Javert's Death

[The Armchair]

The 1998 remake of Les Mis does it incredibly well.

[Shaman]

The Broadway musical has the supreme version of Javert's suicide. He does it at the end of an awesome song in which he sings about the confusion and guilt that he is experiencing inside his mind. The jump looks real even though it is done live on stage.

[youtalkfunny]

I thought the Neeson/Rush film was great--until we come to Javert's death.

Look, Les Miserables isn't supposed to have a Hollywood happy ending, OK? Valjean isn't supposed to witness Javert's death. Do you think that if Javert did something as cowardly as suicide, he would show it off? And Valjean wouldn't hesitate to jump into the river after him. He's a pretty good swimmer--that's how he escaped prison once (in the book, I don't know if the film mentions it; he was caught, and his five-year sentence for theft was extended).

And for damn sure, Valjean isn't supposed to go skipping off into the sunset, to live happily ever after with Cosette. He's not supposed to have a tearful farewell before turning himself in (she would never stand for that--their tearful farewell comes on his deathbed, we're she is powerless to keep him from slipping away).

And he's not supposed to tell Cosette, "I loved (Fantine)." He made a promise to raise Cosette, he kept it--there was no romance involved.

And I'm only talking about the last 15 minutes of the movie, which I happened to catch tonight--who knows how many other changes were made? Gee whiz, if we're going to make that many changes, why not get the guy laid? I mean, you know, 19 years in the hole, followed by a few years as mayor, a dozen or so in the convent--hormones flowing everywhere, and this guy's balls only get more blue...

DESPITE ALL THAT: watch this movie. Geoffrey Rush and Uma Thurman put on an acting CLINIC. And Neeson's "I am the man you are looking for," scene is cool as hell.

[nothumb]

Thanks [censored], I haven't seen it yet.

NT