As I was watching (again) Jenny Rallens’ video lecture The Liturgical Classroom and Virtue Formation, I was reminded of the above passage from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery—”leisure” also having been on my mind for the past couple years. The Little Prince has important words for children and adults alike on the subject of being human. Our culture is so focused on efficiency and entertainment, we forget that walking at our leisure toward a spring of fresh water is often the point.
The Little Prince has recently been made into a beautiful children’s movie. The original story is something of a book within a book movie, as the movie does not follow the original plot (because it doesn’t have much of one—it’s more of a dreamy philosophical ramble). The movie keeps the theme and spirit of the story, however, and it is masterfully rendered.
Bonus: The Little Prince is on Netflix streaming.
And then today, in a discussion on Facebook (truly, one of my favorite places because of the friends I’ve made, the pages I follow, and the groups to which I belong), I discovered Shaun the Sheep Movie. I’ve loved the animated shorts, but I didn’t realize that a movie had been made.
When we think of liturgical worship, our minds probably jump to its verbal components. If we do, drawing analogies between Shaun the Sheep Movie and church life might appear odd, given the film’s complete lack of comprehensible dialogue. Yet as Smith points out, liturgies are deeper than mere rational exercises, and they are meant to embody loves through habit. God’s Word itself reflects this fact.
1. A couple friends and I got together last month to watch Anne of Green Gables in honor of the passing of “Gilbert.” I mentioned that I thought Anne of Green Gables (with the sequel) should be in the all-time top-five best movies. Being kindred spirits, my friends agreed. But that of course led us to wonder what other movies might be on the short list.
4. My friend Jessye said that The Man from Snowy River should be in the top five. I agreed, only if we could include the sequel, which I adore even more. [Then I had to re-watch both of them. swoon]
[I am having technical difficulties with my blog. My handsome tech guy says that the application I was using to write blog posts, Windows Live Writer, no longer "talks" to Blogger due to issues between Google and Microsoft, and I have terrible luck composing posts through Blogger. It might be days or weeks before the issue is fixed (if it gets fixed at all), so I'll have to limp along. We'll see if the formatting is messed up in this post. It has been years since I have published posts directly through Blogger. Please bear with me!]
For years now I have loved both movie versions of Pride and Prejudice. It is partly because I was already familiar with the story that I had not read the book. For the most part, I enjoy the suspense of a narrative, and knowing the ending takes away much of the fun for me! It was ridiculous that I hadn’t read Pride and Prejudice, however, so I added it to my to-read list this year and finished it on Monday.
Both movie versions (with Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen) follow the story line so closely and retain so much of the original dialogue, that I felt as if I had already read the original novel! And reading put me in the mood for watching, so last night I had to watch the Colin Firth version, which I hadn’t watched in quite some time.
The boys begged to watch it with me. Yes, my boys. And so, of course, I let them, even though it was past a reasonable hour.
As we watched the first “episode” together, I thought I should pause the movie and explain just how difficult it was in that culture to have five daughters and no sons, and how important it was to mothers and fathers to see daughters married well. Luke, my fire-eating almost-eleven-years-old son, piped up. Like in Fiddler on the Roof!
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. YES!
These kids, they are paying attention. They are making connections. Even when it isn’t a planned school lesson. Go figure.
And so, we wondered together…
How are the movies similar? How are they different? Where and when are the movies set?
Both stories are about a family of five daughters. The mother and father are consumed with the desire to see them married well in a culture that requires women to be married for their own security. The conflict of the story centers around the struggles of marriage culture and traditions. Three girls are married by the end of the story. One of the girls marries against her cultural and religious norms and is somewhat ostracized from the family.
One is a movie based on a period novel. The other is a movie version of a musical based on older tales.
One story is set in England and the other is set in a Jewish village in Russia.
The characters in Pride and Prejudice were native English, but the characters in Fiddler on the Roof were considered foreigners (so there was an additional culture conflict).
Pride and Prejudice ends happily and Fiddler on the Roof ends sadly.
The boys thought that Fiddler on the Roof occurred maybe about 100 years before Pride and Prejudice until Levi pointed out that Tevye’s family was poorer than the Bennet family, so the setting might be “deceivingly primitive.” And didn’t one of the daughters in Fiddler travel by train? That would have to be mid 1800s or later. Both were set in the time of horses and carts and carriages—before cars were common.
[Pride and Prejudice was set in early 1800s. Fiddler on the Roof was set in early 1900s.] What else is going on at that place and around the world at the time?
Pride and Prejudice happened after the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution (but before the Civil War). It was set in England during the British Regency.
Fiddler on the Roof was set on the verge of Revolutionary Russia (pre-WWI).
[This discussion could go on and on…]
Are Jewish traditions similar to the English societal rules?
The Jewish tradition for marriages included a matchmaker, and the girls sometimes did not meet their husband until the marriage. In both cultures, girls often married for security rather than love. Both movies showed dancing scenes where there were specific rules for how the people interacted, but women and men were separated in the Jewish dancing. … Have you watched both movies? Have you ever thought of comparing the two? What are your thoughts?
Have you read the book? This is my review from 2007:
Do not dismiss The Little Prince as a children's fairy tale. The story has layers full of thought-provoking themes and ideas for adults.
The Little Prince is thoughtful, bittersweet, and highly imaginative. The plot is all over the place and beside the point; read to find the not-so-hidden messages for living a rich and beautiful life.
This book has found its way onto my best books list. Excellent.
"Good-bye," said the fox. "Here is my secret. It's quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
"But what does ephemeral mean?" repeated the little prince, who had never in all his life let go of a question once he had asked it.
(This particular phrase was repeated several times throughout the book, reminding me of the five-year-old living in my home. And, indeed, a few days after finishing the book, Levi was insistent that I address a question of his saying, "I have never in my life let go of a question once I've asked it.")
"Good Morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the salesclerk. This was a salesclerk who sold pills invented to quench thirst. Swallow one a week and you no longer feel any need to drink.
"Why do you sell these pills?"
"They save so much time," the salesclerk said. "Experts have calculated that you can save fifty-three minutes a week."
"And what do you do with those fifty-three minutes?"
"Whatever you like."
"If I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked," the little prince said to himself, "I'd walk very slowly toward a water fountain..."
One morning you wake up and say: ”It was just a fairy tale.” You laugh at yourself, but deep down you’re not laughing at all. You know that fairy tales are the only truth of life.
Our family took a much-needed outing this afternoon. We first watched Cinderella before it was gone from the theaters. Then we bought fresh bread at Great Harvest and followed up our snacking with a restful walk around a local park called Talking Water. All-in-all, it was a life-giving few hours.
Before we left, I told Lola to get dressed. I picked out some clothes for her, but she spied her blue princess dress and insisted. She didn’t even know we were headed out to watch Cinderella. I thought her choice of clothing appropriate, so out she went in her princess dress.
The movie was so lovely. Have you watched it? You should. I cannot do it justice, but I’ll share other reviews that come much closer.
Cinderella’s tale of redemption is found in countries all over the world. She has different names, and the details change, but the same basic plot is there. Why is that? Why is humanity so driven to create, to tell, to retell this story? Maybe it’s because we are tired of sleeping in the cinders. Maybe it’s because we are all sore from evil stepsisters and from grieving the losses of old comforts. Maybe it’s because we haven’t been courageous or kind, and we wish that we would have been.
[I apologize for the long list of links. I missed last week and only posted two the week before. I had to catch up! Remember, you can always follow me on Facebook—link in the sidebar—if you are interested in reading the links in “real time” as I discover them.]
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~Goethe (HT: Homegrown Learners)
“The truth is that the modern world has committed itself to two totally different and inconsistent conceptions about education. It is always trying to expand the scope of education; and always trying to exclude from it all religion and philosophy. But this is sheer nonsense. You can have an education that teaches atheism because atheism is true, and it can be, from its own point of view, a complete education. But you cannot have an education claiming to teach all truth, and then refusing to discuss whether atheism is true.” ~Chesterton
Literature and the arts in general create pathways to discovering personal vision—to imagine a world that values one’s creativity. Imagination informs innovation.
“In this course, you are going to encounter words and images and ideas that are going to change your life. We’ve got Hamlet and Lear, Achilles and David, Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Bennett, Augustine’s pears and Van Gogh’s stars—beauty and sublimity and truth. If you miss them, you will not be the person you could be.”
My boys have enjoyed N.D. Wilson’s children’s books, and I loved his Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World in which he expresses many of the same ideas as he does in this video. I’ll have to disagree with his assessment of Harry Potter, though. And that sends me on a new tangent:
Stunned by his insight, I returned to cleaning the kitchen and wondered how my life would be different if I walked confidently in my knowledge of The Ending.
But listen: we’re free to enjoy the good and the beautiful, even from the most unlikely places. We’re free—and this is huge—to look for the light in people (and things!), to give them the benefit of the doubt, to laud their beauty, to outlove unloveliness—in short, to love as Christ loves us. That includes billionaire authors like J.K. Rowling. She didn’t grow up in the Bible Belt of America; she grew up in England. And yet, in defiance of a culture that tends to snub its nose at Christianity, she wrote a story that contains powerful redemptive themes, stirs a longing for life after death, piques the staunchest atheist’s suspicion that there just might be something beyond the veil, and plainly shows evil for what it is—and not just evil, but love’s triumph over it.
Many fairy tales offer hope — hope of redemption, hope that good can conquer evil, hope that our enemies will be vanquished. G.K. Chesterton said it best, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
1. We own four other David Macaulay PBS Specials on DVD (Pyramid, Roman City, Castle, and Cathedral), but we are missing the Mill episode, so I was excited to find it on YouTube (above).
2. The historyteachers parodies are hilarious. My boys have been walking around singing “La la Liberte, e e-galite, fra fra-ternite, French Revolution.” (We watched several others as well, especially Catherine the Great.)
3. We then moved on to the French Revolution on Horrible Histories. Because I hadn’t damaged my children enough.
4. Only slightly more serious (and detailed) is the Crash Course History series with John Green.
(Disclaimer: I am balancing out the silliness by reading A Tale of Two Cities aloud to the boys. Pinky swear.)
5. The following video is not about the French Revolution or the Industrial Revolution. It is, however, one of my boys’ favorites—because I have odd children.
Or if you’re just searching for a fun, smart movie to keep all ages entertained, try Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
My history-loving boys were lighting up. Hey, there’s Agamemnon! Queen Hatshepsut! I know that date! Van Gogh! Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine! Hey, I know those dates!
It takes work to see the extraordinary things in “ordinary” time: to see a sunbeam shining through a cracked door into a dusty shed as a parable for the modern world; to see praise as “inner health made audible”; to see a world in a wardrobe.
For in both his fiction and nonfiction Lewis, like Eliot, affirmed such norms as the rightness of order, not anarchy; the desirability of cultural change coming about slowly and organically; and the high value of custom, convention, and continuity. He also stressed the importance of individual responsibility for one’s decisions and actions; the necessity of recognizing man as a flawed creature, and of mistrusting the naked human ego and all utopian talk of men being like gods; and the overarching imperative of recognizing a transcendent order in the Person of God, the Author of Joy as revealed in the doctrines of orthodox Christianity.
What if our novels and films were both untrue and true? Untrue because they are figments of human imagination; true because they are portals into another reality, a greater reality of which our physical reality is a part not the whole.
What if we tell stories because we are made in the image of a God who Himself is telling a story that we are all a part of? We certainly cannot see this God anymore than Harry Potter can see J.K. Rowling, but there are signposts everywhere that we exist within a story written by an Author.
Allowing our children to encounter and even believe (children don’t cognitively believe like we believe. They have an ability to get lost in fantasy without detaching from reality. Maybe that’s what Jesus means when He said, “Unless you become like a child you cannot enter the Kingdom…”) in fantasy is one of the greatest ways to prepare them to believe in the true and better story to which all other stories point. To deprive them of fantasy is to reinforce the lie of our secular age that there is no fantasy.
If myth “blurs the lines between fact and fantasy” to such a dangerous extent, why do we read stories to our children at all? And if we’ve decided to read them stories, then we would crush their imaginations by perpetually reminding them that this is not real. In fact, we read them stories because fiction is more real than not. Fiction is vicarious living, whether or not the protagonist has magical powers. Stories by humans will always teach us about what it means to be a human, and there are no stories that are not written by humans.
Music theory…teaches how to communicate well through studies of order, harmony, relationships, ratios, dissonance, consonance, tension, and time. Within these studies, one is pushed passed the mere notes and ideas of a score to discover more of music’s grandiose purpose. Many of us do not generally think about music or the arts as means for understanding God, but studies in music theory can help one understand that form is important to our Creator and that it should be used in ways that reflect His character. This is an appropriate pursuit of the beauty that Plato wrote about.
Books are mankind’s words about God and the world, but the world is God’s word about himself. As the Psalmist writes, the heavens “pour forth speech” and “reveal knowledge” which runs “to the end of the world.” The cosmos then is not full of unanswerable questions (as it would sometimes be convenient to imagine), but unquestionable answers—the visible, audible, tangible, smellable, tastable, altogether incontrovertible testimony of the Three-in-One.
Yet the starkness of the stage highlights the incredible power of Hamlet’s yearnings. Richard Burton as Hamlet cries, “What should such fellows as I do, crawling between heaven and earth!” His longing leaps off the bare stage, an incandescent reminder that God has planted eternity in the hearts of men.
"The literature on sibling relationships shows that during middle age and old age, indicators of well-being — mood, health, morale, stress, depression, loneliness, life satisfaction — are tied to how you feel about your brothers and sisters."
Education
"When people are bored, it is primarily with themselves." —Eric Hoffer (HT: Gutenberg College)
The real test for the modern educated man is the ability to entertain himself when technology isn’t available or is not socially acceptable to whip out. Can you entertain yourself at a boring meeting, while camping, while conversing at a dinner party? The educated man can, and he does it, ironically enough, by retaining an important ability of his childhood—curiosity. The educated man is insatiably curious about the world around him and other people. In any situation, he sees something to learn, study, and observe. If he’s stuck somewhere with neither phone nor company, he uses the time to untangle a philosophical problem he’s been wrestling with; the mind of the educated man is a repository of ideas that he can pull out and examine to pass the time in any situation.
"I think hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries — the realists of a larger reality.”
My boys read five of the original chapter book series by Michael Bond (first published in 1958), beginning with A Bear Called Paddington, and Lola is enjoying the audio book performed by Stephen Fry. I think a plush Paddington Bear may find his way into her stocking this Christmas.
"Language is not the lowborn, gawky servant of thought and feeling; it is need, thought, feeling, and perception itself. The shape of sentences, the song in its syllables, the rhythm of its movement, is the movement of the imagination." ~William H. Gass (HT: Write at Home)
"The great thing is to be always reading but not to get bored - treat it not like work, more as a vice! Your book bill ought to be your biggest extravagance." ~C.S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table and Other Reminiscences
"Bobby Gilles: How would you respond to Christians who say, “Why would I read or watch anything that isn’t true?” or “Why read anything but the Bible?”
"Gregory Wolfe: You want me to answer these questions in how many words? If the Bible is a closed feedback loop - read me but read nothing else - then sign me up for another religion. I think it’s saying the opposite: read me faithfully and you will be equipped to read everything. If scripture doesn’t send you out into the world with curiosity and compassion, then it’s not from God. Also, since scripture itself warns us about reading the “letter” while missing the “spirit,” we have a perfect rationale for the truth that can be found in “fiction.” Great fiction enables us to encounter the spirit (which is truth) through artfully arranged letters."
"In an innovative interdisciplinary study, neurobiological experts, radiologists and humanities scholars are working together to explore the relationship between reading, attention and distraction - by reading Jane Austen."
:: **OREGON FRIENDS!** Andrew Kern (of CiRCE Institute) is coming to Eugene in a couple weeks and speaking all day along with Tim McIntosh of Guttenberg College. I’d love to see you there! Let me know if you’re planning to attend so that I can say hello! (They will also be in Seattle the day before.)
“Thought breeds thought; children familiar with great thoughts take as naturally to thinking for themselves as the well-nourished body takes to growing; and we must bear in mind that growth, physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, is the sole end of education.” ~Charlotte M. Mason
"I believe that pure thinking will do more to educate a man than any other activity he can engage in. To afford sympathetic entertainment to abstract ideas, to let one idea beget another, and that another, till the mind teems with them; to compare one idea with others, to weigh, to consider, evaluate, approve, reject, correct, refine; to join thought with thought like an architect till a noble edifice has been created within the mind..." ~Tozer
"Students usually come to college knowing American geography well, but few have ever been required to memorize a map of Africa. We require that students memorize the map because, when studying African politics, it essential that our students know where events happened and how they relate to one another."
"We’ve limited Christianity to salvation and sanctification," he said. "Christianity is the truth about everything. If you say you have a Christian worldview, that means you see the world through that lens—not just how people get saved and what to stay away from."
“The ISFJ personality type is quite unique, as many of their qualities defy the definition of their individual traits. Though possessing the Feeling (F) trait, ISFJs have excellent analytical abilities; though Introverted (I), they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are a Judging (J) type, ISFJs are often receptive to change and new ideas.”
Well, I’m not sure about the change and new ideas, but the rest sounds flattering good to me. I’ve had people tell me (particularly after meeting me in a place where I’m comfortable) that they would have never guessed that I was an introvert. (Hint: I talk. A lot.) I’ve also had people assume that I’m an extrovert and my husband is an introvert—even when the opposite is true. (Hint: He’s not much of a small-talk kind of guy). And I do think my concrete-sequential nature (the S and J) balances out my strong emotions (the F). I’d also like to think that my husband’s polar opposite personality (ENTP) helps us be a balanced couple, but sometimes it’s not quite so glamorous as all that. [ha!]
And speaking of a little bit crazy:
Levi [as he comes through the front door dressed in black from head to toe]: "I'm dark and mysterious, unlike a polar bear who is white and mysterious."
[Ignore Lola’s added signature.] Leif gave me a love note I will cherish forever: a grammar quiz. He marked the present participle and the past participle, but who can guess the third? [grin] [It’s a good thing he can be so adorable sometimes, because he makes wild pendulum swings to the obstinate side of things. Like at the mock swim meet last weekend when he was given the choice of diving off the blocks or starting in the water. He wanted to dive off the edge. So he hid under the bleachers and refused to swim any of his races. Fun stuff.]
I’ve been a blogging slacker this week, and I’m not even sure where to begin. Whew.
Our snow stuck around for another day or two after we arrived home from vacation this past Sunday, causing our school week to go a little wonky. Area schools were cancelled on Monday, and our CC day was postponed until Tuesday. I was glad for an extra day to get caught up, but we paid for it later in the week. Wednesday and Thursday were fairly normal days, though no where near as productive as they should have been.
On Friday morning, we attended a home school movie day with a couple hundred other homeschoolers (there are so many in our area!). All four of the kids LOVED The LEGO Movie, and I thought it was fantastic. So hilarious. Such a great message. And all I’ve heard since then is…
If your children have seen the movie, then I’m guessing you know exactly what I mean. Ha! This review of the movie by Jeffrey Overstreet @ Patheos is excellent. (I realized that Jeffrey Overstreet wrote Auralia's Colors, which Levi read and loved thanks to the book recommendations over at The Rabbit Room.) If you don’t want to read the whole plot, skip to the end. He compares The LEGO Movie to the philosophy of Tolkien (yes, he does), and what he has to say works so perfectly into my year’s theme of story and creativity:
A flourishing world is a harmoniously creative world, not one in which a sub-creator stifles freedom and relationship. Individualism leads to anarchy, meaninglessness, and death. Life is meant to be symphonic, a community that balances improvisation and cooperation, under the guidance of a benevolent conductor.
This was how Tolkien designed his fictional cosmos. And he believed it reflected what human beings do with their imaginations in a world created by, and governed by, God. In exercising our own creative impulses we both reflect, glorify, and enter into intimacy with our creator. Madeleine L’Engle echoed this idea in what remains for me the most rewarding book on the subject of faith and art — Walking on Water — “God is constantly creating, in us, through us, with us, and to co-create with God is our human calling.”
We had unavoidable errands to run Friday afternoon, so we essentially had a very short school week this week!
And…it will be another strange week this week. After a morning of Classical Conversations tomorrow, Russ is taking over parenting duties and I’m headed down to Medford with my sister Holly, my cousin, and a friend for an overnight getaway. We will be listening to Andrew Kern speak about Assessment That Blesses and Teaching From a State of Rest. (You can listen to a free audio of Assessment That Blesses here.) You have no idea how excited I am. I had the privilege of listening to Andrew Kern in person a little over a year ago, and it was a phenomenal experience. Not only do I get to hear him speak all day on Tuesday (we are returning home that night), but I am planning to attend events closer to home (Eugene) on both Friday and Saturday. So, again, Wednesday and Thursday will be our main school days. Should be interesting…
If you want to enjoy some Andrew Kern while I’m gone, here is another video for you to watch:
This is the end of week 3 of my geography challenge. I’m doing well on all but Africa and Oceania. Both are big challenges! This past week, I’ve made good progress on Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, and the islands. I’m still struggling with West Africa, and only half way through Central Africa.
This is the end of week 4 of my good food challenge.I did very poorly. Note to self: keep *nothing* tempting in the house during PMS week. I’ve had much better days yesterday and today. This week is going to be another off week. I might have to extend this challenge through next month…
This is the end of week 5 of my SPS challenge. I think I missed getting up early one weekday morning due to not feeling well, but overall I’m pleased. Note to self: It helps tremendously if I get clothes set out the night before and get to bed at a decent hour. Sigh.
This is the beginning of my movement challenge. I’m not sure how this is going to work with all the extra strangeness in my schedule coming up, but that’s why it’s called a challenge. Knowing it might be difficult to fit in exercise the next two days, I started early. It was finally not raining outside (it started raining on Monday and hadn’t stopped since, including major downpours and crazy wind—I can’t believe how long it took for the snow to go away despite the rain!), so I grabbed the kids and told them we needed some fresh air. Nothing fancy, just walking/jogging/racing up and down the driveway, but it felt wonderful. And the company was pretty lovely, too.
It is so, so wet outside. But what else would we expect in the Willamette Valley in February…
I need to write a separate post about what we’ve been reading and watching. The highlights:
The kids watched all 40 episodes of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? (mostly on our crazy drive to and from Great Wolf Lodge). It was a huge hit, and it was a blast to hear so many places, people, and events mentioned that the boys have learned in CC.
And, last but most importantly, my mom arrived in California today to be with my grandma. The treatment she has endured for the past year has not be able to rid her of her cancer, and she is not doing well. We may be taking a last-minute trip down soon. If you happen to remember her and my family in your prayers, it would be appreciated. I am so thankful we were able to spend time with her this past summer and at Christmas just a month and a half ago!
The next few weeks may be whirl-wind-ish around here. I’ll post as I am able!
Watching movies in the theater has been a rare event for me in the past years. Usually I log one or two a year. Some years, none.
This week?Four in four days.
Movie reviews are, obviously, not my forte, but I have one in particular (take a wild guess) that I’d like to talk about so I may as well mention all four.
#1: Skyfall
If you like action flicks (I do) and Bond movies (I do), Skyfall delivers. Russ and I enjoyed a date night on Wednesday with Holly and Casey at our local vintage theater. I think that is the first double date we’ve ever been on with them in 17 years. The movie was entertaining, though I apparently have a different rating system than the MPAA (shocking). But if you’ve seen Bond movies before, you won’t be surprised.
#2: Les Miserables
Do you hear the people sing?
In eighth grade I read the masterpiece by Victor Hugo. In ninth grade I memorized most of the Broadway songs. In tenth grade I went to see the musical live. The love-affair was inflamed, and I’ve had a passion for the story and music ever since. Glorious is the only way to describe it. I’ve spent the past years enjoying (singing my heart out along with) the powerful, emotional songs on DVD and on YouTube.
When I found out they were turning the Broadway musical into an epic film staring none other than Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe (two of my all-time favorites), words can’t begin to describe my anticipation. Would they slaughter it? Knock it out of the park?
Thursday evening I headed to the theater with my sisters, mom, and other ladies from my most awesome book club to finally watch the masterpiece.
Masterpiece it was.
Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
Anne Hathaway as Fontine was stunning. Hugh Jackman as Valjean, insane. He brought so much depth, raw emotion, tenderness, and reverence to the role. Outstanding. Eddie Redmayne as Marius grew on me. His "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" was phenomenal. My fondness for Russell Crowe and the epic cinematography while he was singing made up for his weak voice (comparatively). I adore the fact that they cast Colm Wilkinson (the original Jean Valjean, also starring in the 10th anniversary concert) as the bishop, and that they gave him a part in the very end of the movie (which was very moving and beautiful).
Cons: They pushed the envelope as far as they could with the prostitution and innkeepers scenes and still maintain a PG-13 rating (though I wouldn’t consider it appropriate for early teens). The prostitution scene emphasized the theme of redemption in a fallen world and adequately portrayed Fontine’s shame rather than glorifying the situation. (To quote my friend Jessye, Victor Hugo did such a good job portraying how disgusting a society is that leaves women no other option than to sell herself. It would be a shame to lump that idea with "just another sex scene.") I personally have always disliked the scene/song with the innkeepers, and it was more crass and cringe-worthy “in your face” in this film version. (You can read more discussion on the subject at CiRCE Institute, in the comments as well.)
I missed the full effect of "One Day More" when they had to switch screens quickly to show each character singing, and the general shakiness of the filming drove me crazy a couple times. There is virtually no spoken dialogue. This may be a drawback to some (especially men, or viewers who don’t realize that going into the film), but the music is the story.
Overall, I thought the film was outstanding. Les Miserables is such a shining picture of grace and redemption, and the film did not back down from that at all.
Oh, and I loved the fact that a couple of the emotional songs were filmed up close and personal. It was all about the emotion of the character. The oft reappearing candlesticks were a beautiful reminder of Valjean’s redemption. Also, I adored the touching scene right after Jean Valjean gets Cosette from the Thenardiers (blech!!) and they are driving away. Is there anything Hugh Jackman cannot do?
If you want to read an excellent review, this one came as close as possible to my own opinion of the film.
The clash between law and grace is well known. Javert is the man of the law; his moral compass is like the stars in the heavens, unbending and unyielding: "So it is written on the doorways of paradise / that those who falter and those who fall / must pay the price." His is a closed universe, cloaked in strict justice: it is karma in which he believes, that fate that provides a world "that can hold" together. Javert's worldview cannot account for grace. Grace moves, as Bono of U2 sings, "outside of karma." It upends our facile assumptions about strict cause-and-effect justice. Law, in Javert's worldview, freezes an individual for all time as one who obeys the law or a lawbreaker. He has no room for real mercy and real transformation, such as occurs in the life of Jean Valjean. Javert cannot understand or deal with a man who forgives others and shows mercy to the "miserables" of this world. And, when shown mercy himself by his dreaded enemy ("The man of mercy comes again!" he derisively sings), chooses not to live in such a world any longer, a world "that cannot hold." He "escapes now from that world / from the world of Jean Valjean." Karma and grace cannot coexist. One either lives perfectly by the whole law, or one casts himself upon God's mercy in Christ. Those are the only two options, and that is why so many Christians the world over have loved and cherished this musical. It presents the options as clearly as anything.
On Friday evening I took Levi and Luke to watch The Hobbit. I chose an older theater, not 3D, and we sat toward the back. Levi has read all of the Tolkien books several times, as well as watched all the Lord of the Rings movies at home. He re-read The Hobbit to prepare himself for what creatures would be in the movie. He is a little on the sensitive side, but fantasy in general, and Tolkien in particular, are his thing. Luke is my non-sensitive, action- and gore-loving kid, and he has watched the Lord of the Rings movies as well, so I knew he would be able to handle it.
The movie is beautiful and epic…and intense and grotesque in parts. The boys hid their heads a few times, but they did really well. (I would not suggest taking sensitive children to this movie. There is a reason it is PG-13.)
As for me, I strongly identified with Bilbo Baggins at the beginning of the film, and the voice of Richard Armitage carried me through the rest (insert swooning smile). I have confirmed that fantasy isn’t really my thing. And that’s okay. (I reserve the right to make exceptions, such as the Narnia series/movies.)
#4: Here Comes the Boom
Have any of you even heard of this one? It almost seems sacrilegious to mention a Kevin James movie after Bond, Les Mis, and Tolkien. But, sometimes ridiculous (clean!) humor is just what the doctor ordered. So, after watching the trailer, I suggested to Russ that we should go with another couple up to the cheap dinner theater and watch it on Saturday. Surprisingly, every one of us loved it. Laughing my head off is exactly what I needed yesterday, when I was feeling a little burned-out. And Russ is taking the boys out of my hair today to watch it again at another cheap theater so that I get a quiet day to myself. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!! Bliss!
Have you read the book? Watched the Broadway musical? Listened to the music?
Les Miserables is a fantastic story about the power of redemption. Do not miss it.
If you aren’t familiar with the story and would like to prepare yourself in anticipation of the movie releasing on December 25th, I have a few suggestions. Read the book is an obvious suggestion. {grin} I will say that the completely unabridged version is a rough book to get through. Victor Hugo goes on for pages and pages (sometimes chapters) about things (the life of a Bishop, life in a convent, politics and war) that are somewhat related as background information or side stories but unnecessary to the plot or the pivotal characters. (Just as fair warning.) Because of the side stories and details as well as a complex plot, it can be helpful to have an idea of the main characters and plot before diving into the original story.
If you want a great taste of the Broadway musical without attending a performance, the 10th Anniversary Concert is spectacular. It is available on DVD, but thanks to the wonder of YouTube, you can watch it with one click of the mouse:
The above concert will give you an idea of what ages the movie might be appropriate for.
For a superb, family-friendly Les Miserables experience, I highly recommend Les Miserables Radio Theatre production by Focus on the Family. It is an abridged, full cast audio drama that my boys think is riveting.
In fact, I highly recommend all of the Focus on the Family radio theater productions. The Chronicles of Narnia production is spectacular. At 22 hours of listening pleasure (including an original orchestral score), the series is well-represented. Ben Hur is another family favorite.
