I read Walter Hugo's novel, "Les Miserables," years and years ago - maybe in college. Betty and I have seen the stage musical (which is great) and several non-musical movie adaptations - the best being with Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean. All have been good in their own way.
The key to "Les Miserables," no matter how it's presented, is it's a great story of God's grace and love, how they change a man's life and how he affects those with whom his life intersects.
Betty and I went to see the current version of "Les Miserables" yesterday, Tuesday.
The current movie adaptation of "Les Miserables" is a musical - perhaps less than two dozen spoken words in the whole movie. All of the remaining dialogue is sung.
The reviews were mediocre at best. The lead actors, Russell Crowe as the super legalistic Javert, Hugh Jackman (Wolfman) as the changed Jean Valjean and Anne Hathaway as the loving, but doomed mother Fantine are not known for their musical abilities. And, the director took the added risk of having most of the singing done live at the time of filming and not dubbed as is common with most movies.
So, my expectations were moderate, at best.
Well, we loved it. The production gives you a gritty realism of what French life was probably like. The singing was fine, not as dynamic as the stage production, but still very good. I was especially surprised at how well Anne Hathaway did. Her songs were very moving and her voice was stronger than I expected.
The comic relief is provided by Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat") and Helena Bonham Carter ("The King's Speech") as the innkeeper and his wife who have kept Fantine's daughter, Cossette.
My biggest concern was that Hollywood would try to tone down the spiritual aspect that is the core of this story. Jean Valjean is a man who has been put in prison for 20 years for stealing bread for his family. And, as you can imagine, French prisons in the 19th century were not pleasant places to spend 20 years. He leaves prison with a hatred for the world that has so beat him down, so dehumanized him.
He encounters a priest who gives him food and a place to sleep. In return, Valjean steals his silverware. When Valjean is caught, the priest tells the police that he gave the silverware to his 'brother' and reminds him that he forgot to take the most precious pieces - two candlesticks - and he gives them to him. The priest tells Valjean that his soul now belongs to God.
This grace and forgiveness changes Valjean. He becomes a man of deep faith committed to God. He becomes a very different man. He spends the rest of his life committed to helping others because of what God did for him.
The movie does not gloss over the importance of this act of grace and forgiveness, nor does it gloss over Valjean's faith and commitment to God all the way to the end of his life. I was pleasantly surprised. As a believer I found the movie to be very uplifting and inspiring.
The remainder of the story is the conflict between Javert who knows only justice and law and Valjean who has been redeemed by grace, love and forgiveness.
So, we recommend it - not for the production and music which are fine - but primarily for the story of grace, forgiveness and love that has always been central to Hugo's original novel.
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