I Have Watched Les Miserables

I wanted to write a lovely post with pictures of the...oh, wait. I haven't told you yet.

Georgie and I watched the 25th Anniversary Edition of Les Miserables last night. We have heard about it from so many blog friends, and so we finally decided to try it out. 

So, as I was saying, I was going to write a lovely post with pictures of my favorite characters and such, but I couldn't find a website that offered very good screencaps, and certainly not of the people I wanted. Sorry guys, it's just another text-only post.

I know, I know, you want me to get down to the nitty-gritty. Did I like it? Did I love it? Did I hate it? Well, not exactly.  When we first started, I did find it a little hard to follow along, and so was constantly annoying Georgie with questions like, "So, what's happening?" I would also state, "I'm confused". However, the confusion died away soon enough, and I began to follow the lives of the characters a little better.

Just as a warning, these thoughts and impressions are based solely on the musical. I have not read the book, so I don't know how similar or dissimilar the two are. If my impressions are wrong, then forgive me! :)


One life that you follow is that of dear, sweet Cosette. My impression of her was that although she was beautiful and adorable, she lacked a little something...I'm still not sure what it was, but I discarded her as sappy heroine. This may be subject to change after I read the book.

Marius. Although I felt that his choice to stay and fight for a cause he believed in was the right one for him, the whole time he was going on about his love for Cosette and I decided that they were both perfect for each other. A sappy hero for a sappy heroine. Please don't throw any rotten tomatoes.

Now that I've mentioned two characters that I didn't care for, I'll move on to a character that I liked much better, but still not as well as others. Eponine, as far as I know, is not linked with the Thénardiers, as it is in the book. If does show in the musical, then I missed it. I might have to watch it again! I have read on the internet that Eponine is actually their daughter and that she is not very nice to Cosette (horrors!), but, with her unfortunate parentage, its not as though you can blame her 100%. Yes, I liked Eponine. I thought she was pretty (Yay for Samantha Barks!), spunky (although not very wise), and she loved a guy who loved somebody else, and even helps him pursue his dreamed of happiness with Cosette. That's enough to make me admire anyone. Oh, and her hat was super cute.

My favorite character is an obvious choice. Jean Valjean, the main character, around whom much of the story revolves. In his youth he made a poor choice in order to help his starving family, and paid for it by 19 years of hard labor. He saves Cosette from a horrible life with the Thénardiers, raises her as his own, and forges a life for himself despite the recurring appearance of his nemesis, Javert.  He is a strong character, who wars with himself to decide what is right, in a world where everything has been turned upside-down. (Thanks, French Revolution.)  Other than that, I really can't say what made me like him. I think perhaps it is because you are supposed to like him. And I do.

Finally, my other favorite character was Javert. I haven't talked to very many other Les Mis fans, so I don't know if this is normal or not. I found him to be relentless character who firmly believed in what he believed in. Javert represented the law and to him, he was doing what was right and necessary to uphold those standards, and to try and keep his country from dissolving into complete chaos. That is what I admired about him. He is NOT a revolutionary, he has STRONG morals, and he also has a human heart, which is briefly glimpsed.

Overall, I liked it. I can't truly say that I love it yet.  I think that Georgie liked it more than I did, but I will say again that my opinions are subject to change. Who knows? Maybe if I watch it a few more times, I love it as much as everyone seems to! Or maybe if I read the book, I'll love it even more!

As a final, parting gift, as I was looking for Les Mis pictures, or anything that I could put into this post to break it up a bit, I found something really cool. It's a website called Enter the Story.com, and it takes classic works and turns them into games that you get to play in. The surprise is that the Les Miserables game is FREE! I downloaded it and had to tweak a few of my computer's settings to make it work, but I can't wait to get further into the story and see if it's any good as a game.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the story, whether you've watched a musical or film version, or whether you've read the book!

Quote from the book

You speak now like a brave man and an honest man. Courage does not fear crime, and honesty does not fear authority. ~ Javert

Quotes from the concert

I love him, but everyday I'm learning. All my life, I've only been pretending. Without me his world will go on turning. A world that's full of happiness that I have never known. ~ Eponine

Monsieur le maire, I know you to be a kind man, but this...  

A kind? A kind man? When I was in prison I was as ignorant and mean and devious as these men here, but not kind. And I wish I could keep my mouth shut and let this poor wretch suffer for me, but... continue with your investigation, monsieur, you will find further proof that I am Valjean.