What I learned from watching the movie:
This having been the first time I've seen any version of Les Miserables, I learned quite a lot. At first I was anticipating a very boring two hours and forty minutes of sad, poor, French people. Although that's partly true, the musical is anything but boring. In watching the movie version of the musical, I was able to better understand the characters and time period and it got me thinking about how we'd perform each scene.
I think it was really beneficial to watch the movie so that the cast can get an idea of what their characters are like and to understand some of the trickier scenes through context. For example, after reading the music for Monsieur Thenardier's audition, I thought he was a genuinely nice guy but after watching the movie, I realized that I was sorely mistaken (it's a good thing I didn't audition for that role).
Another thing I gained from watching the movie was historical context. Prior to the viewing of the musical, I knew nothing about the French Revolution before watching the movie so it really helped to set the scene for me. It really helped to get specific examples of differences between then and now such as the roles that men and women played in society and similarities such as the struggles of impoverished people today vs then.
Watching the movie also leant itself to ideas for tone, expression and staging. For example in our first rehearsal when we were coming up with ideas for the chain gang, the basis of my actions were from the opening scene of the movie when the slaves are pulling a ship into harbour. It really got me thinking about how our version could be different or similar in terms of costumes, sets and performance and I think it helped in rehearsal to have an idea of where we were going with a scene, it made the process much easier and more sequential to me.
I felt like viewing the musical before the year began was a great way to introduce us to the musical because Les Mis is such a big undertaking and seeing it in such a neat package really brought it together in my mind. It got me understanding the characters and time period better and it got me thinking proactively about our production. Overall, it was a very important step and it has made all of our lives easier.
Themes/My favourite scenes:
My favourite three scenes from the movie were when the priest forgives Valjean, when Valjean forgives Javert and when Valjean passes from this life into the next. These are my favourite scenes because they all tie into the idea of God being present in the form of forgiveness throughout the story. At the beginning Jean Valjean has nothing and feels as though the world has forsaken him. He travels alone living off of the rare kindness that he is shown by strangers when he finally happens upon a church where he is shown unwarranted kindness to no limit by the priest who lives there. At this point in the story, the priest is representative of God who shows divine forgiveness even when he has been robbed. In the act of forgiving Valjean, he says that he has bought his soul for God, thus, transferring the divinity inside of him to Valjean who goes on to become a compassionate mayor who will stop at nothing until all is fair and right. For example, lifting the cart off of the citizen who has been crushed and adopting, a stranger, Fantine's daughter, whom he has never met. He gives her the dignity of dying in peace with a clear concsience knowing that Cosette is taken care of.
But the biggest moment in which he diffrentiates himself from the rest is when he forgives Javert, the man who unjustly enslaved him for 19 years, letting him go free when Valjean could've easily killed him and exacted revenge. In this action not only does Valjean show the bit of God in him through forgiveness but in how the balance of justice is restored as a result. When Jean forgives Javert and lets him go, it forces Javert to realize that all of his years fighting against "criminals" were really spent chaining up innocent people forced into crime due to circumtance. Upon this realization Javert can no longer live with himself and in dying, he pays for all the years he took from the people of France.
The scene that ties everything together for me is Jean Valjean's death. In the movie when he dies the priest from the beginning appears, extending a hand to him and as equals they ascend. This scene to me says that we all have God in us if we can learn to forgive and to set things right when it's within our power.
The scenes I chose exemplify not only the reccurring motif of God being among us, they also display a couple of very important themes, sacrifice and forgiveness.
In the first two scenes, in which the priest forgives Jean Valjean and when Jean Valjean forgives Javert, the theme of forgiveness is plain to see. In these scenes, however, sacrifice is also very present. When the Priest forgives Jean Valjean and encourages him to take all of the silver from the church, he sacrifices the guarantee of a future for the church. When Valjean let's Javert go, he sacrifices revenge and the guarantee of freedom from his grasp.
There are many more examples of sacrifice elsewhere throughout the story, most notably, Fantine who sacrifices everything for Cosette including her hair, teeth and her life. Fantine, through her sacrifice shows that the love of family is stronger than any other (another theme).
There are many, many themes, motifs and opportunities for analysis in this story and to exhaust the list, I'd be writing a novel. The most important themes are Forgiveness, Sacrifice and Love all tying into the story in key ways, some more obvious than others.
To sum it up:
I really enjoyed watching the film version of the Les Miserables because it helped me to understand the characters and the time period/setting better as well as getting me thinking about our show during the summer. Les Miserables is a very meaningful story that is relatable to us today (although it's set during the french revolution) because it has universal themes of Forgiveness, Love and Sacrifice that are presented in many ways by many different characters. Overall, Les Miserables is a classic tale and it's possible that I never would have known had it not been for this musical. I'm really enjoying getting to know everyone in the cast and I think we're working well together and progressing quickly. I'm excited for good times to come.
