LES MISERABLES

 

FOUR STAR - Inspirational

 

 

        The enduring quality of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is that it is as fresh today as it was in 1862.  Set in the squalor and struggles of France following their revolution, this is a classic story of the redemption of man told at its best.

        History is filled with stories of heroic action and evil deeds, but rarely is a story better told of how one man overcame his own devastating background through the transforming kindness of a single encounter.

        Jean Valjean (Liam Neeson) is a man released from prison where he served for 19 years for the mere crime of stealing bread.  When upon his release he tries to steal silverware from a church, he is once again apprehended and stands ready to be returned to prison.

        And yet, it is here where one man brings the love of God into Valjean’s life. 

        The local Bishop (Peter Vaughan), who was physically beaten by Valjean during the robbery, tells the police that he had voluntarily given this thief his silverware.  And then, the Bishop gives Valjean his silver candlesticks as well to increase the value of his take.

        When Valjean is taken aback by the Bishop’s forgiveness, he asks him why he would do this.  The Bishop replies, “Never forget!  You no longer belong to evil.  I have ransomed your soul from fear and hatred.  I give you back to God.” 

        Jean Valjean never forgets.

        Moving ten years into the future, the world has been transformed for Valjean.  He is now the Mayor of a small French town, and he has repaid the Bishop’s kindness a thousandfold.  He has become the prosperous and kind employer of the town’s largest factory.  Here workers are treated fairly and are expected to live a virtuous life. Valjean knows that God can redeem even the most unworthy and he generously gives of himself for others.

        It is into this setting that Valjean’s nemesis enters his life and sets up a contrasting view of forgiveness and judgment.

        Inspector Javert (Geoffrey Rush) enters the town as the new head of the police.  Javert lives a joyless life of presuming that people are defined solely by their adherence to the law.  “I have lived my life without breaking a single law,” he says at the end.  Ironically, he has become imprisoned by his lack of compassion.

        Throughout this tale, Valjean presents us with a model of God’s love.

        He nurses one of his dying factory workers, Fantine (Uma Thurman), and loves her regardless of her past as a prostitute.  Like Jesus meeting the woman at the well, Valjean looks past her sin and proclaims that in God’s eyes she has never been anything but an innocent woman.  When she dies, Valjean fulfills his commitment to her by raising her daughter Cosette (Claire Danes) and protecting her from the world’s evils.

        Throughout the next decade, Valjean is pursued and tormented by Inspector Javert who believes that no one - including Valjean - is worthy of grace.  To him, Valjean will always be an escaped convict.  He resents the mercy and restoration that Valjean represents and proclaims: “reform is a discredited fantasy.”

        Through frothing revolution in Paris, the battle between Valjean’s compassion and Javert’s rigid legalism is played out.

        When Valjean finds himself in a position to declare victory in battle over Inspector Javert, he exhibits his greatest compassion in the gift of forgiveness.  He lets him go.

        Inspector Javert must ultimately decide which path is worth pursuing.  Does he continue to live as a prisoner under the law, or does he, too, become transformed by grace?  For the answer to that question, you have to see the movie, attend the musical or read the book.

        If there is another remarkable story here, it is that Victor Hugo’s novel about transformation has had such an ability to transform the world.

        During Hugo’s life, Les Misérables became a best seller.  Les Misérables is also the most filmed story in the history of motion pictures.  In addition, the lavish musical version of this story has been seen by over 40 million people and has become one of the legends of the American theater.  Here is the power of the media to impact the world for good!

        Les Misérables is a triumph of redemption over despair.  It would be difficult for anyone to be touched by this story without wondering: upon which of these two paths am I walking?

 

 

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