I thought that the acting was convincing and attention to detail simply amazing! The members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association thought so too, awarding a Golden Globe as best film (musical or comedy) and another to Aussie, Hugh Jackman for best actor. There’s more to this musical than meets the eye, as my colleague Ingrid Peschke points out in her piece below. It offers hope for answered prayer and points to the possibilities as we accept only that which is good into our lives. Happy New Year!
On the night of our first official snow storm in Boston this past weekend, my husband and I ventured out to see the new film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the theater at the end of the film.
Set in 19th century France, the story is about redemption, love, law, revolution–and ultimately the saving grace of God. A timeless message as we enter 2013.
With the vast majority of the lines delivered in song and sung live by the actors, the lead character in Victor Hugo’s 1832 novel, Jean Valjean (played by Hugh Jackman) implores:
“God on high, hear my prayer, in my need you have always been there…Bring him home, bring him home.”
It’s perhaps one of the most moving lines in musical theater songbooks.
Valjean is labeled by his past after being imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. Even when he’s released from prison after 19 long years, he’s a number more than a name, haunted and relentlessly pursued by Javert, the prison guard turned police inspector. Yet through a new life of love and forgiveness Valjean finds his way forward, with both hope and redemption marking his path.
How many of us feel chained by an unfair sentence, released and yet never truly free? It’s a familiar refrain with addictions, where people are labeled as alcoholics, smokers, etc. long after the habit has been kicked. But rather than feeling endlessly pursued by these labels, isn’t it possible to leave them behind for good and accept innocence as a permanent part of one’s identity?
The real home-coming is in recognizing our ability to love ourselves and others without conditions and without the labels that would weigh us down. This is an answered prayer, an echo of the Psalmist’s affirmation that answers Valjean’s request:
” . . . God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer” (Psalms 66: 19).
With the hope of answered prayer and the trust of rejecting what isn’t good and accepting only what is good in my life, I enter this new year.
What about you?
I too thought Les Miserables a great film, beautifully presented, striking in it’s presentation of life at that time. But most poignant is the change in ValJean (played by Hugh Jackman) when the Priest shows him kindness when he most needs it and even protects him in an unpleasant situation. This kind love and his choice to find his God completely changes ValJean into a new man. Eventually his example changes the harsh commandant. It shows in such an exquisite way how following God in one’s life and loving God more than worldly ways brings blessings untold even to those we come in contact with…..even though at times hard won…..It certainly is a New Year’s resolution and a touching example of living to follow right through every year. I fully encourage everyone to see the film.
Thanks Pam. Yes, Valjean did that which is hardest to do …. to forgive despite a very good case not to, including persistent victimization and abuse. Victor Hugo surely had Jesus’ life in mind as he wrote. In the book Hugo wrote,”The book which the reader has before him at this moment is, from one end to the other, in its entirety and details … a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from corruption to life; from bestiality to duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. The starting point: matter, destination: the soul. The hydra at the beginning, the angel at the end.”
Forgiveness and love overcome anger. Thanks for your remarks leading us to the spiritual answers which we so often overlook.
It’s so great to discover that people are adopting a much more spiritual viewpoint these days. Thanks for your comments, Tony.