The movie

[francienyc]

I must wholly concur with Sugapablo's opinion of the movie--it was just awful! Probably one of the worst adaptations of literature I've ever seen. Some of my most violent reactions were to Jean Valjean's hitting a suddenly rebellious Cosette--Cosette would never have rebelled, since she was perfect in the eyes of those who loved her. And Jean Valjean, with his Christian spirit and abundance of love for Cosette would die before he hurt her consciously. Not to mention the revised ending--Jean Valjean would never have let anyone die, least of all Javert. He saved Javert's life once, what is to prevent him from doing so again, except poor scriptwriters?<br> With regards to antagonists, one could, I suppose, make a case for Thenardier as an antagonist. To be clear, though, "antagonist" is not synonymous with "bad guy" but the character who acts as an opposing force to the antagonist, and here I think Javert is extremely fitting, especially if one looks at Les Miserables as a conflict between justice and mercy. Javert, representing human justice, must inevitably fail, because mercy triumphs by nature and in the Christian ethic (of which we are extremely conscious throughout the novel). Personally, I find that Thenardier works even better in opposition to Marius. Thenardier is a purely evil person who often appears as an agent of Providence, causing good to happen (e.g. He lets Jean Valjean out of the sewers). Marius, meanwhile, is a truly good person who lets his judgment get clouded and often winds up hurting people (Eponine, Jean Valjean). The beauty of the novel, though, is that there is so much depth to it, so many levels of interpretation, and yet also so much heart.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for ruining the movie by giving away the end.

[moose]

i have been an obsessor of the musical for as long as i can remember- for all i know, my mom was playing the soundtrack or singing while i was in her stomach. anyway, i completely agree that javert i definitely NOT the antagonist. i haven't yet read the book, but whatever the conflict between thenardier and marius, it is definitely overlooked in every version of the musical i've seen. and that disappoints me. thank you for bringing light to the fact that javert is simply a god-fearing/ god-loving enforcer of the law, sent to fulfill his duty.

[Unregistered]

There is so many ill feelings and so much harsh resentment on Javert’s part! His search for Valjean became almost maniacal. Every time Valjean got away from him, Javert’s hatred and resentment grew more and more. You are crazy not to see that!

[Sugapablo]

I just watched the movie with Liam Neeson after reading teh book and I must say just how dissapointed I was. For one thing, they removed the main antagonist, Thenadier. Th eonly scene he is in is when Valjean comes to get Cossette. He never reappears in the movie. He is replaced as the antagonist by Javert.<br> Now I've heard people before discuss Javert as the antagonist of the book, but I don't believe this to be true. While Javert most certainly wanted to catch Valjean, did he do so for unjust reasons? Not from his perspective. There was no malice or ill feelings on the part of Javert, he was simply functioning within the only framework that his mind could comprehend, and that was the framework of the law. To him the law was paramount and it was the source or order and goodness of the world. Which is precisely why he ended the way he did (I don't want to give away anything to those who might not have read it). His brain basically short-circuited based on Valjeans actions, just like a robot's would have. Javert was programmed. In fact, an argument could be made that Javert was the ultimate sympathetic character of the book. All he wanted to do was follow the rules, but circumstances prevented him from this.