Movie vs Book: Les Misérables

            Unfortunately, I committed a cardinal sin of book lovers: I watched the movie before I read the book. Nonetheless, I still was able to enjoy the book and notice some things that were left out in the 2012 musical. I’m not one of those people who think every single detail of the book needs to be included in the adaptation in order for it to be considered faithful. However, I do think Victor Hugo wasn’t completely frivolous in what he included in his book and must have a reason, though 1400 pages is quite the trek to get through.

The Priest

            My main experience with this movie is the scene where the priest tells Jean Val Jean that he forgot the candlesticks after he stole the silverware. That scene has been played at least once per year at the church I attended while growing up in order to illustrate mercy. While the scene is powerful, the full impact of it isn’t conveyed in the movie. In the book, Victor Hugo goes, as he does with most everything, into incredible detail while describing this priest. Although I might have found his attention to minute details annoying at other points in the book, which I will get into later, here it was completely warranted. First of all this is no ordinary priest. Despite his humble appearance and abode, this man is Bishop Myriel. He is a man who pinches every penny in order to give more to the poor. He is so dedicated to generosity that he writes up imagined expenses of having a carriage for himself, quite normal for someone in his station, in order to give even more money to the poor.

The Silver

But why, you may ask, if he is so generous does he have tableware and candle sticks made out of solid silver? This always confused me. However, when I read the book, I discovered that this was the one personal pleasure that Bishop Myriel allowed himself. However, when Jean Val Jean steals them, he isn’t mad that his one simple pleasure was stolen. In fact, he considers Jean Val Jean’s theft to be another donation that he should have made a long time ago.  All in all while the priest in the movie is already an incredibly generous man, Bishop Myriel from the book is literally on heavenly levels of generosity.  

How Jean Val Jean Got to Prison

            He stole a loaf of bread. Yes, I understood this, but I didn’t understand how he managed to be in prison for so long given that single offence. Turns out he attempted to escape several times while in prison in order to get back to his sister and her children, whom he had been attempting to provide for, and that extended his sentence. While it is still ridiculous to put someone in prison for stealing food for others to survive, it makes more sense that he was in the galleys for so long, since he attempted to escape. It’s still horrible though of course.

Jean Val Jean’s Slip up

Almost immediately after leaving Bishop Myriel, Jean Val Jean steals from a little boy. Despite his resolve to be better after being redeemed by the Bishop, it is this final theft that breaks his hard heart once and for all. Another thing neglected in the movie that was included in the book is how Jean Val Jean’s heart was so hardened in the galleys. He lost hope in all humanity and had closed himself off from feeling anything but darkened resentment. But the Bishop’s kindness paired with the little boy’s desperation at him stealing his money finally broke through the crust that had formed around his heart during the galleys. There are other details about how Jean Val Jean enriched the entire countryside as Monsieur Madeline and etc. but those are minor compared to the others I am going to talk about so I’m going to skip them.

How Fantine could Have Avoided the Entire Fiasco

            Fantine was abandoned by her lover, Cosette’s father, and so had to put her child with the Thernadier’s and work at Monsieur Madeline’s factory. Even at this point Monsieur Madeline was known for his generosity and when she was fired some recommended that she go to him to ask for help. But she perceived her firing to be a direct judgment from him instead of from the petty manager and so was embarrassed to ask him for help. “Girl just go ask him!” is what I wanted to yell as I read that part of the book, but she worked for herself, which also wouldn’t have been bad if the Thernadier’s weren’t lying scum and kept scamming her out of more and more money.

Fauchelevent Grudge and Repayment

            There is a pretty dramatic scene in the movie, where Jean Val Jean saves a man from a cart while Javert is watching though it could give him away. What the movie left out though was the man, Fauchelevent, despised Monsieur Madeline. He thought that Madeline was suspicious despite all he had done for the town and the local poor. So not only was Jean Val Jean putting himself at risk, he was doing so for a man who openly despised him. After saving him, he also got Fauchelevent a job, which came in handy when Jean Val Jean was running away from Javert with Cosette. Fauchelevent repaid his debt to Jean Val Jean by claiming him as his brother and getting a job for him in the convent where Jean Val Jean had gotten him work all those years ago. The movie probably didn’t include it because while it is nice to see Jean Val Jean’s generosity paying off, it would only lengthen the almost 3 hour long run time.

Hugo’s Random Traipses

            I am actually glad that the filmmakers didn’t include Victor Hugo’s random traipses into French history. I understand that they contribute to the larger themes of Hugo’s book, but in the movie they would have just eliminated any momentum the 3 hour long movie had if they took breaks to talk about Napoleon, the history of the sewers, or why the King’s requirement for more cheap workers allowed so many to carted off to the galleys.

Marius’ Blockheadedness

            Why did Jean Val Jean die almost immediately after Marius’ and Cosette’s wedding? This was a question that plagued me when I watched the movie. It made no sense! Turns out in the book Marius slowly puts more and more distance between Cosette and Jean Val Jean after Val Jean confesses the fact that he is an ex-convict. Of course Val Jean neglects to mention that he saved Marius’ life or all the generosity that he has done not just to make up for his sins, but in order to emulate the Bishop Myriel and by extension Jesus. Why would Jean Val Jean mention that? Marius allows his distrustful blockheaded side of him to get the best of him and ignores all the evidence that he already has as to what type of man Jean Val Jean is. He slowly pushes Jean Val Jean out of his and Cosette’s life, which of course breaks Jean Val Jean’s heart. He is so depressed that he starts to become ill. It is only Thernadier’s stupidly attempting to blackmail Marius that wakes Marius up to the actual truth of how wonderful Jean Val Jean is. But as Marius and Cosette arrive, Jean Val Jean is dying and the doctor whispers into Marius’ ear that they are too late. This means that if Marius hadn’t been so thickheaded or allowed Jean Val Jean to see Cosette sooner, then he wouldn’t have died as soon as he did!

There’s More

Naturally there’s more that the book left out. Marius’ friendship with the ABC group wasn’t explained. His estrangement from his grandfather and forced separation from his father weren’t delved into. They didn’t talk about Marius’ conflicted relationship with the Thernadiers. But a movie can’t include everything and reading the book is a separate experience. All in all, I did end up liking the book much better than the movie, but I don’t think the movie did a bad job of adapting the book. Perhaps if I had read the book and then watched the movie I would have felt different, but overall I felt as though the movie was a good tribute to Victor Hugo’s masterpiece.

What About You?

Have you read the book? Seen the movie? Which did you like better? What differences did I leave out? What do you wish the movie had included? What do you wish, if anything, it had left out?

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Image Credit: Movie Cover and Book Cover are owned by their respective owners and not me.