1. The Entire Epilogue
“It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes.”
On this page, I write my last confession. Read it well, for I at last am crying my goddamn eyes out. Seriously, could there have been a sadder scene? I was crying during the previous three scenes, but it was the entire epilogue where I lost complete control and was blubbering like a little baby. Yes I knew Jean Valjean would die – I didn’t read the book, but I knew the story to some extent – but that didn’t help in the slightest. In fact, it made it worse because I was dreading this moment.
Unlike Marius, Eponine, and Fantine, Jean Valjean was effective due to his character and his character alone. He wasn’t necessarily anyone the audience could connect with and there was no real ideal to his character, he was simply the protagonist of a story come to an end. His death couldn’t have been anywhere but the end as he needed ample time to prove his weakness, his strengths, and his bravery.
The movie also made a very smart change to the original lyrics and put emphasis on them to really make sure every single audience member understood the point of Valjean’s story, a story of “a man who only learned to love when you [Cosette] were in his care.” With that line, Valjean is understood. Letting Fantine be the only one to send Valjean to Heaven was smart as well – the original had Fantine and Eponine guide him.
And then the very last scene, the one with the buildings…and the people…asking you if you hear them sing…was just…………I’m going to stop now because I’m tearing up just thinking about it.
*cries*
Did Les Miserables dehydrate your body with all the tears as well? Let us know!