I first went to see Les Miserables in 1987 (or possibly 1988), with my then new best friend Gilly. I found it really moving. I went to see it 3 more times in the next few years, dragging my DH along. I cried at every performance and he refused to go again after I started to weep quietly the moment Jean Valjean came on stage at the 4th performance.
I read the book, twice. I cried at that too, partly because Marius' appalling behaviour to Jean Valjean upon learning of his true identity was so awful, something not really covered in the stage version. It made me realise that I don't weep because of Fantine (Cosette's mother), or Cosette, or Marius, or Eponine.... what moves me is Jean Valjean and the sacrifice he makes at the end of the book so that his adopted daughter can be happy.
I've seen movie versions, and they don't affect me at all,
so it has to be something to do with the power of the music in relation
to the story.
Every time I hear that music, I can feel myself on alert. When I think about poor old Jean Valjean, then the tears start. It's a bit of a liability, frankly.
And then I heard that they were making a film version of the musical (rather than a film version of the book), and I wondered whether it would be any good.
And today I found the trailer on John Gray's Going Gently blog. I played it. I cried. There is no hope.
I will book tickets as soon as they are available. I will, of course, ask DH if he would like to accompany me, but I suspect the answer will be no. I suspect he doesn't mind the story, the music is OK, but it's just so damned embarrassing when you're sitting next to someone who has no blub control.
