sonrisas: Les Misérables

I love this new movie so much that I can't really explain or express it.

The singing is so real, believable and fitting.
The story is so real and raw.
The characters are so real.
My heart aches for the characters- including Javert.
The messages touch my heart every time.
It makes me laugh and cry.
I love the new song: "Suddenly."
It is so beautiful and well done.
Is it gritty, real, sad, and in-your-face? Yes. And I think that is how it should be.

I especially love this movie and singing even more than the play and operatic recordings because it is so real. The operatic versions seem to be about perfect singing, the movie version communicates more emotion to me. The movie made the story more real to me than it has been in the past. After this movie, I realized that I have never really understood or connected with the story. After this movie, I really understood the story and the emotions and the motivations and thought processes of the characters. The movie did this for me in a way that the play couldn't.
I enjoy the operatic versions of the songs, but I will defend this movie and this singing to my dying day because it has touched me so.

It's amazing that even though it is a rather sad story overall, it doesn't make me sad. It makes me hopeful. It makes me want to sing. It makes me want to live life.

And another thing (and this is kinda weird), it makes me want to write essays about life, love, identity, tomorrow, and "one day more." Especially about identity and "one day more." This story is so thematic. I see these ideas threaded throughout the story in deep and incredibly meaningful ways that make me want to write about it. Maybe someday I will.

My favorite parts of the movie are:

1) When the priest gives Jean Valjean a second chance when no one else would. Jean Valjean sings his soliloquy in the church. He walks back and forth in that setting and sings the song in such an expressive way. I just feel immersed in how conflicted and emotional Valjean feels. Then he makes his decision and it is a powerful moment.
"He told me that I had a soul. How does he know?"

2) When Javert tenderly places his medal on Gavroche after he finds him lined up with the other revolutionaries.

3) When Valjean walks towards the priest at the end. Makes me cry or almost cry every time. Simply beautiful.

I found this today and it made me smile: