SPOILER ALERT! You've Been Warned.
There is a common custom to read a book first and then see the film. I do not practice this convention and it turns out to be a blessing when I see the adaptation first and then read the book. This is the case with Les Misérables. The latest adaptation of the famous Victor Hugo book is actually based on the play. It is a musical. For some this maybe a deterrent, but it really shouldn't be. Les Misérables certainly surprised me. I had no notion of what the story was about save for that it was taking place during The French Revolution and that the protagonist Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is taking care of child named Cozette and that he is being hunted by the police inspector Javart (Russell Crowe).
Let me dispense with the praising of the performances. The musical score is fantastic! Every song is preformed with excellence and by the actors themselves no less! Hugh Jackman does a brilliant job of showing the emotions and turmoil Jean wrestles with. Russell Crowe is great as the judgemental Javart. He makes the antagonist likable and in scenes where he is hunting Jean, he becomes a formidable presence akin to Tom Hardy's Bane in The Dark Knight Rises; only with a broader range of emotions and musical ability. Anne Hathaway is fantastic Fatina. Her solo scene of her singing about her "Dream" is spectacular! Amanda Seyfield was a wonderful Adult Cozette. She reprises her vocal talent for the first time since Momma Mia! The Four Academy Award Nominations are truly merited, especially the nominations for best actor Hugh Jackman and Best Picture.
Now for the meat of the tale. Les Misérables is not about misery, nor about a militia uprising in France. It is instead an allegory straight from the Bible. Jean Valjean is not just a generous and God fearing man, he is Christ himself. In the beginning he is bitter and carries the mast (cross) as he is taunted by Javart (The Devil/The Law). Later Jean Valjean makes parole and in process finds himself on the streets without work and starving. A Priest finds him and admits him into his estate/cathedral. There Jean enjoys the clergyman's hospitality and at nightfall steals his silver and precious valuables. The French Police catch Jean and bring him to the Priest. When asked to condemn Jean, the Priest merely offers his more valuable silver candelabras. The Priest suspends judgement, and with graciousness takes Jean into his household and ordains him to follow God (Christ) and do the same for another in his lifetime. Later Jean finds himself Major of town under an alias. He has factory where Fatina (Anne Hathaway) works. The other women-sowers accuse Fatina of being harlot, but the poor girl admits that she is trying to take care of her child Cosette. Not wanting to disgrace the factory, the manager fires Fatina and she is left on the streets soliciting her valuables. She in desperate need sells her hair and tooth at an Inn/Brothel. From there her body becomes a den for depraved men's pleasures. All of this she does for her daughter and after debauchery with a stranger for money, she sings about her lost dream. From here Fatina encounters Jean who knew not that she had been fired from his factory. He learns of Cosette and makes caring for her his cause. Here Jean becomes Jesus and Christ to Cosette. The poor little Cosette is a chimney-sweeper and lackey for the Inner Keeper and his Promiscuous concubine at the brothel. Jean seeks out Cozette and frees her from her captors in time to avoid her from being apprehended by Javart.
Jean is transformed upon becoming Cosette's guardian. He doesn't just feel compelled to care for her because of an oath he made to Fatina. He is motivated by genuine love for the child and finds that life is worth living and that this child has restored light to a dark and dreary world.
The battle is between two forces: The Law and Love. Javart is the embodiment of the Law. His every decision is dictated by the decrees of the court. He is unable to show compassion and is cruel and calculated. Jean is the embodiment of Love, i.e. Jesus Christ. He makes great sacrifices to help save Cosette and later he beloved Marius (Eddie Redmayne). Javart like Lucifer knows only file and rank, he sees the "stars as sentinels" and will not stop until Jean is brought to justice. However, in the process Jean ends up twice sparing Javart's life when he could have brought an end to his nemesis. This is the act Jesus said of "loving your enemy." (Matt 5:44). Jean doesn't believe in an eye for an eye. He is pious, but he is not a legalist. He breaks the law for the greater good. He steals or lies only to save lives, earn money to protect those he loves, and feed the hungry. Javart is incapable of operating outside the bounds of the judicial system. In the end Javart perishes because he cannot live in the new world Jean (Jesus) is creating. Javart like the Old Covenant (Law) is washed away and the New Covenant of Love takes it's place. Jean after all his toil and sacrifice dies in a convent. There he is visited by Fatina as he crosses the chasm into Paradise. In the end we see those who have died together singing a new song. They sing about being with the Lord, in his Garden, and beating their swords into plow shears. The last line of the film is powerful and it spoken by Jean. He says, "To love another person is to see the face of God."
The entire film is filled with iconography. The crucifix is in many of the scenes and Jean's actions are clearly Christ-like. Twice he carries the helpless in his arms, "The Shepherd carries the sheep in his arms." (John 10:1-21). He carries the mast or cross before the Lord of the Law (Satan). Throughout the film blood is a symbol, the revolutionaries are the Red and the Black. The red meaning the "angry blood of men". The blood is a symbol for how Christ is going to change the world. It's not Man's revolution than can change anything. In fact, the revolutionaries are like Barabbas and the Zealots who thought they could free their people with the sword, but it is Jean (Jesus) who changes France through his acts of mercy and kindness. Fatina is the Prostitute Mary, who Jesus pardons before the Pharisees. Cosette is the Bride of Christ, who Jean (Jesus) raises from a child to adulthood. Javart as aforementioned is the Old Law that condemns man and is never satisfied, but was appeased and replaced by Jesus Christ's death. Javart is also Satan, because love is alien to him and he knows only position. It says in the scriptures that the Sons of God, the angels were made for position. Javart doesn't know what to do with this new world, he can't adapt, he fights against it and then is utterly defeated by Jean's compassion.
The Holy Spirit is upon this film. It is a Christian masterpiece. It contains a message of salvation, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love that we all need to hear. It is steeped in allegory as I have aforementioned. It will touch you in a way that only the Spirit of the Most High can. It will make you weep when you realize the true story that is being told underneath the guise of historical-fiction. As Tolkien said, "there is only one story and we are retelling it." The Master of Middle-Earth is right! Every story comes from the Greater Story in the Bible. The reason the Gospel and the teachings of the Bible pervade in films and books is because they are the truth and all mankind wither trying to or not will be drawn to it. Les Miserables is not the coincidental Christian story, no it is deliberate and when believers go to see it they will see Christ and his love.
You will walk about of Les Misérables not feeling miserable but rather hopeful. Yes, this film has a conduit to chambers of Christ himself in Heaven. You may enter with despair and look for the lost dream to comfort your pain, but you leave with renewed faith in Christ. The final scene of Les Misérables is so beautiful that I almost dare not render it. It is beautiful to see Fatina, the Revolutionaries, Ebony, and Jean all together in Paradise. All the Christians no matter their occupation, their passion or their ambition are together singing unto the Lord in a glistening France. It doesn't matter if you are a warrior, a rich person, a prostitute (redeemed like Mary), or a child, everyone is there celebrating together. It is beacon of God's grace, showing what the Law tries to erase. We must endeavor to be like Jean and seek to love others. We shouldn't become obsessed with the Law like Javart, for the Law is now obsolete (Heb 8:13). Love has replaced the law so that we may now do what is right through acts of kindness and compassion. The motivation in the beginning under the legal lash of the Law was to do things out of fear or to avoid being punished. Now we are to follow God's commands because we love him and each other. It is through acting on that deep affection for God and each other that the good deeds are birthed and the Law fulfilled. Gandalf The Grey said it the best in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, "I've found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay... small acts of kindness and love."
I couldn't think of better way to have spent Christmas than to be surprised at the cinema with a film that captures Christ on camera. Les Misérables is not a film to be missed. I highly recommend every believer and non-believer go see it as soon as possible!
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