From watching the movie version of the musical, I got to further analyze the personalities of the characters within the musical and get a better idea of how everyone fits into the production. I have seen the movie musical before, yet this adaptation still provided some inspiration and ideas of how things can be portrayed. I learned how these actors portrayed the emotions and thoughts of their characters through facial expressions, body language, etc. For example: the convicts in the opening scene all portrayed a feeling of hatred and misery through their actions and facial expressions, which really adds to the words they are singing. Not only did I get a better sense of the musical as a whole, but I gained a better understanding of how critical facial expression and body language is to building a character and really getting messages across.
A few scenes stood out to me the most, including the opening scene, the scene with Val Jean and the priest, Fantine's death scene, Eponine's death scene and "The People's Song" scene (Do You Hear the People Sing?). These each stood out for a few reasons. The opening scene really sets the tone for the rest of the musical in the way that it shows the corruption, dirtiness and the making of Jean Val Jean so it really stands out. As well as this, the opening song is very powerful and I feel it leaves a lasting impression. Next, I feel that the scene with Val Jean and the Priest stands out and is very important. This is because this scene led to Val Jean becoming an honest man and was the reason why he was able to clean himself up, obtain a better life and leave his past behind him. As well as this, the extreme generosity, forgiveness, and wise nature demonstrated by the Priest always stands out and makes me feel something. It is a very crucial scene within the musical. I also find that Fantine's transition and death scene are very powerful. The sad theme of this scene is disheartening and then Val Jean's courageous and noble actions always warm my heart and stand out in my mind. It really aims to highlight how he has changed as a man and puts the desperate plea of another ahead of his own fear and safety. I always appreciate the death scene of Eponine. As she is one of my favourite characters, I love her story and the song that is sung during her death scene. Her love story is depressing, but the fact that she was able to forget it all and spend her last moments in the arms of Marius is very romantic and sad and therefore stands out quite a bit. Finally, The scene with "The People's Song" is very moving and stands out in the musical. The rebellion as a whole contains many tragic deaths, but this scene in particular starts up the rebellion and I like the empowering nature of it. These 5 scenes stood out to me the most within the musical.
The first theme that I found while watching the musical was religion. Jean Val Jean in the beginning of the musical is saved by the priest and becomes an honest, religious man. Throughout the rest of the musical, he turns to religion and is newfound basic beliefs whenever faced with a trying situation or difficult decision (for example when he finds out that another man is being found of guilty of Val Jean's crimes). This is definitely a theme and I believe that this is trying to convey a message to the audience. Religion saved Jean Val Jean so I believe that maybe this proves during the time of the real French Revolution, religion was an important value and many people looked to religion to help them during this very tough period in history. Another possibility behind this theme is that the writer of this musical is/was religious. Perhaps they were trying to convey the importance of religion (in his/her opinion).
The second theme that I found was the theme of obsessiveness. Javert is determined and very persistent is his long pursuit of Jean Val Jean throughout the whole musical. He states that he will never give up and he doesn`t right up until his death. The message behind this could be that overly obsessing over one thing doesn`t always solve the problem and can drive one crazy. Javert`s obsessiveness didn`t make him happy, it just made his life hard and ended up killing him. It can also mean that mercy is important. After all those years and how Javert treated Val Jean, he was shown mercy when Val Jean was told to execute him. This confused Javert as he had never shown Val Jean any mercy, so I believe that this proves mercy and forgiveness are very important.
Finally, I found corruption to definitely be a reoccurring theme of the musical. The government and legal system is corrupt in the way that it very poorly treats convicts, is way too harsh and unforgiving and allows the poor to fall into terrible situations (such as Fantine`s story) and even die. The government workers even use prostitutes and can get them in trouble with just their word.It seems as if there are no trials for the guilty and those who are tried are very unlikely to be found innocent unless they can pay their way out. Corruption is also found at the tavern that Mr. and Mme. Thenardier run. They cheat people of money, steal, lie and serve food and drinks that are not what they say they are. I believe that this theme is a clear representation/ reflection of what the French Revolution was like and how people had to live. In the history books, the conditions described during the French Revolution resemble the conditions characters are living in and putting up with in the musical.
