My introduction to Les Miserables

Or: Why you should read the book (or watch the musical) before seeing the movie.

I gotta admit, in the past I always kept my distance when I heard of Les Miserables - I mean the title sort of indicated it would be a depressing tale.

But when I saw a trailer for the movie, I decided I simply had to see it. And that is how I came to see the movie with no prior knowledge of the story, except for the trailer and a brief teaser summary.

Anyways...here are some scenes that confused me/got quite a reaction out of me:

When 1815 appears written on the screen: "Wait a minute, I thought this movie would be about the French Revolution." Yeah..misunderstanding no 1.

The bishops entrance:."Why is he singing half the lines?"

During Valjean's Soliloquy: "He is talking... no wait he is singing again, why does he keep singing?
Obviously, I had no idea of the entire concept of Les Miserables. (I think I accepted it halfway through "At the End of the Day")

When Javert appears again: "Oh no, he has found you, run Valjean run!! Or not.....he isn't very good at recognising faces."

When Fantine dies: "What? she DIES??? How can she die? She is on the poster...and we are only 20 minutes into the film."

During Stars: "He is very close to that edge...he is not gonna jump is he?"

At the reprise of Look Down: "This. Is. So. Epic... Best movie ever."  

When Eponine dies: "What? She dies too?? What happened (in the commotion I hadn't noticed she was shot until she started singing) This was not neccesary (Urge to rewrite her story with a happy ending rises)

At the end of the last battle: "Now would be a good time to surrender...War is terrible. So many deaths. This movie is depressing."

During Javert's suicide: (Flashback to "Stars") He is very close to that edge...is he gonna jump? He is gonna jump...why do every single person in this movie have to die?

During the Epilogue: Off course..he is gonna die as well. This is so sad. Ok... he's dead, now fade to black......wait, what is happening...wow this depressing ending suddenly turned into an inspirational feel-good ending.

While leaving the cinema: Now I have seen it. I am depressed, I don't think I'll ever watch it again. Can't wait to read the book though, and learn more about the characters.

Obviously that last decision didn't last. After reading the book (and watching the 25th anniversary concert uncountable times) I had an overwhelming urge to watch the movie again because I had a feeling I had missed a lot of what was going on.

So I counted down to the DVD release, bought it on the day it came out and it is now the movie I have seen the most times in the shortest interval (except maybe for Frozen).

And that my friends, was my introduction to Les Mis.
  

Reading and history

Have you ever thought of how much history you learn simply by reading classic literature?

Well, until recently I hadn't really considered it. But just think of it.

I love history and I'll admit I found my history teaching lacking at points and oddly repetitive at other points, but let's not dwell on that.
My point is that all my knowledge of several time periods and historic events I have solely from the fiction I  read that takes place in that time.

Let me take an example.. French history was something I didn't learn a thing about in school, so I depended completely on books set in France, to help me learn anything. And here is what they taught me:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame taught me of medieval Paris, and Louis the XI.

The three Musketeers taught me of Louis the 13. and the 15. century France.

A Tale of two Cities and The Scarlet Pimpernel taught me about the French Revolution.

Desiree taught me about the Napoleonic times.

Les Miserables taught me of the restoration, and that there has been more than one revolution in France (it would have taught me even more, if I had read the unabridged version, but sadly I couldn't get my hands on one)

That was just one example, and I'm sure I could go on for long if I listed all the books I've read through the years.
So thanks to all those authors who unwittingly taught me all what school didn't.

One day more tonight

I watched West Side Story the other day, as part of my project of watching classical Hollywood musicals, and I gotta say, except for the opening scenes which were hilarious without intending to, I was positively surprised.

The songs are light and catchy (I've been singing "Tonight" all day - quite a task when you don't know the lyrics), and there's surprisingly few heartbreaking scenes. The ending, however, nearly killed me, but what to expect when the story is a remake of Romeo & Juliet. It was actually quite fun to look for the parallels to Romeo & Juliet in the plot.

And speaking of parallels...when I heard the song "Tonight Quintet", I couldn't help exclaiming "Hey, that song is just like One Day More in Les Miserables."

 

  

There are some definite likenesses right? Not just the fact that all the main characters sings with voices overlapping, but also the dramatic quality, and then the placement in the movie as a sort of Point of no return, before all the inevitable bad things happen.

What do you think?