Jean Valjean and the Forgiving Heart

Scant days ago, in that chilly time after Christmas, I strolled into our local theatre in the expectation of being entertained by an established well-loved musical that had just been rendered to film. I had no idea I would emerge from the darkness three hours later a scarlet-eyed blubbering wreck. Having bargained for diversion, I instead reaped a bounty of cinematic moral lessons wherein intense human ugliness runs headlong into the arms of sublime beauty and breaks our aching hearts in a fair exchange. Welcome to the spectacle of Les Miserables.

In retrospect, one could not ask for a more philosophical-moral biscuit to chew upon. Its sweeping themes of: justice and injustice, the law, mercy, forgiveness, courage, hopeless cruelty and redemption all congeal into that rare and breathtaking aesthetic wherein we travel beyond ourselves and hopefully examine our own stories against the adamantine First Principles of transcendence. While it is impossible to fully plumb the depths here of this masterpiece's grand totality, with your indulgence I will clumsily attempt to examine a few of its gems.

In the figure of Jean Valjean, we witness a man nearly broken by the untempered blade of justice. Having spent half his life serving penance in the galleys for the crime of stealing a loaf of bread and escape, the harsh exactness of the law administered in the personification of the relentless Javert has stripped Valjean of much of his human veneer. Answering for so long to the number 24601, Valjean, when eventually released, is only hardened in his hatred for what he has incurred at the hands of justice. His salvation, however, comes from a priest whom Valjean robs of a fortune in silver following the former's show of Christian charity.

And here’s one that I thought was just not good enough at all: The Hunger Games.

Hubby & I listened to the audio book and finally watched the movie on pay-per-view. There was just so much that was left out, the details, the back story. I felt that if I hadn’t “read” the book I wouldn’t have understood what was going on at all, and you shouldn’t HAVE to read the book to watch the movie.

I wish they would bring back the mini-series, it was a great format for longer stories, the hunger games would have been a great story for a mini-series.

One quibble with the article:

Fairman writes: "...Jean must now use the silver for Good, now that "I have saved your soul for God."

The actual line is "I have bought your soul for God." The stolen silver was the price Valjean accepted for his soul. He never sells the silver. He keeps the candlesticks as a sign of his bargain with God.

Moving on, Fairman writes: "In adopting Cosette and taking her away from the vicious clutches of the Inn Keepers, he ransoms a life that would no doubt have fallen into depravity."

The "Inn Keepers" are the Thénardiers. Fairman could have looked up the characters' true names. Setting that quibble aside, we see the personification of falling into depravity in their daughter Eponine. As a child, Eponine is dressed in nice clothes bought by the money sent from Fantine, while Fantine's daughter Cosette wears rags and performs menial chores. Later, as young adults, we see the reverse. Cosette grows up to be an upper-class woman while Eponine is a street thief supporting her parents in their crimes. Later on, Eponine foils her father's attempt to rob Valjean, facilitates the star-crossed love of Cosette and Marius (whom Eponine secretly loves) and takes a bullet intended for her unrequited lover Marius.

Although not shown in the movie, Eponine is redeemed along with Fantine and Valjean, when they lead Valjean to heaven.

-PJ

Actually in some ways I preferred the Movie (even though it did cause there to be holes compared to the book) simple because it removed the issue of it being a story told from the POV of a teenager. You got a more objective look at the world, and were exposed to the bad guy leader in ways the book could not cover given the narrative style.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.