Line #27 Headscratchers/LesMiserables2012


1	!Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.
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3	[[foldercontrol]]
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5	[[folder: Clothing Cosette?]]
6	* I love that the movie includes the scene where Valjean buys Cosette the doll, but why doesn't he buy her new clothes and shoes too (like in the book)? You'd think he'd be more concerned about the fact that she's barefoot and undoubtedly freezing.
7	** [[HandWave While he was busy buying the doll, the Thenardiers nicked his cash for her clothes]].
8	** He might be trying to save money since all he has is what he carried with him when he fled town. They also needed to get out of there quickly to ensure they wouldn't be caught by Javert, who arrived not long after Valjean left.
9	*** Indeed. The doll is a speedy purchase that serves the purpose of instilling Cosette with trust in him and keeping her happy and quiet while they try to escape. Buying her new shoes and clothes right then and there would not only require her to take the time to put them on, but also likely a fitting back in those days. He figured "I'll buy her the doll now, that will make her happy and make the trip easier, once we're safe I'll buy her necessities."
10	** He'd also seen her staring longingly at that particular doll, and while she certainly would have been elated to have any doll at all, he knew she had wanted that one. Clothes and shoes could be got anywhere, but he got her that specific doll before they left town.
11	** Also, this is before you could just buy clothes at Baby Gap or whatever. Ready-to-wear clothes were atypical; you either had your clothes custom-made or you remade used clothes (your own or someone else’s) to fit current fashions. The man is running from the law and probably doesn’t have a lot of time to wait for clothes to be made.
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13	[[folder: Fantine's Short Hair]]
14	* Why did Fantine still have short hair in the final scene of the movie? She didn't look happy about having to cut it, since she was crying during that, and in Heaven she should have the opportunity (and time) to make it long again. Additionally, Valjean in the same scene still looks old.
15	** My guess is because that's how Valjean remembers her.
16	** Well, there's a bunch of other people too there in that scene who he's never seen. And he's seen Fantine with long hair before.
17	** I know, but he didn't know her until after her haircut, so it's more likely that he'd remember her with short hair. Or maybe she just didn't care to grow it back. She was at peace and her daughter was happy; I'm sure she was over the shame of selling her hair (and teeth, and body).
18	*** That's what I thought also--Valjean knows Fantine in a very specific way, as the mother who gave so much up for her daughter, the woman he had inadvertently wronged. That's the particular woman whose memory he treasures--he would certainly remember her in that way and not as a regular factory girl, especially as he really didn't notice her very much at the factory (which is part of the point).
19	** Perhaps, for those who believe in ghosts and spirits, could it really be Fantine and the Bishop's ghosts returning to take Valjean to heaven as opposed to just a figment of imagination from Valjean's dying mind? Your ghost is said to look the same way you do after your death; Fantine's hair was short at the time of her demise.
20	** Creator/AnneHathaway described Fantine as burning with the same fire that consumed the Christian martyrs. In that light, her shorn head is a sign of her martyrdom, of everything that she was willing to give up for love. Martyrs are depicted with the weapons that killed them as a mark of pride and strength. It would be wrong, then, for her to be given her long hair back in heaven.
21	** That actually sounds really interesting. Where did she say that?
22	*** I think it was an interview with Bazaar magazine. That, or Vanity Fair.
23	** The Doylist interpretation would be that the scene was filmed after Creator/AnneHathaway's haircut.
24	*** Then they could have tried hair extensions.
25	*** Don't you have to actually have, you know, hair to extend from? I think the still-cut hair works perfectly, but that's just me. If they wanted her hair long, the only smart option in that situation would be to use a wig. There's no way to mess it up, and the actress's hair would be short enough to not cause a problem.
26	* Gavroche outs Javert when he spies on the revolutionaries, but why didn't he say anything earlier? Also, why didn't Eponine say anything? She was there at the building of the barricade, and she knew who Javert was.
27	** Maybe he didn't get a very good look at him during then. They were busy building the barricade at the time.
28	** And Eponine would be occupied with looking out for Marius--she doesn't appear to care a whit for the rebellion beyond the fact Marius was there.
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30	[[folder: Order of Songs]]
31	* This is just a personal anecdote, but the order of Fantine's first three songs in the stage version is "At the End of the Day," "I Dreamed a Dream," then "Lovely Ladies." Here, the order goes "At the End of the Day," "Runaway Cart," "Lovely Ladies," and "I Dreamed a Dream." I personally think that "I Dreamed a Dream" actually makes more sense when placed ''after'' "Lovely Ladies" because Fantine is too far past the point of no return once she becomes a prostitute, as done here. Does anyone here also think that rearranging the order of some of the songs made their lyrics suddenly make more logical sense?
32	** I agree that switching the order of "Lovely Ladies" and "I Dreamed a Dream" was extremely effective, so that she sings the latter when she's in genuine despair. Moving "Do You Hear the People Sing?" to much further on in the script, so that it's actually at the moment that begins the revolution, also worked very well; it's not possible in the stage musical (where there's a break between acts to allow time for the barricade to be built offstage), but in a film where we see the revolution's start and the construction of the barricade it's highly effective.
33	*** I was going to mention that about "Do You Hear The People Sing"--I just watched the movie today after reading the book multiple times and falling in love with the soundtrack, and I was horrified when I didn't hear it immediately after "Red and Black". Then came Lamarck's funeral and it was just so unbelievably perfect. (There are enough other issues with cuts, like cutting half of "Red and Black", "Turning", "A Little Fall Of Rain", and "Drink With Me" (Grantaire's part basically MAKES the whole musical), cutting the ENTIRE "Dog Eats Dog" [I get it's not Creator/SachaBaronCohen's style but then maybe cast someone whose style it IS], and messing up Beggars At The Feast, that having one or two that actually WORKED was nice.)
34	*** Apparently, Blagden did sing the entire Grantaire part from "Drink With Me", but it ended up getting cut.
35	*** I do agree. "Dog Eats Dog" is the absolute lowest point of the musical, and it serves a really important purposes, showing the worst and most vile that humanity can be.
36	*** "Dog Eats Dog" was reduced to one line "Here's a pretty ring," because, apparently, it was the last song Creator/SachaBaronCohen was supposed to film but couldn't because he lost his voice. But I agree, the movie would have been great with that left in.
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38	[[folder: What Happened to the Factory?]]
39	* So [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse what happens to Valjean's workers/factory]] when he runs away with Cosette? It doesn't seem very heroic to just abandon them.
40	** Once Valjean was revealed as a convict, there was literally nothing he could do for his employees. Whether he stays and is arrested or runs and escapes would not matter to them one bit. If the workers are lucky, the factory will be bought out and restarted soon. If not, the workers are out of luck.
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42	[[folder: "This Man Has Done No Wrong"??]]
43	* As beautiful as the scene (and song) is, Javert's final confrontation with Valjean in the sewers doesn't really make sense, because Javert doing the right thing and letting Valjean go so he can save Marius hinges on Javert taking Valjean's word that "this man has done no wrong". And ''that'' strikes me as odd — especially considering Javert knows Valjean was on the barricades, why doesn't he seem to even consider the wounded man may be one of the revolutionaries that he would gladly have shot himself? I'll grant you that Marius isn't recognizable as such because of the grime and mud, but when a revolutionary goes "This man needs a doctor's care quickly!" a few hours after a revolution and in the same general area, with no other explanation given as to how the man got injured… y'know…  Javert should have thought a little.
44	** Valjean did save Javert's life for no reason a few hours earlier. At this point Javert is questioning the righteousness of his crusade against Valjean, so seeing him trying to save someone was the breaking point.
45	** Minor nitpick: Valjean did not save Javert's life "for no reason," he did it because his faith had him convinced that taking another life was wrong.
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Context Headscratchers / LesMiserables2012