LES MISÉRABLES
Directed by: TOM HOOPER
Les Misérables is the story of four people—Bishop Myriel, Valjean, Fantine, and Marius—who meet, part, and then meet again during the most agitated decades of 19th-century France. It also tells the story of the 1832 revolution and describes the unpleasant side of Paris. The movie is in essence a plea for humane treatment of the poor and for equality among all citizens.
Bishop Myriel is a kind and generous bishop who gives Jean Valjean aid when everyone else refuses him. Searching for a place to spend the night, the ex-convict finds that he is a branded man and no inn will let him stay. His last resort is the home of the bishop, who takes him in and treats him as an honored guest. After Valjean steals the silverware and is caught by the police, the bishop protects him by insisting that the silver was actually a gift. The bishop's selfless act inspires Valjean to change his life.
Jean Valjean. The chief protagonist is an ex-convict who struggles to redeem himself morally and to find acceptance in a society that rejects him as a former criminal. The change in him became the light of the movie.
Fantine is a Parisian “grisette,” or working woman, who falls in love with a student, Félix Tholomyès. Just after Félix breaks off their relationship, she gives birth to a daughter, Cosette. From that point forward her life is a downward spiral. She gives up her child to the mercenary Thénardiers and finds a job in her home town, but is dismissed when her supervisor finds out about her past. She struggles to make ends meet, selling everything she has: her hair, her teeth, and herself (becoming a prostitute). Fantine represents society's cruelty to the poor and its degradation of poor women in particular. Only Valjean shows her any kindness.
Marius is a young law student who falls in love with Cosette. He also saves Valjean from a plot against his life by the innkeeper-turned-criminal, Thénardier. In turn, Marius is saved by Valjean while fighting on the barricade. He is the son of Georges Pontmercy, a colonel and war hero under Napoleon. But Marius's grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand, despises Georges and takes Marius into his own home to raise him.
The different stories of these 4 main characters shows what really the state of the Paris during the revolution. How the poor people live with the well-off citizens. How they struggle with the test of life. How they endure to bathe with their own blood. How they carry the injustice system of their government. And how they fought with just a pellet of weapons for an outsized army just to win their rights. The movie offered many eye openers to the public to show them how the world moved on those times.
Numberone (1) on the story many human rights had been violated. Jean Valjean, he was arrested because he stole a loaf of bread because he has hungry children to be fed. The law punishes him for nineteen years because of this petty crime, and Valjean finds little peace at the end of his term. The police inspector Javert pursues him almost to the grave for the theft of a coin. Just a minor crime he committed he almost lost his life. We all know that a wrong doing will never be right though you did it to save someone. But a small crime should have also a small punishment to have a justice convention. The people judged him because of a bad mark on his parole. A job he didn’t get any. A shelter neither. Not even bits of food to suppress his hunger. Fantine loves a man who abandons her, and she ends up as a prostitute. She sacrifices her child, her looks, and her body just to survive. The people around those times are willing to sacrifice everything just to survive the course.
Number two (2), injustice.The lopsided way of serving cases.Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread then he was arrested for nineteen years. Given that stealing is against the law but the punishment is out of proportion, and he develops an intense hatred for society as a whole. Fantine meets the same fate when she defends herself against attack. As a prostitute, she is on the bottom rung of society; the law offers her no protection. Only respectable people with money appear to have any legal rights. In those times, affluent people are on the topmost on the list. They get justice, equal human rights, and first-class treatment in the society and a well-off life. While the broke ones, left with injustice, violated human rights, and a dust on a ground treatment and a life of poverty. They won’t listen on the words of the poor; they seem it’s all nonsense and wrong. They treat them like useless garbage and a servant who will do everything for them because they owe a big amount of debt or a life maybe. The unfortunates did everything just to continue breathing. Endure all the hardships they undergo, the famine they suffer and the cruelty of the society where the roots of their adversity began. The well-off people don’t mingle with the poor because it will mark dirt on their image. That day the world of the rich and the poor have big differences. Just like water and oil, were it doesn’t mix.
Number three (3), poverty.People around those times suffer a great hit of poverty because of the way the government runs the place. Fantine sold his hair, tooth and dignity for the welfare of Cosette in an unreasonable price. This in turn led to an increase in crime. Poor working women also turned to prostitution as a means of survival. They worked under the scrutiny of someone, which considered them corrupt. Many in the story who chooses crime because they are corrupt and those who are driven to it by poverty and desperation. On the one hand, there is Thénardier, who is by nature “highly susceptible to the encroachments of evil.” On the other, there is Valjean, who stole only a loaf of bread to save his family, and Fantine, who suffered for protecting her own child. The narrative blames society's indifference and injustice for the situation of those who fall in the latter category.
Number four (4) Caste systems. Rigid social system in which a social hierarchy is maintained generation after generation and allows little mobility out of the position to which a person is born. The term is often applied to the hierarchical hereditary divisions established among the Indian continent. In the story, it’s sort of showing a caste system which denotes that on uppermost, masters and on the bottom, slaves. The poor people are called the “untouchables” were have no caste, often live in urban slums and have little access to health care, clean water, and other basic resources. As the movie portrays, they have limited reach on their basic needs because it has been dominated by the masters, rich people. They become greedy and didn’t mind on others’ situations.
Yet how many years had passed the rate of poverty and injustice still remains. On the top still remains the wealthy people and on the bottom the unfortunate ones. Even on some little districts have an equal system if in the higher, still on the side of their own benefits the whole place will still suffers. Just like how Jean Valjean did, he works honestly within his town doing all his might to have equality but it’s still not enough because there’s still a higher position that holds them on the neck. The change of time shows Paris in all its wretchedness and grandeur. The urban environment has power over those who live in it. Even all the war, hostilities and feud that surround the people of France, they still fix themselves in order to pass through all the hassles. They fill themselves with different temperament.
Courage. Yet their enemy holds a stronger weapons-guns, they did not show any fright and weakness in themselves and show the squaddie of Javert that they have the guts to fight for their right and save the abode of France. Having a delicate armor and an outnumbered people they still stick with their plan and finish what they’ve started. Like Marius, he came from a rich family he’s not afraid of the judgments of the people around him. He still proceeds to his wants to serve justice proportionally despite he’s been called as a shame of his family. He felt it would be a disgrace to turn back to what is right and just be a slave of the doubtful government. Even at first he had a hesitation because of his grandfather’s royalism.The little Gavroche, in spite of his age, he’s not afraid to face the enemies and be a part of the group of Enjolras, where consists of schoolboys that have a plan to build a barricade. He became the messenger of the group; he gets useful information from the government and fed it to the group to help them formulate some practical war tactics. Gavroche symbolizes the heroism of the average individual.
We people should be aware on what’s really happening to our environment and we should have a wide-eye with the aim of a parallel treatment. The courage that flow within their blood, gives hope to the citizens that they’re still have a chance to have a change and experience peace for the rest of their life. They seem exhausted and sick of being laid and tampered with the uneven laws and rules of the government. It’s time for a revolution.
Faith. The group of schoolboys still believes that they might have a chance to win the revolution. Notwithstanding of the increasing number of deaths within their group that makes an outnumbered troop. They have been abandoned by those people who still live in fear.As Gavroche said, “We will fight like twenty armies and we’ll never give up.” They never lose hope to fight for their right and not be a slaves again. As the number of deaths increases their faith becomes stronger.
Unity.Singleness among individuals.Becoming as one. It is one of their strongly-built barricade they have made. Becoming united. To revolutionize their movement and way of life, they shift, think and plan together. All the residents’ women, men, children, married, separated; all of them share their contributions during the revolution. It was filled with the color black and red when the war in the barricade began. It shows the dark ages they been through and the color red signifies their anger and bravery among their cruel government. They build together the barricade that will support them against the armies of Inspector Javert. Together they throw some useful stuff that can be used in the barricade; together they sacrifice their hoarded furniture in order to have a well- built cordon; together they help each other in every fall from their troop and they mourn and grieve together in every life they have lose; together all the women that are left after the war, they clean and wash the blood that flooded their town. Even in the end they have a large number of deaths (Enjolras troop), they forego their life together and bathe on their own blood for peace and equality. As the crusade ends, together they obtain what they really deserve, an equal outlet for all talents; in political terms, that all votes will carry the same weight; and in religious terms that all beliefs will enjoy equal rights. Equality has a means at its disposal-compulsory free education. In short freedom and fairness.
LOVE. In the movie shows different faces of love. Love for one’s country. Love for one’s child. Love for parents. Love for the Almighty God. Love overruns the whole story. I think it’s the best disposition the story exhibits. As Valjean's great discovery, the one that transforms him is that the meaning of life lies in love. His love is twofold, both the generalized love for one's fellow creatures that the Bishop of Digne shows toward him and the specific love for another person that he feels for Cosette. Summing up this philosophy at the end of his life, Valjean says to Cosette and Marius, “Love one another always. There is nothing else that matters in this world except love.”

LES MISÉRABLES
(A Comprehensive Report) Prepared by: Concha, Precious Veritte Hernandez AB-MASSCOMM II October 4, 2013