SOLACE FOR THE WRETCHED, MISERABLE ONES
Time: 1815. Location: Digne, France. Situation: Peasant Jean Valjean has just been released from a 19-year prison term. His offense? He stole a loaf of bread to help feed his sister and her starving family. That crime got him five years; several attempts to escape from prison got him another 14. On his release, Valjean goes to a church where he is befriended by a kindly priest, given a meal, and allowed a place to spend the night. His response is to steal some of the priest's silver and abscond with it. The police capture Valjean rather quickly and bring him back to face the priest, but then a fortuitous event occurs: The priest tells the police that he had freely given the silver to Valjean and then informs Valjean that he had left behind the best silver of all. The police accept the priest's story and leave. Then the kindly priest talks with Valjean in earnest, invoking Romans 12:20: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." The priest encourages Valjean to take the silver but also says, "You must use this silver to become an honest man." As we will see, this lesson is not lost on Valjean.
Thus the scene is set for the events of Victor Hugo's 1862 colossal novel Les Miserables, called by author Upton Sinclair "one of the half-dozen greatest novels of all time." It is also one of the longest novels ever written. As to its theme, Hugo himself described it as showing a progression "from evil to good." In the 1980s French dramatists Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schoenberg, and Jean-Marc Natal created a musical version of Les Miserables and opened it in Paris. It soon opened in London and then in New York, where it ran from 1987 to 2003; with its 6,680 performances it is the fourth-longest-running Broadway play of all time. Now film director Tom Hooper (helmsman of The King's Speech) has created a movie based on the musical stage play. Les Miserables opened on Christmas Day 2012, in time for consideration for the 2013 Academy Awards. The film is nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
If you aren't familiar with the story, let me add some additional details to clarify the action of the plot. Jean Valjean, having been sent on his way by the kindly priest, turns over an entirely new leaf, tearing up his parole papers and moving to the town of Montreuil, where he uses the money from the silver to start a new business that employs the poor – i.e., the miserable ones. He even takes on a new name, Monsieur Madeleine, and in time assumes the position of mayor of the town and becomes well off financially. One day as he is walking through the town, he sees a man who has been pinned under a cart on the street. No one is able to lift it, so Valjean picks it up himself and saves the man underneath. However, he just happens to be seen by Mr. Javert, the police inspector of the town, who had been at the prison where Valjean was incarcerated. Inspector Javert had never seen anyone capable of exerting such a great amount of strength – except for Jean Valjean. His suspicions are immediately aroused, and while there are numerous plot twists ahead, we see that a significant portion of the film's (and novel's) action will be occupied by antagonist Javert's pursuit of protagonist Valjean.
Meanwhile, Valjean, aka Madeleine, befriends a former employee of his, a single woman named Fantine who has been forced into prostitution in order to care for her young daughter Cosette. Fantine is dying, but Valjean goes to the small town where her daughter is being abusively kept by an unscrupulous married couple and manages to wring Cosette from their clutches. He takes Cosette to Paris and manages to start a new life as he assumes the role of the girl's father – all the while evading the pursuit of Inspector Javert, who resembles nothing so much as a dog frantically worrying a bone. The action culminates in the events of the Paris Rebellion of 1832, in which Valjean, the grown-up Cosette, and Marius, Cosette's future husband, become intimately involved. Many other happenings of course occur, but these details should be sufficient to help you to understand the basic action of the story.
With its beautiful score and compelling storyline, Les Miserables is an impressive film overall; director Hooper does an admirable job of fashioning the stage play into a musical picture. Australian actor Hugh Jackman does a praiseworthy job of playing the lead role of Jean Valjean, both dramatically and musically. Anne Hathaway performs well in the role of the doomed Fantine. British actor Eddie Redmayne excels in the role of Marius. Perhaps most impressive of all are the ensemble singers and actors. I have only one rather small reservation, in regard to the singing. We have heard a good deal of commentary about director Hooper's decision to film all the singing live – with no studio recording and polishing as is customary with movie musicals. The result is that the level of vocal performance shows a rather wide range from highly accomplished on the parts of Jackman and Redmayne to just satisfactory on the part of Russell Crowe in the role of Inspector Javert. On the one hand the live singing gives spontaneity, but on the other we could wish for greater vocal accomplishment.
Les Miserables is characterized by its strong theme and its underlying Christian message. The film embodies the virtues of mercy, kind treatment of the poor, and forgiveness. The Lord's name and provision are invoked often, nowhere more poignantly than in the lyric of one of the final songs: "To love another person is to see the face of God."
Bottom line: Well worth your time, money, and effort. However, parts of the picture might offend some individuals. There are a few language issues, and there is rawness in the dramatization of prostitution among the poor. Some violence occurs in the rebellion scenes. Not for children.
Film Rating: PG-13
My Rating: 3 ½ stars
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