Some of the excitement about the upcoming Les Mis movie is over the filmmakers’ vision of capturing the musical numbers live. Rather than record the soundtrack with the actors (or better qualified voices) which the cast would lip-sync for the camera, each scene is a real-time performance of the song.
The featurette above depicts this process, with some of the leads glowingly describing how exciting this was, especially in giving them the opportunity to interpret the song in the moment of performance. Rather than simply mouthing the words sung, perhaps months earlier in their process of developing their character, the actors bring life to the script as the scene is born.
As disciples called to hear, learn, and perform scripture, we are not just people “of the book,” but people of the living Word. While I’m sure that the libretto is lovely on paper, it’s not Les Miserables to the watching world except in the performance itself, when the voices and bodies that have rehearsed this text sing and stage the story together in each unfolding act.
It’s a great analogy to the most important method we have in biblical interpretation: our living it out together.
Bright Monday 
Thanks for posting this Dave. Authenticity in film-making, especially on a film of this magnitude, is refreshing. I appreciated Anne Hathaway’s comments that, to sing the “pretty version” seemed selfish because it wasn’t true to how the character was really feeling. Can’t wait for this one to open!
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