sweet melodic voice. Aaron Tveit, alongside Samatha Barks' has one of the best singing voices in the film, after all both he and Barks are originally theatre performers.

If you enjoy musicals, then I do recommend Les Misérables. It easily is the best film of 2013. That may sound biased, but it is true, it brings out so much emotion and the characters are memorable and well-loved. One bit of advice: be sure to bring tissues, as by the end even the hardest of hearts will be softened.













Comparison: The 2012 film poster and the musical poster featuring the image of 'Young Cosette'.

A picture of  Aaron Tveit as Enjolras (phwoar) since he doesn't have his own poster:

Just look at him! That hair, that face... okay I'm getting carried away now! 


Below: Posters of the cast, the taglines are lines from the songs which their characters sing in the musical.