Hello Americans

8 Ways of Looking at Les Miserables

I

If you’re wondering if you’re going to like Les Mis, I’ve developed a simple test. First, go watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8pQLtHTPaI   

Now, when Carlile’s voice cracked when she started up the last round of the chorus, did you think “Oh, they should have fixed that in post” or “Oh, that was an emotionally honest moment?”If you picked the first, this might not be the movie for you.

II

The one thing that makes me want to cry every time, never fail, is listening to someone try to talk as they’re wracked by heaving sobs. It just tears (and tears) up my heart. The solos in Les Mis are filmed with SteadiCams, which means you’re about a foot away from their eyes, their face, as they try to sing while being wracked by heaving sobs. I cried four times.

III

Some critics are saying that Les Mis was obviously made because of the Occupy movement. I can only assume these critics are ignorant of the last 4700 years of literature, in which the power struggles between those in power and those with no power have been a lasting theme. It makes sense to say “Aha, it would seem this Les Mis movie is concerned with some of the same social issues and themes that the Occupy movement was. Interesting to reflect upon the notion that things don’t ever really change; here are these people in France in the 1800s having the same conversations as those people in the park.” It is, at best, a desperate play for a headline to say “Aha, this Les Mis movie was totes made as an Occupy cash grab.”

IV

The vocabulary of Hollywood musicals is made up of lots of dancing, smiles, dancing, more dancing, epic camera moves, and dancing. As such, you come to Les Mis a little lost, like going from the center of Boston to Deep South Louisiana. Both places speak English, generally, but it can take a while for your ears to adjust. Which isn’t to say there aren’t a few dances and smiles and epic camera moves in Les Mis, but they’re the exception rather than the rule.

V

The general rule of a musical is that characters sing when their emotions are too strong to contain; they literally burst into song. With that definition, Les Mis is really more of an opera. Everyone sings everything all the time.

VI

One of the central conflicts of Les Mis is between Jean Valjean, a former convinct, and Javert, a lawman. What’s interesting to me is that they are both devout followers of Christianity. Valjean sees God as forgiving, merciful, which the Bible makes a case for while Javert sees God as a judge, a gatekeeper, which the Bible makes a case for. Are we sinners in the hands of an angry God or sinners in the hands of a loving God? It’s a question that Christianity has been arguing over for thousands of years. It’s a question we struggle with in America every day. As a guy who likes to talk about religion, it’s rewarding to watch a movie that also wants to talk about religion. Religion in movies usually only comes in two flavors: Horror, in which religion is defined by whether it embraces or exorcises devils, and Christian Movie, in which religion makes all of your dreams come true, your spouse love you, your football team win. Religion is, as the facebook status says, Complicated. It’s nice to see a movie come out that recognizes that.

VII

My favorite kind of irony, bar none, is dramatic irony. It’s also the simplest to explain. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something that the characters do not. Take Othello; the audience knows what Iago is up to, but Othello does not. Les Mis is chockfull of dramatic irony. Valjean hears a police whistle and thinks it’s meant for him, but we know it is not. Javert loses Valjean in the alleyways, but we know he is on the other side of the wall Javert is leaning against. In recent years, dramatic irony has been used less and less in films in favor of limiting what the audience knows to what the main character knows. That’s all well and good, but dramatic irony is something that only fiction offers us and films and plays offers us the best kind.

VIII

If you're still on the fence, try answering this simple question: Would you rather watch Reservoir Dogs or The Italian Job? Both are about a team of people coming together for a big heist, but one features Minis racing through tunnels and the other's second scene is a guy bleeding to death in a back seat as the driver yells for him not to die. I didn't know a musical could be gritty, but Les Mis could have easily been titled The Gritty. Or The Crying. Or Full Spectrum Emotions.