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!


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



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.

4 comments:

  1. Design Girl9:00 PM

    Hey Taniel!

    This is a great post! Thanks so much for the thought! I love the Musical! My favorite character is Eponine I LOVE her parts in the musical and I can sing almost all of them by heart! And my very close second fav. is Marius! In the musical we have he has an amazing voice! (Oh, and I also really like Javert's -- Star's and Jean Valjean's -- Who am I!) And no offence-- I really really really do not Cosettte! Frankly she just seems like a wimp to me :) but I might be wrong :) Well, that is all for DesignGirl's commentary of Les Mis!

    See ya later,

    DesignGirl

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really enjoyed Les Miserables 10th anniversary concert (no, I'm not old enough to have watched it live). :) Valjean and Javert get all the super-good songs... so they will always be my favorites. Though I don't appreciate some of the language/crudeness in some of the songs, it is a fantastic concert as a whole with a beautiful message of redemption.

    Sorry I haven't commented on your blog for so long. I haven't been getting notifications about your posts since about January... then all of a sudden they just piled up in my notification box! Hopefully I'll be commenting more often now that I'm all updated! :P

    God bless!
    Rachel

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I understand. If the concert is your first exposure ever to Les Miserables, it would be hard to follow. The book [one of the best novels in classic literature and one you should totally read] has SO much more detail, and the musical itself is also able to portray the story more fully.

    As for Cosette and Marius being sappy...weeeell, I can see how one would get that impression. They're not the strongest characters in the world, especially not Cosette. But trust me when I say that Marius in all reality is incredible when not sung by *blech* Nick Jonas (who destroyed about every single one of the songs he sang).

    Hehe--you loved Jean Valjean, so that's all that matters. ;P I think we all love him so much because we can relate to him...he makes mistakes and has struggles and strives and fails and hates and loves just like we all do. And he's so GOOD. End of story.

    Eponine is the one you feel for because nothing turns out well for her (oh how I CRIED when she died in the musical). She makes you feel...makes it dramatic and emotional. Javert is EPIC (and you get so much more of that in the novel...). Les Mis wouldn't be nearly as powerful without him.

    Anyway, sorry for the comment that's more like a novel in and of itself. I absolutely adore Les Mis as you can see...having read the book, seen the recorded 25th Anniversary Concert a gazillion times, and seen the live Broadway musical this past spring. I hope you come to love it more. =) And since it can be confusing...if you have any questions, I'd love to talk about it!

    ~Jenn

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi dearie!
    I've meant to come over and look at your newest blog link, and I'm sorry I didn't make it sooner. Just finished reading your notes about the Les Miz musical, and thought I'd add my two cents. By the way... you found a computer game? I would have never thought of that... but I should totally try it!

    Anyways, just a few weeks ago I watched the 25th Ann. concert of Les Miz, same as you, and liked it enough. My favorite way to enjoy the story though is via... the book. The wonderful, thickest book I've ever read. In the past year, I've also watched 2 movies of Les Miserables, one made in the 30's & the other in the 50's--both of which I really enjoyed.

    Anyways, as long as you got the main point that Jean Valjean is the best character, and Javert following secondly, then you're right with me. Going from the book, Cosette is also a favorite with me... and I just *love* her name. How did Victor Hugo find such a pretty name?

    I'm glad you shared your thoughts on this! I truly enjoyed it!
    Blessings,
    ~ Tarissa

    ReplyDelete

Did you know that by leaving a comment you will totally make my day? Please make sure that you are not nasty in any way, shape, or form, otherwise I will have to delete what you had to say.