Les Misérables - 1952 film
Aug. 13th, 2013 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bobcatmoranI checked out a Les Mis double feature from the library: a 2-sided DVD with the 1935 film version on one side and the 1952 version on the other. I was going to watch them in chronological order, but since I misinterpreted the DVD's labeling, I wound up watching the '52 version first.
It's obviously based on Victor Hugo's doorstop of a book, but it's also, as one might expect, rather different, sometimes in ways beyond what you might expect for a 1200 page book being compressed into a slightly-less-than-two-hour movie. Among the differences are the incorporation of Robert, Jean Valjean’s BFF, Marius being a self-confident ladies man with passionate republican ideals, an example of how Javert’s characterization can be entirely changed with just a couple of small details, and a one-sided pairing that makes me seriously worry about the writers of this movie.
OTOH, Gavroche somehow made it through, awesomeness intact, and he (presumably) didn’t die on the barricades. Also, you get a bit of sassy!bishop. So…yay?
The movie opens with Jean Valjean's bread-stealing trial. I'm not quite sure why they changed the kids he stole the bread for from his sister's children to his friend's, but then again, I'm not sure why they changed a lot of stuff here *cough*Robert*cough*. That's a minor detail. Then some scenes of the general awfulness of the French penitentiary system of the early 1800s under the credits, and then it's off to the galleys. One of the prisoners is trapped beneath a beam that collapses when the ship runs aground, and the prisoner next to Valjean, whose name is, I think, Genflou, is like, "Hey, Valjean, you're really strong, lift that beam up."
Valjean is a total crankypants about it and basically says, "Fuck you and the ship we rowed in on, I don't wanna."
Genflou then goes, "Dammit, Valjean, I taught you how to read and write, the least you could do is listen to me when I tell you that guy's gonna be crushed to death if you don't lift up that beam."
Valjean is then like, "FINE I'LL DO IT JEEZ," and does his amazing display of strength, witnessed by Javert, who's a guard on the ship. Oddly, this whole scene foreshadows exactly nothing, as the later scene where Valjean lifts the cart off of Fauchelevant is cut and Valjean never again demonstrates his superhuman strength in Javert's presence.
Apparently, Genflou not only knows how to read and write, but also somehow knows a ridiculous amount about Javert's personal history, which he recounts to Valjean in Javert's presence, complete with Hugo's wolf metaphor. He also reveals that Javert's first name is Etienne. Javert is all, "You thought you could use my past against me? You thought wrong! I was raised by the law and I know it backwards and forwards and am thoroughly unimpressed by anything that prisoners have to say because they are prisoners and Bad People."
Anyway, Valjean is released after serving his 10-year sentence, and given his yellow passport, which, hilariously, is all in French except for the English word "YELLOW" stamped across it. I guess that's so the cabbages in the audience know that it's yellow in a black-and-white film.
For awhile, the story stays pretty much along the lines of every other version I've ever run into (well, aside from the Animaniacs parody). Valjean is ticked off about being shortchanged his wages earned while in prison, kids chase him and poke at him with sticks, and he gets turned away from everywhere until he awkwardly bursts in on the bishop's household and is invited to dinner and to sleep the night.
There's a hilarious scene the next morning, as the bishop is arranging flowers in a basket, and Mme Magliore asks him, shocked, "Is that the silver basket?"
"Yes, yes it is."
"Where's the silver?!"
"I haven't the faintest idea," he calmly replies.
Of course, then the police haul in Valjean, and the whole, "Oh, hey, you forgot the candlesticks" scene ensues. Before Valjean leaves, he's (of course) entreated by the bishop to use the silver to raise himself up so he'll never have to go back to the galleys. The bishop's sister then adds a bit of advice, telling Valjean that, while her brother may see the goodness of the soul within, the police tend to look no further than outward appearances and Valjean would do well to cut his scraggly beard and get himself a nicer suit of clothes than the rags he left prison in.
So the next time we see Valjean, he's cleaned up a bit and is selling the silver to a goldsmith when oh no! It's a runaway cart! Valjean stops it, and it turns out the cart was carrying the young grandson of the owner of a local pottery business — which, for fortuitous plot-related reasons, the owner is looking to sell. Pottery Guy offers Valjean a lift to Orleans as thanks, and then offers to let Valjean (who has lied and said he's a potter named Madeline by basically pulling words off of nearby signs) hang out at his pottery shop until they're ready to go. Valjean walks around, sticking his fingers into half-finished flatware and breaking stuff until a guy named Robert tells him to GTFO and tries to arm-wrestle Valjean into submission. It doesn't work, and Valjean points out that they can make their pottery suck less by applying what basically amounts to assembly-line techniques. The scene ends with Robert and Valjean becoming friends and Valjean buying the business.
Fast-forward six years, and Valjean's pottery business apparently employs most of the town of Morvin (yes, Morvin), and has brought such prosperity that the town is being incorporated as a city. Valjean's elected as the first mayor, with Robert as his right-hand man.
Javert then comes to town, and within about two seconds seems to suspect that "M. Madeline" is actually Jean Valjean. This is handwaved as Javert having a very good memory for faces and names. Valjean freaks out and confesses his criminal past to Robert, who is like, "Yeah, I knew that when you first came to town. You still had the marks on your neck from the collar you wore in the galleys. You're a good guy, though, so I don't really care what you did in the past."
Enter Fantine! Jean Valjean barrels out of a tavern, freaking out to Robert as he leaves about, "omg why do you people like me, don't you know what I've DONE?!" and Fantine spits on the ground as he goes past. Then, a drunk stumbles out, starts pawing at her, and Fantine hits him. Javert, who has been there watching this whole time, somehow decides that Fantine started it, and drags her off to the police station. She bursts out her entire story: laid off from the pottery factory when it was revealed she had a child, said child lives with an innkeeper (this is the first and last time you will hear anything having to do with the Thenardiers, who aren't even named), and having to "walk the streets" (the only reference ever made to her prostitution) to pay said innkeeper. Valjean, who also was there for this entire thing and has yet to say or do anything, then argues Javert down from arresting her, and Fantine, in a dramatic display of Romantic Wasting Disease, falls over in a swoon.
And here's where things start to distinctly wander off from the original story.
Next thing you know, Valjean has brought Cosette — who appears to be about nine or ten and not mistreated in any way, shape, or form — to see Fantine in the hospital, and they have a tearful reunion.
Also, Javert has received news that "Jean Valjean" has been apprehended stealing apples. He passes on the news to the real Valjean, and the way it's played, it's clear that Javert doesn't buy for a minute that the apple-stealing guy is Valjean. Now this switch, with Javert suspecting that Madeline=Valjean and continuing to suspect it I think cuts out a big part of his characterization. When Javert thinks Madeline is Valjean but then, once Champmathieu is arrested, comes out and says, "Oh, crap, I've been mistaken. M. le Maire, I must resign from my post," it's an example of how Javert views the law — he is utterly rigid in believing that the system is right and infallible. Here, with him continuing to look upon Madeline with suspicion, it shows that Javert is paranoid and suspicious and NOT placing his faith in the legal system. It's weird and makes him a much less sympathetic character and more an out-and-out villain, especially at this point in the story.
In fact, throughout the entire trial, Javert keeps casting glances at Valjean, as if daring him to speak out. It's kind of frustrating to me that the filmmakers went through the trouble of putting a giant crucifix in the courtroom for Champmathieu's trial where it wasn't there for Valjean's — a relatively small detail in The Brick in the grand scheme of things — but then they completely alter the entire character of Javert and Valjean's interaction during this part of the story. Javert is smugly vindicated when Valjean does reveal himself, although it's fairly clear that Genflou, who was called in to identify "Valjean," knew who Madeline truly was from the moment he walked into the courtroom.
Seriously, Valjean, you are terrible at this secret identity stuff, since everyone seems to see right through it, and those who don't, you go up to, waving your yellow passport and yelling, "LOOK, I BROKE PAROLE!!!!" I am pretty sure that the only person who doesn't know at this point is Fantine. Good thing she'll find out in the next scene. Wouldn't want her to feel left out.
Valjean rushes back to Morvin, and makes hurried arrangements for Robert to take care of Cosette. Then, when he goes to visit Fantine, Javert bursts in and reveals to everyone in the room that Madeline is actually a convict who ditched parole. The shock of this news kills Fantine, and Valjean, enraged, strangles Javert to unconsciousness with his bare hands.
Then Valjean makes some different hurried plans with Robert involving fleeing en masse to England, which were apparently forgotten soon afterward as in the next scene they're all still in France.
The movie helpfully tells the viewers that this ends the second part of Valjean's life, and I'm looking at the clock, noting that the movie's more than half over and wondering how they're going to pull off putting the latter 800 pages of The Brick's plot into such a short amount of time.
Oh. Timeskip and cutting the bejeebers out of the barricade-related bits. That's how.
Cosette is now all grown up and at the convent school, where Valjean is one of the gardeners. Cosette is very worried about her upcoming exams, which consist of being able to recite giant blocks of Shakespeare on cue (little-known fact: Shakespeare was the core of the curriculum in all early 19th century French convent schools). So she practices one of the mushier love scenes from Romeo and Juliet with Valjean (AWKWARD), and he gets this completely thunderstruck look on his face. To me, Valjean's expression, combined with the thoroughly romantic dialogue, seemed to carry a feeling of, "Oh, shit, I just realized that she's all grown up, and I'm in love with her." I spent most of the scene trying to convince myself that it was just supposed to be the first part of that sentence, but as became apparent later, no, the whole reverse-Electra-complex was supposed to be in there, too.
I'm going to pretend that the filmmakers somehow got confused, thinking that Marius' realization that, "Oh, shit, she's all grown up and hot" was that of Valjean, because seriously, ew.
Anyway, suddenly, the police are chasing a group of young men down the lane outside the convent! One of the young men jumps the convent wall. Valjean finds him, notes that he's wounded, and tells him to shut up about his anti-monarchial sentiments and secret meetings in the woods, no one cares about your politically active soul, and takes him to his cottage. The young man introduces himself as Baron Marius Pontmercy, and a little part of me dies laughing.
Valjean conveniently has to leave, and Cosette comes into the cottage, where she finds *gasp!* a young man lying on the sofa. She cleans and dresses his shoulder wound and flirts with him pretty shamelessly. Marius flirts back. Clearly he is not awkward at all in this incarnation. They make plans to secretly meet in the woods on Sunday, as the nuns take the girls on nature walks then and the filmmakers take their Romeo and Juliet references seriously. Valjean then returns, sees his precious Cosette alone with a shirtless man, and tells said shirtless man to get out. He then announces that they're going to Paris, effective immediately.
After they've settled in in Paris (ROBERT WHY ARE YOU THERE GO HOME), Gavroche comes to call, with a letter from Marius for "Citizen Cosette." It's obviously quite long, but Gavroche takes a look at it and tells her that it says, "Dear Cosette...he will meet you at the fountain." Gavroche, ILU.
So Cosette and Marius have a clandestine meeting at the fountain in a park somewhere, chaperoned by Marie, who I guess works in Valjean and Robert's household. Also, Marius came trailed by another guy in a black cloak that just sort of stands around, and I am going to pretend that's Courfeyrac, there to offer moral support, and not at all the world's least subtle police spy.
When Cosette arrives home, Marius in tow, Marius admits to Valjean that he's been seeing Cosette behind his back and, oh, yeah, they'd like to get married. Valjean is like, "No, we're moving to England now." A big argument ensues, concluding with Cosette deciding to go to England and Marius refusing to leave Paris and his people. As he leaves, he goes to Valjean, and here I feel a need to quote the movie directly:
"Don't worry. You've won. She's going with you, this time. But I warn you, sir, there will be other young men who'll seek her hand. And if you persist in running away with her, you will do her irreparable harm."
"I'm grateful for your advice, Baron. However, as I said, Cosette is still a child —"
"She's not a child! She's a woman, a beautiful and desirable one, as you well realize."
"What do you mean, monsieur?"
"I mean that whether you know it or not, you're in love with her, and you want her for yourself." [I would like to note here that this line MADE IT INTO THE ORIGINAL TRAILER UGH]
Valjean turns and walks over to the front door. Marius continues. "You won't face that, will you? It's true, and you know it."
Valjean jerks open the door. "Get out!"
"Very well, sir. But be careful of your next rival. You may not dispose of him so easily."
At this point, my notes solely consist of, "EW EW EW EW," scrawled so large that it takes up 1/4 of the page, as the way Valjean plays it is more along the lines of someone who has just been confronted with a truth he had been avoiding than someone who has just been told the most horrible, hurtful lie ever.
Some other stuff might have happened in there, but I was too busy being grossed out.
Anyway, later that night or something, Gavroche comes to deliver another letter, breaking streetlamps as he goes since hey, it's a revolution, can't have your lights on now, can you? (and again, they include this Brick detail but do something horrible to Valjean and Cosette's relationship. Argh.) He gives the message to Valjean, and it turns out that Marius is at the barricade at Rue St. Denis.
Don't blink, folks, because it's the barricades! My notes say, "Are they wearing fedoras wtf" in relation to the questionable headwear of some of Marius' fellow revolutionaries. Anyway, Marius and the anonymous revolutionaries do some fighting, Valjean sneaks in by clever means of saying, "Don't shoot me, I've come to talk to Marius!" and Javert doesn't sneak in because he's captured when he follows Valjean. Marius is then like, "Oh, so you weren't moving to England because you wanted Cosette all to yourself, you were doing that because you were being stalked by the police."
And Valjean's all, "Yes. That is it. Exactly. I am not in love with Cosette that way at all. I just choose to act around her like I am really conflicted about my sudden attraction to my young ward. For reasons."
Anyway, Valjean spares Javert's life, and Javert just sort of hangs around until Marius gets shot and falls off the barricade, unconscious. Valjean, seeing how things seem to be going south quickly, opens a convenient manhole and takes Marius down into the sewers. Javert follows.
There's a sort of chase scene, and at one point Valjean ducks underwater with Marius to avoid Javert, which I'm pretty sure is not a thing you want to do with an unconscious person. Valjean apparently knows the sewers well enough to navigate back to his house, so he does so.
Just as he's set Marius down, Javert bursts in. Robert threatens to kill Javert, but Valjean says no. So instead, Robert opts to guilt-trip the heck out of Javert, and apparently does so thorough a job of it that Javert decides to go out and throw himself into the river. So instead of Javert experiencing a personal conflict about the nature of people, good vs. bad, and how things cannot always be black and white and being completely unable to deal with this, the motive for his suicide comes from an outside source. Nice going, Robert.
Then Marius wakes up, Cosette sees him on the sofa, and they all live happily ever after. The end.
No, really. That's the end.
I can't wait to see what the 1935 version is like. Hopefully it has less Valjean/Cosette and no Robert.
It's obviously based on Victor Hugo's doorstop of a book, but it's also, as one might expect, rather different, sometimes in ways beyond what you might expect for a 1200 page book being compressed into a slightly-less-than-two-hour movie. Among the differences are the incorporation of Robert, Jean Valjean’s BFF, Marius being a self-confident ladies man with passionate republican ideals, an example of how Javert’s characterization can be entirely changed with just a couple of small details, and a one-sided pairing that makes me seriously worry about the writers of this movie.
OTOH, Gavroche somehow made it through, awesomeness intact, and he (presumably) didn’t die on the barricades. Also, you get a bit of sassy!bishop. So…yay?
The movie opens with Jean Valjean's bread-stealing trial. I'm not quite sure why they changed the kids he stole the bread for from his sister's children to his friend's, but then again, I'm not sure why they changed a lot of stuff here *cough*Robert*cough*. That's a minor detail. Then some scenes of the general awfulness of the French penitentiary system of the early 1800s under the credits, and then it's off to the galleys. One of the prisoners is trapped beneath a beam that collapses when the ship runs aground, and the prisoner next to Valjean, whose name is, I think, Genflou, is like, "Hey, Valjean, you're really strong, lift that beam up."
Valjean is a total crankypants about it and basically says, "Fuck you and the ship we rowed in on, I don't wanna."
Genflou then goes, "Dammit, Valjean, I taught you how to read and write, the least you could do is listen to me when I tell you that guy's gonna be crushed to death if you don't lift up that beam."
Valjean is then like, "FINE I'LL DO IT JEEZ," and does his amazing display of strength, witnessed by Javert, who's a guard on the ship. Oddly, this whole scene foreshadows exactly nothing, as the later scene where Valjean lifts the cart off of Fauchelevant is cut and Valjean never again demonstrates his superhuman strength in Javert's presence.
Apparently, Genflou not only knows how to read and write, but also somehow knows a ridiculous amount about Javert's personal history, which he recounts to Valjean in Javert's presence, complete with Hugo's wolf metaphor. He also reveals that Javert's first name is Etienne. Javert is all, "You thought you could use my past against me? You thought wrong! I was raised by the law and I know it backwards and forwards and am thoroughly unimpressed by anything that prisoners have to say because they are prisoners and Bad People."
Anyway, Valjean is released after serving his 10-year sentence, and given his yellow passport, which, hilariously, is all in French except for the English word "YELLOW" stamped across it. I guess that's so the cabbages in the audience know that it's yellow in a black-and-white film.
For awhile, the story stays pretty much along the lines of every other version I've ever run into (well, aside from the Animaniacs parody). Valjean is ticked off about being shortchanged his wages earned while in prison, kids chase him and poke at him with sticks, and he gets turned away from everywhere until he awkwardly bursts in on the bishop's household and is invited to dinner and to sleep the night.
There's a hilarious scene the next morning, as the bishop is arranging flowers in a basket, and Mme Magliore asks him, shocked, "Is that the silver basket?"
"Yes, yes it is."
"Where's the silver?!"
"I haven't the faintest idea," he calmly replies.
Of course, then the police haul in Valjean, and the whole, "Oh, hey, you forgot the candlesticks" scene ensues. Before Valjean leaves, he's (of course) entreated by the bishop to use the silver to raise himself up so he'll never have to go back to the galleys. The bishop's sister then adds a bit of advice, telling Valjean that, while her brother may see the goodness of the soul within, the police tend to look no further than outward appearances and Valjean would do well to cut his scraggly beard and get himself a nicer suit of clothes than the rags he left prison in.
So the next time we see Valjean, he's cleaned up a bit and is selling the silver to a goldsmith when oh no! It's a runaway cart! Valjean stops it, and it turns out the cart was carrying the young grandson of the owner of a local pottery business — which, for fortuitous plot-related reasons, the owner is looking to sell. Pottery Guy offers Valjean a lift to Orleans as thanks, and then offers to let Valjean (who has lied and said he's a potter named Madeline by basically pulling words off of nearby signs) hang out at his pottery shop until they're ready to go. Valjean walks around, sticking his fingers into half-finished flatware and breaking stuff until a guy named Robert tells him to GTFO and tries to arm-wrestle Valjean into submission. It doesn't work, and Valjean points out that they can make their pottery suck less by applying what basically amounts to assembly-line techniques. The scene ends with Robert and Valjean becoming friends and Valjean buying the business.
Fast-forward six years, and Valjean's pottery business apparently employs most of the town of Morvin (yes, Morvin), and has brought such prosperity that the town is being incorporated as a city. Valjean's elected as the first mayor, with Robert as his right-hand man.
Javert then comes to town, and within about two seconds seems to suspect that "M. Madeline" is actually Jean Valjean. This is handwaved as Javert having a very good memory for faces and names. Valjean freaks out and confesses his criminal past to Robert, who is like, "Yeah, I knew that when you first came to town. You still had the marks on your neck from the collar you wore in the galleys. You're a good guy, though, so I don't really care what you did in the past."
Enter Fantine! Jean Valjean barrels out of a tavern, freaking out to Robert as he leaves about, "omg why do you people like me, don't you know what I've DONE?!" and Fantine spits on the ground as he goes past. Then, a drunk stumbles out, starts pawing at her, and Fantine hits him. Javert, who has been there watching this whole time, somehow decides that Fantine started it, and drags her off to the police station. She bursts out her entire story: laid off from the pottery factory when it was revealed she had a child, said child lives with an innkeeper (this is the first and last time you will hear anything having to do with the Thenardiers, who aren't even named), and having to "walk the streets" (the only reference ever made to her prostitution) to pay said innkeeper. Valjean, who also was there for this entire thing and has yet to say or do anything, then argues Javert down from arresting her, and Fantine, in a dramatic display of Romantic Wasting Disease, falls over in a swoon.
And here's where things start to distinctly wander off from the original story.
Next thing you know, Valjean has brought Cosette — who appears to be about nine or ten and not mistreated in any way, shape, or form — to see Fantine in the hospital, and they have a tearful reunion.
Also, Javert has received news that "Jean Valjean" has been apprehended stealing apples. He passes on the news to the real Valjean, and the way it's played, it's clear that Javert doesn't buy for a minute that the apple-stealing guy is Valjean. Now this switch, with Javert suspecting that Madeline=Valjean and continuing to suspect it I think cuts out a big part of his characterization. When Javert thinks Madeline is Valjean but then, once Champmathieu is arrested, comes out and says, "Oh, crap, I've been mistaken. M. le Maire, I must resign from my post," it's an example of how Javert views the law — he is utterly rigid in believing that the system is right and infallible. Here, with him continuing to look upon Madeline with suspicion, it shows that Javert is paranoid and suspicious and NOT placing his faith in the legal system. It's weird and makes him a much less sympathetic character and more an out-and-out villain, especially at this point in the story.
In fact, throughout the entire trial, Javert keeps casting glances at Valjean, as if daring him to speak out. It's kind of frustrating to me that the filmmakers went through the trouble of putting a giant crucifix in the courtroom for Champmathieu's trial where it wasn't there for Valjean's — a relatively small detail in The Brick in the grand scheme of things — but then they completely alter the entire character of Javert and Valjean's interaction during this part of the story. Javert is smugly vindicated when Valjean does reveal himself, although it's fairly clear that Genflou, who was called in to identify "Valjean," knew who Madeline truly was from the moment he walked into the courtroom.
Seriously, Valjean, you are terrible at this secret identity stuff, since everyone seems to see right through it, and those who don't, you go up to, waving your yellow passport and yelling, "LOOK, I BROKE PAROLE!!!!" I am pretty sure that the only person who doesn't know at this point is Fantine. Good thing she'll find out in the next scene. Wouldn't want her to feel left out.
Valjean rushes back to Morvin, and makes hurried arrangements for Robert to take care of Cosette. Then, when he goes to visit Fantine, Javert bursts in and reveals to everyone in the room that Madeline is actually a convict who ditched parole. The shock of this news kills Fantine, and Valjean, enraged, strangles Javert to unconsciousness with his bare hands.
Then Valjean makes some different hurried plans with Robert involving fleeing en masse to England, which were apparently forgotten soon afterward as in the next scene they're all still in France.
The movie helpfully tells the viewers that this ends the second part of Valjean's life, and I'm looking at the clock, noting that the movie's more than half over and wondering how they're going to pull off putting the latter 800 pages of The Brick's plot into such a short amount of time.
Oh. Timeskip and cutting the bejeebers out of the barricade-related bits. That's how.
Cosette is now all grown up and at the convent school, where Valjean is one of the gardeners. Cosette is very worried about her upcoming exams, which consist of being able to recite giant blocks of Shakespeare on cue (little-known fact: Shakespeare was the core of the curriculum in all early 19th century French convent schools). So she practices one of the mushier love scenes from Romeo and Juliet with Valjean (AWKWARD), and he gets this completely thunderstruck look on his face. To me, Valjean's expression, combined with the thoroughly romantic dialogue, seemed to carry a feeling of, "Oh, shit, I just realized that she's all grown up, and I'm in love with her." I spent most of the scene trying to convince myself that it was just supposed to be the first part of that sentence, but as became apparent later, no, the whole reverse-Electra-complex was supposed to be in there, too.
I'm going to pretend that the filmmakers somehow got confused, thinking that Marius' realization that, "Oh, shit, she's all grown up and hot" was that of Valjean, because seriously, ew.
Anyway, suddenly, the police are chasing a group of young men down the lane outside the convent! One of the young men jumps the convent wall. Valjean finds him, notes that he's wounded, and tells him to shut up about his anti-monarchial sentiments and secret meetings in the woods, no one cares about your politically active soul, and takes him to his cottage. The young man introduces himself as Baron Marius Pontmercy, and a little part of me dies laughing.
Valjean conveniently has to leave, and Cosette comes into the cottage, where she finds *gasp!* a young man lying on the sofa. She cleans and dresses his shoulder wound and flirts with him pretty shamelessly. Marius flirts back. Clearly he is not awkward at all in this incarnation. They make plans to secretly meet in the woods on Sunday, as the nuns take the girls on nature walks then and the filmmakers take their Romeo and Juliet references seriously. Valjean then returns, sees his precious Cosette alone with a shirtless man, and tells said shirtless man to get out. He then announces that they're going to Paris, effective immediately.
After they've settled in in Paris (ROBERT WHY ARE YOU THERE GO HOME), Gavroche comes to call, with a letter from Marius for "Citizen Cosette." It's obviously quite long, but Gavroche takes a look at it and tells her that it says, "Dear Cosette...he will meet you at the fountain." Gavroche, ILU.
So Cosette and Marius have a clandestine meeting at the fountain in a park somewhere, chaperoned by Marie, who I guess works in Valjean and Robert's household. Also, Marius came trailed by another guy in a black cloak that just sort of stands around, and I am going to pretend that's Courfeyrac, there to offer moral support, and not at all the world's least subtle police spy.
When Cosette arrives home, Marius in tow, Marius admits to Valjean that he's been seeing Cosette behind his back and, oh, yeah, they'd like to get married. Valjean is like, "No, we're moving to England now." A big argument ensues, concluding with Cosette deciding to go to England and Marius refusing to leave Paris and his people. As he leaves, he goes to Valjean, and here I feel a need to quote the movie directly:
"Don't worry. You've won. She's going with you, this time. But I warn you, sir, there will be other young men who'll seek her hand. And if you persist in running away with her, you will do her irreparable harm."
"I'm grateful for your advice, Baron. However, as I said, Cosette is still a child —"
"She's not a child! She's a woman, a beautiful and desirable one, as you well realize."
"What do you mean, monsieur?"
"I mean that whether you know it or not, you're in love with her, and you want her for yourself." [I would like to note here that this line MADE IT INTO THE ORIGINAL TRAILER UGH]
Valjean turns and walks over to the front door. Marius continues. "You won't face that, will you? It's true, and you know it."
Valjean jerks open the door. "Get out!"
"Very well, sir. But be careful of your next rival. You may not dispose of him so easily."
At this point, my notes solely consist of, "EW EW EW EW," scrawled so large that it takes up 1/4 of the page, as the way Valjean plays it is more along the lines of someone who has just been confronted with a truth he had been avoiding than someone who has just been told the most horrible, hurtful lie ever.
Some other stuff might have happened in there, but I was too busy being grossed out.
Anyway, later that night or something, Gavroche comes to deliver another letter, breaking streetlamps as he goes since hey, it's a revolution, can't have your lights on now, can you? (and again, they include this Brick detail but do something horrible to Valjean and Cosette's relationship. Argh.) He gives the message to Valjean, and it turns out that Marius is at the barricade at Rue St. Denis.
Don't blink, folks, because it's the barricades! My notes say, "Are they wearing fedoras wtf" in relation to the questionable headwear of some of Marius' fellow revolutionaries. Anyway, Marius and the anonymous revolutionaries do some fighting, Valjean sneaks in by clever means of saying, "Don't shoot me, I've come to talk to Marius!" and Javert doesn't sneak in because he's captured when he follows Valjean. Marius is then like, "Oh, so you weren't moving to England because you wanted Cosette all to yourself, you were doing that because you were being stalked by the police."
And Valjean's all, "Yes. That is it. Exactly. I am not in love with Cosette that way at all. I just choose to act around her like I am really conflicted about my sudden attraction to my young ward. For reasons."
Anyway, Valjean spares Javert's life, and Javert just sort of hangs around until Marius gets shot and falls off the barricade, unconscious. Valjean, seeing how things seem to be going south quickly, opens a convenient manhole and takes Marius down into the sewers. Javert follows.
There's a sort of chase scene, and at one point Valjean ducks underwater with Marius to avoid Javert, which I'm pretty sure is not a thing you want to do with an unconscious person. Valjean apparently knows the sewers well enough to navigate back to his house, so he does so.
Just as he's set Marius down, Javert bursts in. Robert threatens to kill Javert, but Valjean says no. So instead, Robert opts to guilt-trip the heck out of Javert, and apparently does so thorough a job of it that Javert decides to go out and throw himself into the river. So instead of Javert experiencing a personal conflict about the nature of people, good vs. bad, and how things cannot always be black and white and being completely unable to deal with this, the motive for his suicide comes from an outside source. Nice going, Robert.
Then Marius wakes up, Cosette sees him on the sofa, and they all live happily ever after. The end.
No, really. That's the end.
I can't wait to see what the 1935 version is like. Hopefully it has less Valjean/Cosette and no Robert.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-14 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-14 01:42 pm (UTC)WOW.
*cracking up*
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Date: 2013-08-15 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-15 03:25 am (UTC)I especially love that they took that care when the color isn't even plot-relevant. On top of all the other silliness of it.