'Les Miserables' - Movie Review

*This is likely to be my most disputed review to date. I don't know the first thing about musicals, and I know even less about Victor Hugo's novel. So with my ignorance intact I will instead take a different look at the movie. If it doesn't please you I'd apologise but the movie did speak of the grace, mercy and love of God, rather than just the incredulous, cold, disconnected, uncaring, law-keeper so often depicted. So let's begin...

How many times have you found yourself sitting around a table at 11:25p.m. on New Years Eve discussing the idea(l) of truth, how it can/ought to be measured and proven, and what altruism is?

Yeah - this was my first too. 

We discussed truth from a religious perspective since there was three Christians and one Muslim at the table. One of my mates spoke of his view that without the belief of a loving, personal God and a higher calling in Heaven, life (for him) would be a dark, despairing experience. I decided to play devil's advocate, put on my Richard Dawkins hat and reply, "But that is precisely what a bloke like Dawkins would argue. He would state that just because something feels nice doesn't mean it's true." Of course what comes next is the argument that even Dawkins has faith in something which he cannot totally prove. Yet I'm not here to argue against evolution, in fact I am not against the idea of micro evolution (and am still attempting to learn about macro evolution since my knowledge of science is fleeting at best). My point is that all of us have faith in something - a man such as Dawkins has faith in the idea that all truth can be found through the scientific method and that evolution will one day present itself to be the ultimate truth and disprove theism. (If you want to read a rebuttal from a world renown scientist and theist on Dawkins's point that  "religious faith not only lacks evidence; its independence from evidence is its joy, shouted from the rooftops," check out John Lennox's God's Undertaker - it got me thinking).

So in discussing truth last night we eventually came to ponder the idea that perhaps truth can be shown, or even proven, through personal experience and belief. This is where I tie in with Les Miserables as it is a film which depicts the journey of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who comes to believe in the will and love of God. At first I wanted to compare the story to The Count of Monte Cristo, which was published only twenty years before Hugo's Les Miserables. There are similarities in that both feature a protagonist who rises from the ashes of despair in 19th century France, but where the two stories part is in that Jean Valjean is not seeking revenge but rather to live freely in light of the grace God has shown him through the Bishop.

Yet why did I allow that man
To touch my soul and teach me love?
He treated me like any other
He gave me his trust
He called me brother
My life he claims for God above
Can such things be?
For I had come to hate the world
This world that always hated me

This is where I ask you, can you just dismiss what this man now feels to be true? The kind acts of the Bishop (and church) has saved him from a life of slavery (*the backdrop of 19th century France is perfect because Europe at the time was experiencing uproar which would culminate in bottom up Revolutions which swept across the continent and led to social, working, legal and political changes) and not only that but the Bishop then gives him the help he needed. This then leads me to the point that this movie rather perfectly depicts the grace, mercy and love of God.

In the film we are presented with two different views of God: Javert's and Valjean's. 

Javert's view of God is expressed through the deep tones of Russell Crowe in Stars, 

There, out in the darkness
A fugitive running
Fallen from god
Fallen from grace
God be my witness
I never shall yield
Till we come face to face
Till we come face to face

He knows his way in the dark
Mine is the way of the Lord
And those who follow the path of the righteous
Shall have their reward
And if they fall
As Lucifer fell
The flame
The sword!

His view is that God is one of justice and law. He isn't wrong in thinking that God maintains and enacts justice, for otherwise He isn't in control and just. And yes, God also has law. Javert's view is that he is doing 'God's work' by catching criminals and keeping the law no matter what. It is not his job to show grace and mercy, it is his job to put men behind bars as he feels that will serve society best. In a way you can understand this but can we really marry this with what God is like? If you are following the Bible as the truth and revelation then the answer is "no". 

We all know that the Christian story is wrapped up in the message that Jesus came to die for the sinful (us) and extend the grace of God so that man would live with God by faith (not by perfectly following a list of rules). And likewise we are to love as God has, unconditionally and sacrificially.

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - 1 John 5:1-5

From the apostle's words here we learn that to be born of God means to love God and hence fulfill his command (one of which we read here is to love selflessly). We choose to follow his commands because we love the law giver who gives us life. We love God and John says this will be seen in how we love our fellow man. This is why Jean Valjean doesn't need to take revenge on Javert when he has a chance. 

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. - 1 John 4:20-21

Valjean's God is starkly different to Javert's - did you notice that? For Valjean the characteristics of God which shine through are grace, mercy and love. He knows that God is just and Lord but he also knows that Christ is not filled with hatred but love. Thus Javert kills himself because when Valjean saves his life he has acted in love and Javert cannot go back and will not live this life. As Javert sings,

Who is this man?
What sort of devil is he
To have me caught in a trap
And choose to let me go free?
It was his hour at last
To put a seal on my fate
Wipe out the past
And wash me clean off the slate!
All it would take
Was a flick of his knife.
Vengeance was his
And he gave me back my life!

Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief!
Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase.
I am the Law and the Law is not mocked
I'll spit his pity right back in his face
There is nothing on earth that we share
It is either Valjean or Javert!

How can I now allow this man
To hold dominion over me?
This desperate man whom I have hunted
He gave me my life. He gave me freedom.
I should have perished by his hand
It was his right.
It was my right to die as well
Instead I live... but live in hell.

And my thoughts fly apart
Can this man be believed?
Shall his sins be forgiven?
Shall his crimes be reprieved?

And must I now begin to doubt,
Who never doubted all these years?
My heart is stone and still it trembles
The world I have known is lost in shadow.
Is he from heaven or from hell?
And does he know
That granting me my life today
This man has killed me even so?

I am reaching, but I fall
And the stars are black and cold
As I stare into the void
Of a world that cannot hold
I'll escape now from the world
From the world of Jean Valjean.
There is nowhere I can turn
There is no way to go on....
   

It's a tale of two men who believe in such a different God. And it's all wrapped up beautifully and fittingly in the epilogue, 

Fantine:
Come with me
Where chains will never bind you
All your grief at last at last behind you
Lord in heaven, look down on him in mercy!

Valjean:
Forgive me all my trespasses
and take me to your glory
 

Fantine:
Take my hand, and lead me to salvation
Take my love, for love is everlasting
And remember the truth that once was spoken
(Valjean joins)
To love another person is to see the face of God!

It was a movie of grace, mercy, love and hope. I am not a huge fan of musicals (my least favourite movie I went to see last year was Rock of Ages!) but this one left a sweet taste in my mouth. It's long - and the story time makes it feel even longer - but when you reach the credits you'll likely feel it was all worth it. Hugh Jackman was stellar but we already knew he could sing and act superbly!

Anne Hathaway blew me over like a wave in a turbulent surf. Reviewer Dan Callahan wrote, 

As Fantine, a gaunt Anne Hathaway plunges into her character's suffering with such unseemly relish that she practically licks her chops with self-indulgent woe.

I don't know about you but I disagree with Callahan who seems a bit petty and cynical. 

My fiance told me that Hathaway's mother had originally played Fantine in the musical so it's no wonder Hathaway gives a truly moving performance! She's definitely in my mind for best-supporting actress (but then again so is Amy Adams for her performance in The Master). Regardless of awards though, Hathaway really encapsulated the injustice of the time and the attitude towards the petty bourgeoisie. My only critique would be that it seems a bit of a kick-in-the-teeth to the French that most of the actors would sound British... or anything but French! Especially that little cockney accented boy - what would Bonaparte say? Oh and I kept groaning when the love story was unfolding - "They only saw each other once for half a minute at best!" I kept muttering.

Carter and Cohen - the dynamic duo.

The much beloved comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen, teams up well with Helena Bonham Carter. Their musical number when they are introduced is brilliant and they play the evil step mother and father well... almost too well. That scene towards the end when they enter and exit the carriage made me erupt with laughter too! Their comic relief goes down well as the film is otherwise extremely intense and emotional.

Apparently Les Miserables changes things by filming the singing live on set rather than in a studio. Once again I'll confess that I don't know how musicals are usually done but what I'm hearing is that usually the music is recorded in the studio rather than on set. I don't think it was a bad move - but then again I wouldn't be able to really tell the difference.

Tom Hooper continues to hold my attention. First he directed one of my favourite mini series in John Adams, then he did The Damned United and The King's Speech. And now? Well now he's able to get a non-musical man into a musical.

So I enjoyed the movie. I often don't like movies which blatantly shove an agenda down you throat (I recently saw In Time and didn't really enjoy the less than subtle way the movie attempted to critique our society... not that it was wrong!) but in Les Miserables I really didn't mind. Dana Stevens wrote of the film, 

 We're all familiar with the experience of seeing movies that cram ideas and themes down our throats. Les Misérables may represent the first movie to do so while also cramming us down the throats of its actors. 

For once I can say that I strongly disagree with this sentiment. 

8/10