Les Misérables

  Last weekend, I saw the new Les Misérables film twice and it moved me so much that I need to do a post on it in order to get some closure. The story is Victor Hugo's and it is set in 19th century France and it is the well known tale of the ex-prisoner Jean Valjean and his quest for redemption whilst being pursued mercilessly by the Inspector Javert for nearly twenty years, a man who is eager to put Valjean back in prison.

  I shall be seeing the musical in the West End later this year and I am currently on page 43 of 1232 (!) of the book itself. I'm being lazy and reading it in English instead of the original French and it will take me quite a while to finish it as I am reading other books as well but I WILL finish, even if it takes me a year!

 To me, Les Misérables is chock-full of religious allegories and symbolism. First of all, the priest that saves Jean Valjean from being sent back to prison in the beginning of the story represents God, who redeems Valjean and inspires him to live his life as an honest man. This really touched me and the priest inspired me to be a better person, to forgive others and to not be so quick to judge others. This is because he accepted Jean Valjean into his home when the prisoner was condemned and judged by everyone who met him, when his only 'crime' was simply stealing a loaf of bread to prevent the death of his sister's child. Despite being the antagonist, Inspector Javert is not a villain- he is just a man that believes he is doing God's duty. This raises the question of what truly makes a person 'good' as sometimes, human opinion on this is different from God's own ideas.

  Another key theme is the power of love. This is especially evident in the love that the impoverished Fantine has for her daughter Cosette and this same love for Cosette adds to Jean Valjean's redemption and makes him want to live a better life for her, his adopted daughter. Love is everywhere in the story; whilst watching the film, my heart ached for the doomed character of Éponine and her unrequited love for Marius and I swooned over the love (albeit it quite sudden) between Marius and Cosette. Eddie Redmayne is beautiful.

  The religious allegory that stuck with me the most was the symbolism of the barricade. On a deeper level, the barricade represents passing into heaven, to a world where there is a flame that never dies, the sun will rise and people will live in freedom in the garden of the Lord. I won't ruin the film but the final image of the film had me sobbing my eyes out, as well as the lyrics to the finale song, which I am listening to right now and tearing up to.

  In all, Les Misérables the film was absolutely fantastic. In fact, it was more of an experience than a film and even though it was nearly three hours long, I was never bored. It is definitely a 9.5/10 and the only reason why it is not a 10 is down to Russell Crowe, whose singing was the musical's weak link in my opinion. The star studded cast lived up to their names and the music was made even more believable as the actors were all singing live- no pre-recording so in a way, that theatre essence was still kept. It really deserves to sweep the Oscars next month.

  I recommend it to everyone and remember, to love another person is to see the face of God.