Les Miserables 2012: Part Three

"Common sense may tell you that the ending will be sad, and now's the time to break and run away..."

~Julie Jordan, "What's the Use of Wonderin'?"

{{this post is exceedingly picture-heavy.  my abject apologies to those with slow connexions.}}

Probably I should have used a Les Mis quote to begin this post, but a Carousel quote seemed more fitting somehow, because it perfectly sums up everything I was thinking as "One Day More" ended and the second act began.  (There's no intermission in the movie, nor is it divided into acts, but I am a stage-minded person and it's my review and if I say this is Act Two, it's Act Two.  But of course this is my third post on the subject because I simply couldn't confine it all to two posts.  Hope that doesn't confuse anyone.  If it does, get thee to an abacus and learn the mysteries of the numbers two and three.  Any questions?)

So... let's begin with "Do You Hear the People Sing?".  Also known as THE VERY BEST VERSION OF THAT SONG THAT HAS EVER BEEN PERFORMED, EVER, IN ALL THE WORLD AND ALL THE GALAXIES.

I should not be allowed to use caps lock.

That whole sequence was just wow.  I've seen it at least six times now, I believe, and I need to see it about fifty billion times more so I can fully appreciate it.  Enjolras with a flag! Marius on a hearse! Enjo's magical hair that glows when he sings!  Marius on a horse!  Jehan trying to be fierce and succeeding in being way too cute!  Enjo sending everyone to the barricades!  Combeferre flipping out when the old lady got shot! (that part was both awesome [because Combeferre is just awesome] and awful [because, you know, the old lady died]-- I'd almost forgotten about how the bystanders suffered casualties, too, and I LOVED how they had that reference to the brick!)

That version of the song is my favorite now, though, and I say that without reservation.  The way it begins so softly--revolution starts with a whisper, you know--and then builds and builds until the whole street--the whole city, it seems--is swept up in the people's song.  Oh, and having Javert show up and save Courfeyrac's life is pretty cool.

AND THEN THE BARRICADES AND OHMYGOODNESS IT ALL WENT TOO FAST AND THINGS HAPPENED TOO QUICKLY AND THEY ALL DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEED AND EVEN COMBEFERRE WASN'T ABLE TO SAVE THEM ALL.

Um, backing up a little. The barricade-building part was SO COOL.  I loved the barricade in the touring stage production and the videos I've seen of the Old Way (with the revolving stage, which I wish they'd bring back for Broadway next year), but it was amazing to see them actually building it.  I mean, that line of Courfeyrac's is pretty much iconic now.  (My sister shouted it at a baseball game the other night when they were telling the stadium to make some noise.  I'm not kidding you.  I'm also not telling you which sister, so she won't be embarrassed.)

Anyways, as one of my friends pointed out,  it was unbelievable how tiny it looked in the scope of Paris.  On stage, it takes up pretty much all the available space, but with those aerial shots (yes, I know it was CGI, shut up) you could really get a feel for how tragically small the whole structure was, and how very alone in a big, dark city.  (Was anyone else just a little horrified at the whole foreshadowing thing with the coffins in the front?  As someone-in-a-Pinterest-picture-that-I-can't-find-now said, "You know what else are big and red and small and blue...")

When Hadley Fraser came on as the Army Captain,  Anne-girl and I just screamed GRANTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIRE and then exchanged guilty glances because the younger sibs were in bed already.  I'm not a fan of mustaches.  Never have been, never will be.  But that mustache was fabulous.  If he hadn't had it I'm afraid I would have been able to see nothing but Grantaire and Raoul, and the army captain is neither, so it was a good move on the costume department's part. And hey, they got an award for it.  Like, a big award.

I also have to commend this guy for his stellar portrayal of a minor, minor character.  I never paid much attention to the Army Captain in the concerts, because hey, he's just there to yell at the students and get the battle started.  But Hadley Fraser played him as an almost tragic character, a soldier who (according to Tom Hooper) grew up with Enjolras and the other students and is now being faced with the task of taking them down.  So when he tells them to give up their guns or die, why throw their lives away, it's a plea instead of a threat.  (And seriously.  Best singing in under a minute.)

Okay, now let's talk Javert.  First of all...

True. True.  This is true.

Okay, so I'm trying really hard not to bash Russell Crowe here.  I know he has a lot of fans out there and I don't want Petie to come after me with Enjo's musket to offend any of them, but seriously, his singing stank in the entire barricade sequence.  And to be honest, his acting wasn't much better.  The scene where he gets captured by the students and the fight ensues was really good (though I'm not condoning beating people with sticks, Enjo, are we clear on that) but unfortunately I was so mad because most of "Little People" had been cut that I still haven't been able to fully appreciate Javert's capture scene.

The first attack was phenomenal.  I try not to use that word lightly, but somehow it keeps cropping up whenever I talk about Les Mis.  So much sound and so much action and so much music and shout-singing (which is appropriate for the barricades and NOT FOR JAVERT'S SUICIDE) and so much gunpowder and threatening to blow up the barricade... yeah, did I mention that sequence was the bomb?  Only it wasn't, because Marius didn't actually blow anything up.

... It's a pun, guys.

I have seriously mixed feelings about the whole concept of Marius threatening to blast them all sky-high with his torch and barrel.  On the one hand, I love that they included this episode from the brick, and it definitely gives Marius some depth and prevents him from just being a lovestruck moron tripping over his rifle and mooning about Cosette.  (Which Marius totally is NOT, though he is sometimes portrayed this way onstage or onscreen.  Read the book.)  However, the way Eddie Redmayne plays this scene is kind of hilarious (okay, I was amused, anyway... "andmuhselfwiiiiiiithit"), as is Enjolras' reaction.  "Okay, Marius, I'mma take this torch... nice and easy... what have I told you about playing with matches..."

As for Combeferre's reaction, that part drove me NUTS.  Part of it is so sad ("my life is not YOURS to risk, Marius!") but it seems out of character for Combeferre, especially as it was evident that if Marius hadn't done what he did, they all would have been killed anyway.  (And as it is... they DO all get killed.  Sob.)  In the brick, the students basically fall at Marius' feet after this episode and tell him he's in charge now.  Though I can see why they didn't have that happen in the movie (um, Enjolras is the chief, thankyouverymuch) I still think Combeferre's outburst just wasn't in keeping with Comebeferre-in-general.  Thoughts, y'all?

However.  I really, really loved how they changed Eponine's death to be more brick-accurate.  In the musical, she gets shot when merely climbing over the barricade (and since she wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, her death loses a lot of its poignancy).  Having her pull the gun away from Marius and end up getting shot herself immediately makes her death much more tragic and raises her about fifty points in the audience's estimation (because believe it or not, there are people out there who don't like Eponine).

I should mention at the outset that "A Little Fall of Rain" is one of my absolute favorite songs in the musical, so I had high hopes for this scene... and I hate to admit that I didn't cry during scene, at least the first time around.  (Part of this may have been because I was SO MAD that so much of the song was cut out.)  Obviously, this made me feel disloyal (dishonor! dishonor on me, dishonor on Enjo's cow...) but I made up for it when they showed Gavroche crying, and then Combeferre carrying Eponine's body off to whoknowswhere... yeah, that was when I lost it.  I mean, the song is terribly sad and it was brilliantly acted and I loved the allusions to the brick with Eponine finally delivering that blasted letter and Marius kissing her on the forehead after she died... but let's face it, the TAC owns the definitive version of this song.  (And there was no "Night of Anguish." WHERE WAS NIGHT OF ANGUISH.)

I have been known to burst into tears over the scene where Gavroche delivers Marius' letter to Valjean.  Not because of Valjean's struggle over whether to go save Marius or not, though that wee snippet was a gem in and of itself, but because of Valjean's warning to Gavroche to stay away from the barricade and Gavroche's nonchalant ignoring of Valjean.  And the fact that he never got to spend the coin Valjean tipped him with.  (WAHHHHHH.)  However, I really did like Valjean's little reprise of "Who Am I?" in which he agonized over the idea of Cosette being in love with Marius.  Just like the book.  Again.

So then Valjean shows up at the barricades and saves them all from snipers, yada yada, and Enjolras says he can deal with the spy as a reward.  (Yay.)  And when Valjean went in to "take care" of Javert, and Combeferre was watching from behind and saying, "No, Enjolras" (yes, Combeferre, break my heart, why don't ya-- now THAT, people, was completely canon) all I could think of was him looking at Javert and saying, "I know that feel, bro" or something along those lines, because the noose around Javert's neck was eerily reminiscent of the Punjab lasso in "Final Lair" and Killian Donnelly played Raoul quite splendidly on the West End and... I think I over-explained that.

Anyway, getting back to Javert-- I really didn't think Russell Crowe did a good job with the whole "you are free" scene.  In fact, he didn't really seem to do anything at all.  I know Javert is supposed to be kind of in shock and all that, perhaps even completely apathetic about what happens to him, but you would think he'd register at least a little surprise when Valjean tells him he can go.  Maybe a dramatic pause or something before he starts droning, "don't understaaaaaand..."?  Just a thought.  That scene is really important and I don't think it was handled half as well as it could have been.  On Javert's part, that is.  Valjean was splendid.  (And yes, I'm still biased toward the TAC version.  Sorry, not sorry.)

"Drink With Me" was abominably short.  Thank goodness we got to see a bit of it in the Young Revolutionaries featurette, but still.  I did like how Gavroche was included... but then I'm a sucker for any scene that Gavroche was in, so... yeah.  

Okay, and now all the Hugh Jackman fans (especially Ally) are going to commence with the tomato-throwing, because I appreciated "Bring Him Home" for the wrong reasons.  All those feels and the general intensity of the barricades, and then here comes Hugh Jackman with a little comic relief to lighten the mood and all that.  I didn't want to laugh.  I tried not to laugh.  But I did.  And so did Anne-girl.  We agreed later that you just couldn't take it seriously-- he was BELTING out that song, loud enough to wake everybody (and yes, Colm does the same thing, as does pretty much every Valjean ever, but Hugh's voice isn't a belting voice).  It did not sound good.  And for some reason the fact that he'd known Marius for about five minutes seemed ridiculous here, whereas onstage nobody questions the whole "he's like the son I might have known."  Poor Courfeyrac, who took the watch, having to listen to that... apparently everyone else was sleeping like a log and wasn't bothered, but dear me, I bet Courf was wishing earplugs had been invented.

*ducks flying vegetables*

Anyways, that scene in the morning when Enjolras said, "We're the only ones left," killed me.  But not the way Gavroche's death killed me.  Because that scene is THE WORST.

And I covered Gavroche's death in this post, so just go read that, 'kay? If I reiterate it all here, this post is going to end up being longer than the brick.

And after that everything went too fast and there was so much shooting and so much blood and so many feathers and so much hyperventilation (that was me and Anne-girl).  I didn't cry during the Final Battle.  Well, just those jerky kind of half-sobs.  Even when they were crashing the door down and begging to be let in (yeah, that moment when everyone wants to just slaughter Tom Hooper because WHAT KIND OF TWISTED MIND CONCEIVES SUCH A THING, THAT IS JEHAN WHO IS SCREAMING AND CRYING RIGHT THERE, YOU EVIL MAN), I didn't cry.  I just Gulped a little and Felt Anguished.

It was when they were all trapped in the tavern and Combeferre was desperately throwing china and trying to protect everybody that I really started.  (You didn't think this review was going to be a blow-by-blow of Amy's Tears and How They Flowed in Individual Scenes, now did you?  Let that be a lesson to you, young men and women.  Never take anything for granted.)  And gah, the music.  THE MUSIC.  I mean, duh, Les Mis is all about music, but the instrumentals in this part are just so majestic and desperate and glorious and sad and perfect for the scene.

And then Enjolras and Grantaire died.  In what may very well have been the most heartbreakingly, horribly perfect scene in the whole movie.  Only the phrases "do you permit it" and "two at one shot" would have improved that scene.  It melded the brick and the stage musical together so beautifully that I take back everything bad I ever said about Tom Hooper and his directing choices.  

And yet even as I was sobbing like a baby sea monkey while Enjolras fell out the window in slow motion, still clutching the flag, with the tiniest beginnings of a smile on his face before they shot him, I couldn't help thinking, "Man, filming a scene like that must have been traumatizing" and then I remembered the interview Aaron Tveit did where he talked about his malfunctioning bulletproof vest in that scene, and I came this close to giggling.  I know.  I'm horrid.  I don't know why I just disclosed that.  Moving on.

Admit it-- you all cried at least a smidgen when Javert came walking through the silent battlefield and stopped to pin his medal on Gavroche's little vest as "Bring Him Home" played in the background.  This time I bawled like an adult sea monkey, as you might have guessed.  I know this scene has gotten a bashing from the critics and even some of the fans, that some people think it's out of character for Javert to have done such a thing, but I absolutely loved it.  Though I don't agree with most of the portrayal of Javert as this vulnerable puppy-dog who just wants to be loved, he does have a scrap or two of humanity still lingering within him.  (And I like to think that he saw in Gavroche something of what he was like as a youngster. *blows nose loudly*)

Plus, you have to remember that Javert's mission in fulfilling his duty as an employee of the French law enforcement was to protect the people of France.  And in his mind, stomping out the revolution was protecting the people of France.  I don't know if you could go as far as saying that he felt the same way about the whole thing as the army captain did ("why throw your lives away?") but I do think seeing so many young lives cut short through those battles touched him with at least a twinge of regret.  How are the mighty fallen, and all that.

(Can I also mention that the medal Javert gave to Gavroche was his one and only medal?  Check out this picture-- the uniform isn't exactly sporting a fruit salad.  It wasn't a case of, "oh, here, take this one, kid, I got plenty more." Javert had just one medal, the Medal of Honor issued by Napoleon, which means Javert was decorated by the emperor and that thing was probably a collector's item.  And he gave that one medal, his one and only medal, to Gavroche.  Be right back, tissues...)

Okay, so "The Sewers."  The sewers were GROSS.  So gross that I'm going to spend as little time as possible on them. Valjean rescues Marius, they swim through a bunch of disgusting muck that I'm trying not to think about, they bump into Javert, Valjean turns into Spiderman temporarily and basically does this up into the street with Marius slung over his shoulder, and Javert drops his gun into a huge slushy canal of you-know-what.  

Moving on.

I wanted very badly to like "Javert's Suicide."  And it really was good if you look at it purely from a technical standpoint-- there were no missed notes and Russell Crowe sang it pretty well, all things considered.  But that's the thing-- I couldn't manage to forget that it was Russell Crowe dressed up in a military uniform singing the counterpart to "Valjean's Soliloquy" in front of a green screen. (And I'm not bashing the special effects here.  The special effects were great.)  I just couldn't stop myself from saying in my head, "Yeah, well, Javert does a much better job with this-- did I just say Javert? I meant Philip Quast. Whatever.  Same thing."

Let's be honest, Quast just owns that song, and nobody else does Javert's mental falling-apart the way he does.  But I did bawl when Russell Crowe plummeted off the bridge and hit the water (er... the edge of the stone thingy... with the positively horrid sound effects)... for some reason seeing his body get washed away just seemed so FINAL and HORRIBLE and POOR JAVERT.

So much caps lock in this post.  SO MUCH CAPS LOCK.

It is a truth Misiversally acknowledged that the splash of red in the cart in the
background is the body of He Who Wears the Red Jacket... I kinda wish we could
see better and then again I'm glad we can't.

"Turning" is another song that seems to get a bad rap from a lot of fans, and I just can't understand why.  (I mean, my only problem with it in the movie was that it was cut down to almost zilch.  "A Little Fall of Rain" is like the entirety of "Final Lair" in comparison.)  From what I've heard, some people think that the line "they were schoolboys, never held a gun" is inaccurate and demeaning to the so-called barricade boys (who were, let's face it, adults, not kids).  I mean, I have no problem with casually referring to the revolutionaries as barricade boys, but Marius was one of the youngest at 23 and Enjo himself was 26.  So I can see why there could be an issue with a song that makes them out to be naive children, but hello, this song isn't being sung by a bunch of long-bearded scholars pompously blowing the dust off their original autographed editions of the brick.  It's sung by a group of women who are (were?) the barricade boys' wives, girlfriends and mothers.  I think we can all agree that though a mom may acknowledge the fact that her son is an adult, deep down inside she'll always see him as her baby, and that's the kind of viewpoint that's being shown in this song.  

I'm a bit annoyed, however, that the script apparently refers to one of the women as Enjolras' mother, as it is highly unlikely she'd be cleaning the streets of her son's blood, being a) an uppity-rich monarchist and b) completely estranged from her republican offspring, if the brick is to be believed.  Just sayin'.  *adjusts hipster glasses*

Oh, and the whole thing with Marius waking up in his grandfather's house could have been better explained, I think-- if I didn't know the story I would have been quite confused as to where he was and what was going on.

And we now interrupt this program to gush over Eddie Redmayne and offer him our sincere apologies for ever doubting him in any way, shape or form, or for ever saying he had a monkey face (yes, I blush to admit that I did just that) or for saying uncomplimentary things about his vibrato, because even if his whole head DOES shake, it's a cute kind of shake and we can't all be Michael Ball, now can we?

I had some pretty high expectations for "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."  I mean, anyone who sings this song is following in the footsteps of Michael Ball the Great and Powerful, and that's a pretty huge responsibility.  While I don't think Eddie Redmayne's voice is as good as Michael Ball's (duhhhhh...) I think he did a fabulous job in conveying the emotion of the song and going from shell-shocked to contemplative to furious to woebegone and back again and you get the idea.  I had wanted so badly to see the ghosts of his friends appear, because with special effects you can do that so much more interestingly in a movie than on stage (and hey, an excuse to see a certain face again) but in the end I think it really was better that he was alone the whole time. Really drove home the point.

Now, this review isn't intended to be a comparison of the movie and the TAC, but someone's going to ask me about it in the comments if I don't stick my neck out and give a flat opinion, so I'm gonna say that I like MB and ER's versions equally well, for different reasons.  (But if you were holding a pistol to my head and making me choose, I'd go with Michael Ball.)  The End.

I was really, really annoyed by "Every Day."  This is one of Cosette's opportunities to shine, albeit briefly, because it's her chance to comfort Marius and be strong for him.   Yet two really important lines were mercilessly cut, the grandfather was singing a bunch of gibberish in the background (go away!) and if that wasn't bad enough, Valjean (whose part always USED to make me cry in this song) is yowling behind the door loud enough to wake the dead.  (That's when Enjolras bursts in and dances down the staircase yodeling about how he's alive, he's alive, he is so alive... ahem.)  I want so terribly to feel bad for you, Jean Valjean.  You're giving up your daughter because you're a wonderful person, and yet all I can do is cringe because you do not seem to understand that you just cannot do the loud vocals.  You think you can do these things, but you can't, Valjean! YOU JUST CAN'T.

"Valjean's Confession" was exceedingly well done, I thought.  Everyone is supposed to pretty much hate Marius in this part, but Eddie Redmayne managed to accurately play the scene while still making Marius' actions understandable.  And holy moley, did he ever go down low near the end.  "For the sake of Cosette, it must... be so." (There should be high and low and in-between fonts for when one is typing out song lyrics.  I shall take it up with Google, I think.)  Most impressive.  

The little scene inserted between the Confession and the wedding was pure gold.  Cosette's dress was gorgeous (I know, I know, it has nothing to do with the story, but I'm still drooling over it) and I loved seeing Marius comforting her this time. Kinda brings the whole Marius-and-Cosette thing full circle-- there was NO doubt that they were TOTALLY meant for each other.  Plus, it gives the audience reason to really like Cosette instead of just admiring her like a doll in a glass case.  Yay, she finally has a truly likable personality!  She cares about her father instead of just running off to get married!

The wedding was gorgeousness (as is Cosette's dressssss...), the Thenardiers were a welcome bit of comic relief, the Marius punch was awesomeness sauce, and I loved how the T's got their comeuppance in the end by being carted off in disgrace instead of getting to stay and enjoy the food and sing about how crass and heartless they are.  I was left feeling amused instead of annoyed.  "How daaaaare you!"

And then... it was the Epilogue... happy feelings gone.  Well, giggly feelings gone, anyway.  Because I adore the Epilogue.  Oh, Epilogue, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways...

I think everyone involved did a fantastic job in this scene, but Amanda Seyfried really stood out to me.  This was her big moment as Cosette, and she blew Katie Hall and Judy Kuhn out of the water.  Real tears, real emotion, real heartbreak as she realized her beloved father was dying just as she got to be reunited with him.  The interaction between the two of them was absolutely priceless (did anyone else managed to hold it in until the little nose "boop" and then bust out crying?) 

And the way Valjean reached out to touch Marius when he said "now you are here".... yeah, it was perfect.  He's accepted Marius and he knows they'll be happy together.  And all he wants now is to give Cosette the story of his past, the one she wanted so badly (presumably her mother's story is in that letter, too, at least IT BETTER BE because Fantine gave up SO MUCH for her and should NEVER be forgotten).  Though I'm a bit disgruntled that the line regarding Fantine's ultimate sacrifice was cut, the new line never fails to melt me into a puddle.  A friend of mine pointed out that it really brings Valjean's story full circle-- Les Mis is ultimately about his journey, and to focus on him alone in the final scene is just as it should be.  "It's the story of one who turned from hating, a man who only learned to love when you were in his keeping."

Someone hug me, 'cause I need a hug right now.  And a few more tissues.

Fantine's appearance here was almost completely perfect (though why couldn't she have magically gotten all her beautiful hair back again? Is she supposed to have a forever-buzz-cut in heaven?), and though I was disappointed not to see Eponine, I loved that the bishop was included in the finale.  I fiercely maintain that though Valjean and Eponine didn't know each other in real life, she belongs at the finish because like Fantine (and Valjean!) she made the ultimate sacrifice for the person she loved best, and as such she represents the concept of "to love another person is to see the face of God."  But the bishop was good too, and while I would have been delighted to see them both, I was content just to have the one who started it all.  (In more ways than one.  Original Valjean! YAY!)  

However, the whole welcoming-Valjean-to-heaven thing was a bit weird.  I'm thinking we should rename the Epilogue as "Tom Hooper Thinks Heaven is a House Full of Candles."

There's one little bit you shouldn't miss there at the end-- it's when Marius looks up just as the people are beginning to sing after Valjean died.  He's hearing the people sing, imagining the scene that follows.   (So yeah, the big final barricade is all in Marius' head... but I'm okay with that.) He's seeing the tomorrow that never came in his mind-- remember how Enjolras said "let others rise to take our place until the earth is free"?  Marius is the one rising to take their place and make the earth free, and through him and Cosette (and their children, of course) the idea of the revolution, the spirit of everyone who died is living on.  To be a little cheesy (who cares about cheese, it's LES MIS), they're keeping the flame alive.  Which is why they're visible for a brief nanosecond on the barricade.  And they're also keeping love alive (love is everlasting, after all) because Fantine and Valjean are looking down on them too, and... yeah.

FEEL ALL THE FEELS.

I was kind of on cloud nine thousand in that last scene, in case you didn't know. 

BUT WAIT WE'RE NOT DONE.

Just when I thought it was over and I could collapse and cry and fangirl and all that, the credits started rolling and this instrumental started playing and my life was made complete.  Anne-girl was like, "what's wrong NOW?" and I wailed through my tears, "LES MIS HAS AN OVERTURE, I ALWAYS WANTED LES MIS TO HAVE AN OVERTURE, I CANNOT HANDLE THE PERFECTION OF IT, LES MIS FINALLY HAS AN OVERTURE."

And she looked at me and said, "....these are end titles."

IT WAS AN OVERTURE.

I will abide by that statement.

Oh, and eventually Aaron Tveit's name was there in big bold capitals on the screen.
Squeeeeeeee.

I LOVE LES MIS.

THE END.

P.S.  In case you wanted the short version of my review, here 'tis: "This movie.  I liked it.  Let's watch it again."