MOVIE: Les Miserables 2012

  • Thread starter Thread starter HansTrappist
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Victo Hugo’s book “Les Miserables” was on the Index of Forbidden Books, and my understanding is that even though the Index was abolished, we are not exactly encouraged to run off and see works based on such questionable material, even if Hugh Jackman is able to sing.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
Victo Hugo’s book “Les Miserables” was on the Index of Forbidden Books, and my understanding is that even though the Index was abolished, we are not exactly encouraged to run off and see works based on such questionable material, even if Hugh Jackman is able to sing.
Click to expand...
We are neither encouraged or discouraged to see this movie by the Church. The musical is not the book. I can not think of a single thing in it that would make it morally offensive. On the other hand, it does have a very strong theme of conversion and mercy.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
Victo Hugo’s book “Les Miserables” was on the Index of Forbidden Books, and my understanding is that even though the Index was abolished, we are not exactly encouraged to run off and see works based on such questionable material, even if Hugh Jackman is able to sing.
Click to expand...
Yet this same book was part of my lit theory studies and is required reading in at a few other Catholic institutions,
 
pnewton said:
We are neither encouraged or discouraged to see this movie by the Church. The musical is not the book. I can not think of a single thing in it that would make it morally offensive. On the other hand, it does have a very strong theme of conversion and mercy.
Click to expand...
It also has a strong theme of rebellion against authority, which is why I believe the Church put it on the Index.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
Victo Hugo’s book “Les Miserables” was on the Index of Forbidden Books, and my understanding is that even though the Index was abolished, we are not exactly encouraged to run off and see works based on such questionable material, even if Hugh Jackman is able to sing.
Click to expand...
The USCCB’s website has archived media reviews for Catholics from the Catholic News Service’s Media Review Office. The provided the following rating for the 1935 version of the film:
Les Miserables – Classic screen version of Victor Hugo’s novel set in early 19th-century France where a former convict (Fredric March) is inspired by the kindness of a bishop (Cedric Hardwicke) to turn his life around and become a highly respected citizen, though relentlessly pursued by a legalistic policeman (Charles Laughton). Directed by Richard Boleslawski, the narrative is well-paced and convincingly acted, with the theme of justice based on human dignity triumphing over that of the letter of the law. Stylized violence and an unwed mother. (A-II [adults and adolescents]) (br) ( 1935 )
Click to expand...
old.usccb.org/movies/l/lesmiserables1935.shtml

The 1998 version was also listed as one of the top 100 pro-Catholic movies by the National Catholic Register:

ncregister.com/info/top_100_pro_catholic_movies/

So, not really a problem for a Catholic from an appropriate age group to see this movie.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
It also has a strong theme of rebellion against authority, which is why I believe the Church put it on the Index.
Click to expand...
Where does the Church teach that authority is a virtue? Last time I checked, even our institution is guilty for its abuse. That says a lot about its place as something positive.
 
I don’t think this comment will be OT, since this seems to be just a general thread about the movie Les Miz.

As a pianist, I like nearly all musicals.

But I absolutely hate the story and the musical of Les Miz, and wouldn’t go see it if someone paid my way.

I might consider reading a child’s version of the novel (Little Golden Book, with lots of pictures), just to be able to sort out the French names and remember who’s who. But I would never read the novel, because I don’t like the story.

I realize that I am one of 3 people in the entire world who don’t adore Les Miz. 🙂 It’s the World’s Most Beloved Musical, for some strange reason that I don’t understand. Probably because of the music–it’s pretty. But the story–yucko.

My husband explains to me that the musical is all about fate and how we are trapped by fate–I just don’t get it. To me, the story is about a mob of people all wearing shades of gray, black, and brown, who fight over a garbage dump that is also gray, black, and brown.

The whole thing reminds of me the Occupy Movement, which I also found extremely irritating.

I would like to see the musical done with the Muppets. I would love to see Fozzie the Bear cast as Jean Bearjean. I think he’s physically right for the role, and has the voice for it. At one time, my husband and I cast the entire show with Muppets (on paper), but I can’t remember any of the casting except that one. I think I might like the musical better with Muppets, but I still don’t care for the story at all.

Anne Hathaway is one of the actors whose politics are so offensive to me that I don’t pay to see her. Usually I can get past the politics of the liberal actors and respect their talent, but there is a list of those who go too far, and she’s on that list for me.

Enjoy, everyone else in the world.
 
Milliardo said:
Hugh Jackman can definitely sing; I still remember his performance at The Oscars two or so years ago. He made a great impression there. I don’t think they’ll get people who couldn’t sing for a huge production as this.
Click to expand...
This movie is second from the top of my list of things to do while I’m visiting daugher/son-in-law/grandson in Ottawa at Christmas (top of the list is cuddle grandson :D).

As much as I love Hugh Jackman, and yes, that Oscar performance was fabulous, I have a hard time picturing him as Jean Valjean. I saw the play in Toronto in 1998. Valjean was played by Colm Wilkinson and I still have a hard time imagining anyone else in the role. I started to cry when he knelt breaking rocks in the opening scene and the tears didn’t stop for very long at any point in the play.

OTOH, Russell Crowe as Javert is perfect casting. I can totally see Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier but have a harder time picturing Sacha Baron Cohen as her husband.

We had an excerpt from the book in my grade 4 French reader - the part about the Bishop and the candlesticks – and I read the book when I was in high school. I’ve always loved the story and have to admit that it’s the only Hugo I’ve been able to slog through. Tried to read ‘Notre Dame de Paris’ later but never got past the first chapter.
 
Phemie said:
This movie is second from the top of my list of things to do while I’m visiting daugher/son-in-law/grandson in Ottawa at Christmas (top of the list is cuddle grandson :D).

As much as I love Hugh Jackman, and yes, that Oscar performance was fabulous, I have a hard time picturing him as Jean Valjean. I saw the play in Toronto in 1998. Valjean was played by Colm Wilkinson and I still have a hard time imagining anyone else in the role. I started to cry when he knelt breaking rocks in the opening scene and the tears didn’t stop for very long at any point in the play.

OTOH, Russell Crowe as Javert is perfect casting. I can totally see Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier but have a harder time picturing Sacha Baron Cohen as her husband.

We had an excerpt from the book in my grade 4 French reader - the part about the Bishop and the candlesticks – and I read the book when I was in high school. I’ve always loved the story and have to admit that it’s the only Hugo I’ve been able to slog through. Tried to read ‘Notre Dame de Paris’ later but never got past the first chapter.
Click to expand...
Phernie, watch the clips linked in post #27, above, I think Jackman does an incredible job (you have to go through all 5 pages on the linked website to see all the clips).
 
Cat said:
I might consider reading a child’s version of the novel (Little Golden Book, with lots of pictures), just to be able to sort out the French names and remember who’s who. But I would never read the novel, because I don’t like the story.
Click to expand...
How do you know you don’t like the story, if you haven’t read it? You’re just going on the basis of someone else’s interpretation.

I have read the novel, in the full unedited version (well, slightly edited - it was still more than 1,000 pages). I wouldn’t say it is primarily about fate. Maybe the musical is, I haven’t seen that. The novel, in my opinion, is basically the literary equivalent of a soap opera. The hero gets in trouble, he escapes, things seem to be going better for him, he gets in trouble again. Plus there are a lot of digressions tossed in about stuff that Hugo was interested in, including the battle of Waterloo, the sewers of Paris, etc. Hugo was a master at description, and also very good at creating dramatic scenes. You come to really care about Valjean and Cosette. On other other hand he seemed unable to edit his own work, hence there is a good deal of repetition. I suppose some of that has to be attributed to the tastes of the era - people expected novels to be long. Hemingway had not yet appeared on the scene to instill the notion that brevity would be a virtue for its own sake.

The main thing I disliked about the book, apart from the excessive length and the author’s inability to refrain from lecturing on any topic that he felt strongly about, was Hugo’s anti-clericalism. However this only mars a few passages. For the most part I enjoyed it very much.
 
louisak said:
How do you know you don’t like the story, if you haven’t read it? You’re just going on the basis of someone else’s interpretation.

I have read the novel, in the full unedited version (well, slightly edited - it was still more than 1,000 pages). I wouldn’t say it is primarily about fate. Maybe the musical is, I haven’t seen that. The novel, in my opinion, is basically the literary equivalent of a soap opera. The hero gets in trouble, he escapes, things seem to be going better for him, he gets in trouble again. Plus there are a lot of digressions tossed in about stuff that Hugo was interested in, including the battle of Waterloo, the sewers of Paris, etc. Hugo was a master at description, and also very good at creating dramatic scenes. You come to really care about Valjean and Cosette. On other other hand he seemed unable to edit his own work, hence there is a good deal of repetition. I suppose some of that has to be attributed to the tastes of the era - people expected novels to be long. Hemingway had not yet appeared on the scene to instill the notion that brevity would be a virtue for its own sake.

The main thing I disliked about the book, apart from the excessive length and the author’s inability to refrain from lecturing on any topic that he felt strongly about, was Hugo’s anti-clericalism. However this only mars a few passages. For the most part I enjoyed it very much.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen the musical. I should say, I suffered through the musical.

My husband has summarized the story several times for me, attempting to help me to like it. You basically told me what my husband has told me. Just now I asked him for another summary, and he gave me yet another summary, and I still don’t get why so many people love this story.

To me, it sounds like a story about a guy who had some bad luck and then some good luck, and always chose the right path, and in the end, was redeemed,

It just doesn’t interest me.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
It also has a strong theme of rebellion against authority, which is why I believe the Church put it on the Index.
Click to expand...
It is based on Catholic theology and it is the Gospel of Christ live on stage or in this case, on screen. And that is the secret to its success and longevity - it is the biblical story of redemption through mercy, love and forgiveness.

It is filled with Catholic teaching and references to Catholic theology.

the Thénardiers - ‘Master of the house’ is a translation of Beelzebub, aka Satan. (Another translation is ‘Lord of the flies’ - that book was very disturbing, and its title is very apropos. ) In Les Mis the head of the Thénardier clan is called the master of the house, letting us know the group represents the chaff of the world, people in league with the devil, stuck in sins of greed, lies, stealing and more. They do not love anything except their own lives in this passing world.

Jean Valjean - the mercy given to him by the bishop (Christ symbol) shocks him out of his hate and converts him. He is not too proud to accept it. He makes reparation for the harm he unknowingly caused Fontaine by taking Cosette under his lifelong care.

Javert - lives for justice, but without mercy. The mercy shown him by Valjean shocks him too, but his pride keeps him from being able to handle it; the mercy illuminates for him that he was wrong to relentlessly pursue justice without mercy; he thought he was following the way of God, and so he believed himself to be a righteous man, but Valjean’s mercy makes him realize he has followed the letter of the law without understanding the heart of the law. His pride in the face of Valjean’s mercy shatters him, and cannot bring himself to repent.

Fontaine - Can be seen as an Eve-like figure: innocent and naive and seduced. Her forgiveness of Valjean helps him attain his salvation.

The barricade: sin, which puts up a wall between us and God, keeping us out of the Garden, out of the Kingdom of God. The play calls its audience, each of us, to climb the barricade - to overcome sin, to be merciful, to forgive, and to love - and enter God’s garden, to enter the Kingdom of God.

For example, the finale’s lyrics:
SPOILER ALERT for any who might not have seen the play or earlier movie!!!

SPOILER ALERT for any who might not have seen the play or earlier movie!!!

VALJEAN [dying]:
Now you are here
Again beside me
Now I can die in peace
For now my life is blessed

COSSETTE:
You will live, papa
You’re going to live
It’s too soon to ever say goodbye

VALJEAN:
Yes, cossette
Forbid me now to die
I’ll obey
I will try

On this page [judgment, allusion to the Book of Life]
I write my last confession [Last Rites]
Read it well
When I at last am sleeping [sleeping alludes to New Testament biblical word for death]
It’s a story of those who always loved you [again, Book of Life, Judgment]
Your mother gave her life for you and gave you to my keeping

FANTINE:
[she died earlier but is at his side as he is dying - Communion of Saints
note: we see her in heaven even though she was a prostitute to earn a wage for her sick daughter - this tells of God’s Justice and especially His Mercy ]
Come with me
Where chains will never bind you [come with me to Heaven, revealing she is in Heaven]
All your grief
At last, at last behind you
Lord in heaven; [intercession of the Communion of Saints]
Look down on him in mercy

VALJEAN:
Forgive me all my trespases and take me to your glory [again, Last Rites, final confession, review of our Life in Judgment before Our Lord]

FANTINE, VALJEAN AND EPONINE:
Take my hand
And lead me to salvation
Take my love
For love is everlasting [God is love]
And remember
The truth that once was spoken:
To love another person is to see the face of god

ALL: [cast exhorts us, the audience, to follow the Good News of Christ who is the Light]
Do you hear the people sing?
Lost in the valley of the night
It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light [seeking God, showing mercy, forgiveness]
For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies [flame that never dies: God, especially the Holy Spirit, and Love of God for man]
Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise Second Coming in Glory, New Heaven and New Earth]

They will live again in freedom in the garden of the lord [Resurrection in the Kingdom]
They will walk behind the ploughshare [reference to Isaiah’s verses on the prefect, remade world]
They will put away the sword
The chain will be broken and all men will have their reward! [chain: bondage in sin; reward: Heaven]

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see? [barricade: sin that keeps us out of the Garden, out of the Kingdom]
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes!
REPEAT

Aaaaah, aaaaah, aaaah,
Tomorrow comes!

All should see this movie, especially Catholics!

God bless you.
 
The movie soundtrack has been released on iTunes, which I’ve been listening to (it’s not every song, and some people are upset that their favorite wasn’t included) but it’s quite good.
 
I can’t wait for this film, the book had the most profound spiritual effect on me by any work of fiction I’ve ever experienced. Second to the Bible, Les Misérables is probably the second most important book I’ve ever had the pleasure to read from. How I wish there were more Bishops like Bishop Myriel from Les Misérables who turned his luxurious and grand Bishop’s palace into a hospital, and opted to live in humbler arrangements, who truly lived up to the words of Christ: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (ESV)

The music from the film is full of positive religious imagery, some of the lyrics from the finale are especially powerful from a spiritual perspective: “They will live again in freedom in the Garden of the Lord, they will walk behind the plowshare they will put away the sword, the chain will be broken and all men will have their reward!”

I’ve always tried to derive more Catholic themes from the music and story. I’ve personally seen the barricade as a metaphor for the Church, for the revolutionaries the barricade is a symbol of refuge of hope, their fortress against their enemies. And as scripture states, the Church is the bulwark of the truth. And as the lyrics to the finale and “Do You Hear the People Sing” go “Beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free!” With the Church as the barricade we look beyond to the world to come at Christ’s second coming when the ministry of the Church is complete. And we join the fight that will us the right to be free (from sin). Lovely imagery I must say.
Tarpeian_Rock said:
Victo Hugo’s book “Les Miserables” was on the Index of Forbidden Books, and my understanding is that even though the Index was abolished, we are not exactly encouraged to run off and see works based on such questionable material, even if Hugh Jackman is able to sing.
Click to expand...
Now in regards to this, I suggest you understand why the book was probably on the index. Victor Hugo offers a majestic and noble image of the Church at times, and at other times he directly criticizes certain aspects of Catholic life. Hugo seems to take jabs at the Church’s wealth, but more to the point Hugo writes a scathing part of the book concerning monasteries and convents, he is not too fond of them for reasons he explains, though he thinks they should be free to exist, he doesn’t like them and thinks they have their place at the dawn of civilizations but should be phased out over time. I certainly disagree, but I can see this part of the book as being why it was on the index. In addition to this, Hugo also appears sympathetic to the French Revolution, (he certainly was no royalist) which obviously would have infuriated many in the Church considering the De-Christianization that France went under during the revolution which I’m sure was fresh in the minds of those in the Church.

But if you actually read the book, you will find that it is full of great Catholic characters, Bishop Myriel and Jean Valjean to name the most prominent who offer a positive image of Catholicism. Like I said above, this book in my view has done me the most spiritual good a novel has ever done. I started reading it in a time of spiritual dryness and it really inspired me take more of the gospel to heart especially when it concerned forgiveness, charity in word and deed, doing more to help the poor, becoming less focused on material possessions, and so on. It’s strange how profound an impact fictional stories and characters can have on you, and I personally attest to the fact that reading Les Misérables has led to me being a better Catholic and person in general, and I can’t wait till I finish it. It’s not often in today’s media that you get role model characters, we glorify antiheros and villains in today’s society, Les Misérables seeks to glorify what truly needs to be glorified: love, mercy, hope, charity, faith, sacrifice, etc. I don’t care for some of Hugo’s political and personal opinions that he weaves into the book, but I love how those aforementioned values are glorified.
 
I saw the play for the first time three weeks ago by chance a friend surprised me with a discounted ticket that afternoon. I hadn’t even heard any of the music before (except “I Dreamed a Dream”), so I went in blind (or deaf).

So beautiful and I’m now obsessed with the music and the story.

On the way back from the play I was talking to my friend about how the ending wasn’t sad. I saw it as a glorious and joyous ending that this man who could forgive and have mercy on everyone but himself finally found rest, forgiveness and mercy in God in Heaven.

That made it for me, a very special and moving play. I can’t wait to see the film!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top