Les Misérables -- 2000 French TV miniseries -- Part 2

[yakalskovich]

• This miniseries has time to start the episode with Javert walking down an entire official-looking staircase, hat under his arm, saying nothing.
• The Thénardiers are mean, but not bizarre. The Dickensian impression is just musical canon, it seems.
• Now Javert knows who 'Monsieur Madeleine' is, he addresses him as 'tu', not 'vous'.
• He goes out of his way to tell Fantine that Cosette isn't coming to her, and then she dies, and Valjean promises to fetch her regardless and jumps out of a window, and Javert shoots at him and hits a bell -- oh what drama! And baying hounds follow him, with Javert running among them. Where did they get so many dobermanns so fast?
• And during the chase, Javert has the time to say something philosophical.
• Er what? They think he is hiding in the burning hay??
• He was hiding in that burning place, too.
• Ahh, here is Sister Simplice lying.
• She says 'Les Misérables' too -- title drop number two!
• Heh Montfermeil is out of Javert's jurisdiction so he has to go to Paris to ask for permission to try and catch Valjean -- here is the 'Dipferlscheisser' that we know and love!
• Wow serious sword you have there in that stick, Thénardier! So he really means to kill Valjean for his money. But Valjean and Cosette are gone. So, the second turn in the bagne is missing here.-
• It's the same market stall where Fantine sold her hair, and the same nasty old man -- but why is Thénardier already there and has found them? Now, threats! Knives!
• And here is Javert, arresting Thénardier for selling Cosette to Valjean and aiding and abetting a fugitive.
• People making coffins, and Gavroche delivers them. He's not ten, though; he must be fourteen at least. He looks more like the fellow on the icons of Milli!Gavroche. His voice is already breaking. And he lives in somebody's carriages. And he says 'Les Misérables' as well. Title drop after title drop.
• And Javert finds him in the Gorbeau tenement almost immediately and sends some scruffy spy. Why is he carrying her, though? She could walk!
• Javert. Coat, hat, hair. Skulking.
• So many decrepit historical buildings to use as locations!
• Javert, with a city map, following them on foot while they scale a wall! Action now!
• Javert needs a search warrant for the convent, hence -- he has to stay outside!
• Marius! Dark and broody and introduces as 'baron'. Six years ago -- but Gavroche is still the same. And why are Cosette's drawings still on the wall? So that is how we do the passage of time this time.
  
• That convent is a bit bizarre. Draw fifty crosses on the chapel floor with her tongue as punishment? Wut?
• It seems Valjean doesn't have the silver candlesticks any more, it seems.
• Valjean speaks up to the prefect of the police, that is, the top cop of all France? That's not really sensible.
• And here is Javert, in his leather badass longcoat, hat under his arm, walking up the staircase in the convent.
• And the abbess tells Javert that his justice system is faulty! And then, she calls a sister we don't see to flagellate her. Yep, definitely a slightly bizarre convent here.
• Ragged Thénardiers and ageless Gavroche, whom they don't seem to know, moving into the Gorbeau tenement. Is there only one tenement in all of Paris or what?
• And Éponine falls in love with tall!dark!smouldering Marius at once!
• Laughing strictly forbidden! Echoes of 'Name of the Rose' here; or maybe Eco was echoing Hugo there...
• Javert! With short and very receding hair, lurking around the university looking for sedition among the students. He still has his leather badass longcoat, though. And now he hides behind a newspaper in the Café Musain.
• They sing the Marseillaise -- that must have been terribly illegal! And yes, here is Javert, looking displeased. And all the students, but we don't get to learn their names. Yet.
  
• And now, love at first sight between Marius and Cosette -- and yes, she leaves him her handkerchief! How terribly 19th century.
• A chained group of prisoners in red, and the populace is all excited. They wear odd tall-ish hats, too.  And Cosette calls them 'beasts'.
• Marius sucks at logical deduction. Ursule indeed!
• Marius does his own washing-up, though. One point in his favour! He is useful, not only dark and smouldering.
  
• Favre? Leblanc? What's up with all these names?
• 'Ces gens sont des monstres' -- yep, Marius, getting better at logical deduction when you have the correct result right before your nose.

I like. Part three and four tomorrow.-

Comments

[fightingthecage]

Oh my God, this is so canon. Mostly. But they seem to have missed a couple of opportunities that are hilarious in the brick.

and yes, she leaves him her handkerchief! How terribly 19th century.

In the book, it's VJ's handkerchief, and Marius moons over it to hell and back, not realising that it doesn't belong to Cosette at all. And he names her 'Ursule' because of the U, not realising that VJ is going under the alias Ultime Fauchelevent. And may I say, 'Ultime' is a fucking badass name.

All the aliases - completely canon. As is the harshness of the convent, which is the subject of a whole interesting tirade in the book, on the harshness of religious practice. Which VJ obviously uses to realise that his suffering is nothing compared to those poor women. *pats him* I find it weird that J gets into the convent at all, though. It's strictly 'no men allowed' in the brick, but I suppose dramatic licence is called for.

And wtf, VJ not still having the candlesticks? That's insane. He'd never be without them. Also wtf - Javert arresting Thenardier? That's weird. He doesn't do it until the incident at the Gorbeau tenement in the brick. Ah, I should stop comparing them. Different interpretation, and all - and they have to keep it alive on the screen, and have all the characters interacting.

I'll be interested to see what you make of Javert's interactions with the students tomorrow, given what I have heard about them from other sources. Canon divergence again - but hey, might be no bad thing.

[yakalskovich]

In the book, it's VJ's handkerchief, and Marius moons over it to hell and back, not realising that it doesn't belong to Cosette at all. And he names her 'Ursule' because of the U, not realising that VJ is going under the alias Ultime Fauchelevent.

Yep, that's exactly it -- it comes out a few moments later. Marius' misdeductions are hilarious. What opportunities did they miss?

When Thénardier moves into the Gorbeau tenement, he's apparently fallen on hard times and has been to prison in some way. But yes, the candlesticks were there in Montreuil, but not afterwards. Odd that somebody sticking to the book that closely as the makers of this miniseries doesn't realise their importance, while I, who know the 2012 movie, the 1998 movie, two different recordings of the musical, a lot of fanfic and a few crumbs of brick fully realise how central they are.-

[fightingthecage]

I was just thinking that if they haven't done the scene in the Gorbeau tenement where J arrests almost the entire Patron-Minette, then they're missing the most snark-tastic line in the whole brick. 'Would you like my hat?' - comedy gold, if done right. J's a smug little bastard, sometimes. But then, I can't believe they'd ignore that entirely, given it's how he gets back on the scent of VJ, so maybe it's in the next ep.

And they will probably have had to cut most/all of Marius being entirely useless, and mooning around helplessly. He does it for about a year in the book - but the tenement scene is great for leaving him in further anguish. Also, it appears they are changing his initial meeting with Javert, which I love in the brick; J's all 'bloody young idiot' and won't call him 'monsieur', but still hands over two nice guns to him. I'd love to see that scene recreated.

So glad they put in the convict scene though - it's kind of heartbreaking in the book, and clearly shows VJ and his PTSD from Toulon. And also shows his motivation from keeping the truth from Cosette all this time, given how she reacts to them. Bless him. He kind of melts down when he sees the chain gang in the book, so I hope they didn't fuck that up.

How's Depardieu holding up as VJ?

[yakalskovich]

I think the scene where Javert arrests the entire Patron-Minette follows in the next instalment, because the 'monstres' are planning to lure Valjean to -- somewhere? And taking their revenge on him because they blame him for losing their nice life in that inn in Montfermeil. Which was still as the grave, by the way, not rowdy or busy at all.

And yes, Cosette's comments give Valjean a better reason to remove himself out of her life later; he doesn't melt down, though, he just goes very still. I still don't know what I think about Depardieu as Valjean, but that's probably because Malkovich's Javert is running rings around him, acting-wise. Still, I can't imagine how somebody as sharp and intelligent as this Javert could have mistaken that unique nose just even for a moment in Montreuil. He was around M. Madeleine a lot, too.

Also, Marius does almost perv into that handkerchief when he gets it; and then he waxes all poetic about Cosette at Gavroche, who is amused.

[fightingthecage]

I am not surprised to hear this about Malkovich! But yeah, that is definitely a distinctive nose, so that's a bit weird. Creative licence, I suppose. Having said that, I could never see how 2012 VJ is so different from Madeleine in the movie, despite the beard and the haircut - but then, Hugh Jackman is Hugh Jackman. So.

Definitely sounds like the tenement scene is to come! I hope they don't leave out VJ burning himself with the poker, because that's brilliant to illustrate his personal code of non-violence. But I'm also interested to hear how they do it with J, because if Malkovich is being as sharp as that, then it'll be weird for him not to recognise the man in the same room as him. It's weird in the book, quite frankly. VJ's white hair should be distinctive enough, even hidden in a shadowed corner.

I'm totally getting this, even if I don't understand a word. Hell yes.

[yakalskovich]

You should -- it's worth it! I am so looking forward to how they're going to play Javert's death, because while this Javert is a comma-counter, he isn't that much of a contrarian. He does go to M. Madeleine to ask to be dismissed, but not from a deep feeling of having failed the law, more along the lines of "I made a nasty mistake at your expense, which is this, and you're going to hear about it anyway, so feel free to fire me, kthxbai". I can't quite see how they're going to go from that deadpan snark attitude to actual bluescreen of actual death. But I trust Malkovich to deliver, actually, and look forward to seeing the rest tomorrow.

[fightingthecage]

Keep me posted! I have seen the moment of him disappearing into the water, but nothing else. I trust him to deliver too, so it should be great. :D!

[yakalskovich]

Totally will do! Running commentaries follow when I watch it all.-