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| Jean Valejean (Hugh Jackman) carries Fantine (Anne Hathaway) to safety. Universal Pictures |
On the heels of its 25th anniversary of Boublil
& Schönberg's legendary musical, “Les Misérables,” tour, a brand new
version has hit the silver screen and it is even better. While panned by some
critics, many others are praising the new adaptation and with good reason.
Actually, for many reasons.
For those unfamiliar with “Les Misérables,” there are a few
things you should know. Although classified as a musical, the program resembles
an opera as every line of dialogue is sung, where as traditional American
musicals, two characters will be speaking and then suddenly break out in song. It
is also a very long movie with a running time slightly shorter than the stage
production, making for a good case to bring back intermissions during long
movies. This is actually quite impressive given the length of the original work
is filled with 1,400 pages of text! This musical is different from other film
adaptations of stage plays as each actor’s voices was recorded during the
filming and not dubbed over. Faithful to the stage production, the movie is
filled with close ups of the actors and because of this, is much easier to
follow the story.
Based on Victor Hugo=s
classic novel, the story begins with the releasing of peasant Jean Valejean
(the almighty Hugh Jackson) from prison. He had been in prison for 19 years
(five for stealing bread for his starving sister and 14 more for numerous
escape attempts.) The bitter Jean tries to find honest work, but finds that no
one will hire an ex-convict. A bishop takes pity on him and invites Jean into
his home for a meal and a place to sleep. Jean decides to steal the bishop's silver during the night but is caught
by police. However, when confronted, the bishop tells the police that the
silver was a gift and in fact, that Jean had left in a haste leaving two
candlestick holders behind. He also "reminds" Jean of the "promise" he made to use the candlesticks to
make an honest man of him. Jean repents and accepts that vow. This is just the
start of a series of people making sacrifices for others.
As rumored, Anne Hathaway shines as Fantine, who sings the
famed song, “I Dreamed the Dream.” Fantine is a single mother who is taken advantaged
of but is shown mercy from Valjean when she becomes ill and can no longer pay Thénardier
and Madame Thénardier (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) to care of
her only daughter, Cosette. Instead of being well cared for, Cosette is treated
like a slave to Theanadier, a petty thief who could take a shirt from a man
even as he is wearing it. The combination of Cohen and Carter was an inspired
choice. Once again, the beautiful Carter is made to look unkempt and well-used.
Valjean vows to take care of Cosette for the rest of her life, which is
difficult since he is also wanted by Javert (Russell Crowe) for breaking
parole.
As Cosette grows older, (and becomes Amanda Seyfried), she
falls in love with Marius (Eddie Redmayne), a childhood friend of Éponine
(Samantha Barks), the daughter of the Thénardiers. Throw in a love triangle, a
plot for revenge and a small, but deadly rebellion and you have “Les
Misérables.”
The story is both beautiful and terribly tragic at the same
time. The message of redemption and the struggle to do the “right thing” is
told over and over again. Javier considers himself a man of God, who fights for
the law, but shows no mercy. After being shown such mercy, Valjean sees himself
as a man forgiven by God and vows to do the Lord’s will throughout the rest of
his life.
