The Oscars are upon us in a few weeks, and I am holding out hope for the best picture nominated Les Misérables to take home that little gold statue.  To say that I was moved by this movie is an understatement – rather imagine, in total awe and eventually mildly obsessed.  I came immediately home and watched the 1998 version of the movie, and even now as I type away, the soundtrack is playing and inspiring me as I write this review.  Don’t laugh at me, my friends.  Have you seen it? Do you know the story?  If not, QUIT READING this review pronto and run to the theater with a box of tissues and an empty bladder.  It is 3 hours of an epic tear-fest that will shake up your heart and leave you grateful for redemption in all facets.  If you have decided to stick around to finish this review I thank you, but let us get started so you can get to the theater for the next showing!

Let me start off by telling you that I had never seen the 1998 movie production of Les Misérables staring the great actors Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and the ever-enchanting Clair Danes. I also had never seen the musical, which by the way, has been one of the longest running and most loved musicals of all time. OF ALL TIME. I should have seen some form of it eons ago, but I do declare now that I am so glad I waited!  This production is breathtaking and grandiose, and I could not take my eyes off of the screen the entire time (hence the reason I suggested you go into the theater with an empty bladder). Therefore, since I had never seen it, I was much like many of you – naïve to both the storyline and grand emotion of this piece.

The movie opens with a jaw-dropping scene that captures your emotions from the start.  You are transported to the shallows of the ocean where dozens of emaciated and exhausted convicts are yanking in a ship from the ocean to dry dock it.  The sweeps of the camera are astonishing, and as the camera settles on the worn-out convicts, I felt such pain in my heart watching these slaves cower from the towering and cruel inspector Javert (played by a perfectly pompous Russell Crowe).  As I scanned the scene, knowing Hugh Jackman was supposed to be among them, I was shocked when I realized that the main convict, Jean Valjean, was actually Hugh Jackman.  He is almost unrecognizable with lifelessly limp skin hanging from his face and painfully bulging eyes raw from the salt water crashing against him.   He and the others haul in the vessel by the crude means of simple ropes while the fierce ocean rages against them all.  I became exhausted alongside them and fearful that Javert was watching my every move as well.

As the story moves onto the next character, you are introduced to the loving mother, Fontaine, who is trying to survive for the sake of her darling daughter, Cosette.  She is sadly wrongly accused and cast onto the streets. Fontaine sinks into a dismal misery as she is lured into prostitution and street life to make financial ends meet.  She sells bits and pieces of her body one at a time to be able to send money to Cosette whom she has not seen in a very long time. (STUDENTS - Since the portrayal of Fontaine is devastating and brutal I would ask you see the movie alongside a parent or youth worker so that you can discuss all that you see and feel in regards to Fontaine.)  I found that I could in no way judge Fontaine, no, rather I mourned for her beauty lost, and her innocence put to death.  I wanted to rescue Fontaine and I despised every evil soul that robbed her of everything that was beautiful about her.

Tom Hooper, the director, plays the camera angles so well that it puts you wholly into the scene, and you release your own tears as the actors experience their individual miseries.  Each journey is a journey you can touch and feel in your soul, and for that, I am most grateful that I waited so long to be introduced to this story.  I would hug Tom Hooper around his genius neck if I got close enough to him!  However, I suppose the real credit goes to the great Victor Hugo, the visionary and author of this novel, who took almost two decades to fully write this masterpiece back in the 1800’s.  The fact that his art still resonates among people today is awe-inspiring.  He wrote each character with such vivid humanity that though you may never be a convict, a stubborn legalist officer or a hopeless prostitute, you somehow understand a piece of them from your own experiences.

Have you ever been wrongly accused and abused?  Have you ever lorded a pious attitude over someone to keep him or her as your slave? Have you ever given too much of yourself so that your beauty was extinguished?  These characters speak to a part of us all.  No scene was more heartfelt that when Fontaine sang the epic song “I Dreamed a Dream.” As the camera stayed on her for three unbroken minutes, she sang every burdened tear and as she poured out her hopes, one cannot help but think of their own dreams that could not survive.  One cannot help but understand, in some measure, what it is like to dread the death of all that is and ever will be good.

At this point of the story, I found myself pleading for redemption and goodness, begging for something beautiful to survive and for all to be made right.  And then we meet Cosette.  She is all that is delicate and pure and worth keeping safe.  You have the honor of watching her grow up into a resplendent young lady played by Amanda Seyfriend, who has the flawless voice of a darling bird that I could listen to for the next five years easily.  Oh, how I loved to hear her sing!  All together these well-sculpted characters carry you with them into war, into sweet romance, broken hearts, victories and into freedom.  Each song elicits you into tangible empathy one scene after another until finally the credits roll and you are left with how this story has changed you.

Why are stories like Les Misérables important for reflection?  They are important because they remind us that we are all frail and subject to the happenings, whether good or bad, of this life.  But where do we look for strength in the midst of such despair?  I call us to look to the lowly thief Jean Valjean.  You see, I have kept a sweet secret from you about the fate of our convict.  He was released from his slavery back into freedom near the beginning of the tale.  However, after 19 years of hellacious torment, he became a man he did not wish to be.  Upon release, he was still a slave to his addictive sin and sadly he soon took advantage of a humble priest and robbed him.  Instead of retribution from the clergyman, Valjean is offered a second chance at life, challenged by the priest to devote his existence to a merciful God.  Valjean accepts his redemption and offers his life to others as an extension of God’s mercy.  As you journey through the scenes of misery with each character, you see the good hand of God extend tender grace and peaceful mercy.  You see hope shine in every chronic situation thanks to God’s divine movement through the heart of the redeemed Valjean.

I say Les Misérables deserves the Oscar not just for its transfixing cinematography, or spell-binding storyline, nor its emotive performances by A-List actors, nay, I say it deserves best picture because it speaks God into real life turmoil and tells a story of life where only death would reign.  I think you will agree with me when you see it.  So what are you waiting for, shut off this computer and hurry to the nearest theater!