4. At The End of The Day
“At The End of The Day” introduces us to the sweeping beauty of the Les Misérables musical leitmotif, as we move to a seaside town in France and the grunt of factory life. This scene promises to be both exciting and visually appealing, given its large use of ensemble and it also being the point at which the story really begins. It’s also one of the show’s all-out musical numbers, the kind of song you’d expect from a big Broadway show.
As we’re granted a view of the lives of the nation’s poorest people – years after Jean Valjean has made a new name for himself as a Mayor and factory owner – we also meet Fantine (Anne Hathaway), whose tragic story sets the stage for what’s to come. Though we haven’t really been able to see what Hooper has done with this particular sequence as of yet, we’re looking forward to seeing how he juggles all the factory workers at once. Will they sew in time with the music or something? Will he have them up on the tables?
Once again, here’s where Hooper should prove his movie to be anything but a campy adaptation, though he’d be wise to embue this particular scene with a good amount of fun, given that this scene also acts as a prelude for the musical’s most famous song, “I Dreamed A Dream”, in which Fantine recounts the story of her lost love – powerful (but very depressing) stuff.
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