Super Miserable Pizza

Obligatory permets-tu drawing every les mis artist has to do at least once. I wanted to post this on the 6th sooo happy barricade day or week or whatever yay (if you saw me post this before no you didn't)

AO3

Chapters: 5/?

Summary:

Jekyll has been stuck inside of his laboratory for the past week. Lisa, concerned for her fiancé, decides to go check up on him. Who knew she would have to fight a war to marry the love of her life?

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I really like the calm, prayer-like quality he gives at the start. His baritone and rougher voice texture invites the image of a granite statue, coarse to the touch, cold as stone, but yet, so undeniably crafted from human hands. This is exactly what I imagined a man who wants to be stone to act like. Repressed with hard-trained discipline, and such blinding faith to his control and path that he would not hesitate to walk on a roof’s edge. He looks up at the stars while his feet teeter at this vulnerable precipice; as long as they guide him true, he will not fall, and he will never have to look down.

Is that not the core of Javert? A man so blindingly following the law in hopes that he would never have to fear falling back down to the gutters from whence he came. He doesn’t even have to look at the people he rose above in the eye, because if he looked down, maybe he would realise he still stands by the edge. (This would later be echoed in his suicide, where he stands on the edge once more) The movie having his Stars fade out to Look Down is another amazing touch, further emphasising the dichotomy of Javert looking up to the Stars, while the World is literally telling him to Look Down. (This would also be echoed in his suicide, where Valjean tells him to look down)

There is also a sort of humility that I really appreciate. To reference another commenter, many musical Javerts (by necessity of theatricality) seems to be commandeering the Stars, but Crowe is the only one who seems genuinely humbled by them, looking to them for guidance instead declaring himself to them. He is capable of humility, of hesitation, and of doubt — even before he was spared by Valjean — only that this vulnerability was always reserved for a higher power. (I regret that the musicals cut out his resignation to the Mayor bc I definitely think this adds to his internality)

(Not to mention the piano version. They dialled up the vulnerability quality to 11 my god.)

Crowe’s more solemn demeanour I think definitely makes him come off more resolute and determined without sacrificing his authority to hysterics. This subtlety is suitable for the movie screen, so I am glad he took advantage of the medium. Where many Javerts seem to be guided by a fiery instinct for the chase, Crowe’s Javert always gives off the feeling of an unstoppable force, of a law that will always be on your heels. It doesn’t matter if you outrun it now, he will keep going, seemingly never suffering from human ailments like fatigue or exhaustion, getting closer and closer. He is the law and the inevitability of the law catching up with you, so do not forget his name.