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| I took this photo after the movie. |
where: BRENDEN VACAVILLE 16 in Vacaville, CA
when: Tuesday, January 1st, 2013
show: 2:00 p.m.
costs: $8.00 Ticket + $4.25 1-litre Aquafina = $12.25 ( I forget how much I paid for the buffet lunch, but it was over $12.00 plus tip )
auditorium: 16, with a THX Surround-Sound System ( but I don't even think the system was working properly because the sound was rather muted and came from just the front speakers, it seemed--I should ask for my money back )
seat: 4th row ( from the front ), 6th seat ( counting from the left )
synopsis/overview: A man, Jean Valjean ( Hugh Jackman ), is cruelly put in jail for the petty crime of stealing some bread to help feed his sister's child. A kindly old priest helps the embittered Jean Valjean to mend his ways. And he tears his parole document to shreds in protest of the unfairness of the justice system. Through hard work and dedication, he becomes a successful businessman. When one of his employees, Fantine ( Anne Hathaway ), is wrongfully discharged and becomes gravely ill, he vows on her deathbed to take care of her daughter for his chance at moral redemption. But the law, in the guise of Javert ( Russell Crowe ), is determined to hunt him down and put him back in jail once and for all.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Dry dock; 2.) Flag; 3.) Parole; 4.) Theft; 5.) Forgiveness; 6.) Repentance; 7.) Parole document torn to pieces; 8.) Trapped under a cart; 9.) Hair and tooth; 10.) "I Dreamed A Dream"; 11.) "I rescind this judgment. You, sir, return to your post"; 12.) Moral dilemma; 13.) "I'm 24601"; 14.) Hospital; 15.) "My castle on a cloud"; 16.) Inn; 17.) "I speak with her voice and stand in her place"; 18.) Checkpoint; 19.) The man with the cart; 20.) Love at first sight; 21.) Foiled robbery; 22.) Red and Black song; 23.) "The secret that you keep"; 24.) The meeting; 25.) Escape in the night; 26.) "One More Day"; 27.) Funeral procession; 28.) Barricade; 29.) "What have you done"; 30.) "A letter from the barricade"; 31.) "Give me the spy, Javert"; 32.) "Hear my prayer"; 33.) "We're the only ones left"; 34.) Child martyr; 35.) Cannons; 36.) Abandoned and surrounded; 37.) Defeat; 38.) Escape; 39.) "Damn if I live if I let him leave"; 40.) "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables"; 41.) "There lived a man named, Jean Valjean"; 42.) Uninvited wedding guests; 43.) "My last confession"; and 44.) Reunion.
audience reaction: The audience really liked this movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.
recommendation: I liked this movie, too. Go see this Big Screen adaptation of a famous opera and feel like you belong to snotty high society but in a "popcorn" sort-of-way. As for me, the only way that anyone could get me to see a live opera is if the venue has a concession stand with popcorn and everything else!
I liked how the shipwreck served as a metaphor for Fantine's miserable life.
I liked the scenes with the "sticky-fingered" inn-keepers played by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.
I liked how most everyone was depicted in this movie: With bad oral hygiene! ( How could they even talk up-close and personal way back when? Kristen Stewart would fit right in in this crowd--for sure. Ha, ha, ha. )
And I liked the "Tear-Jerker" ending scene---But I ain't telling you guys whether or not I shedded a tear or two ( or more )! So, sue me. LOL
spoiler alert! For someone who was hiding from the law, Jean Valjean sure made a habit of frequenting the locality. Ha, ha, ha. Bullet wound + Sewer = Death by Sepsis!
fyi: In most of today's societies, such a severe penalty handed down for such a petty crime is deemed morally reprehensible because the punishment doesn't fit the crime at all--some unfortunate souls had their hands cut-off or were even put to death for committing such a simple crime! Just how much does a piece of bread cost anyway? It can be paid off easily with just half an hour's worth ( or less ) of labor.
This severe judgment has its origin stem from one of The Ten Commandments of The Bible: "Thou Shall Not Steal." But it is a wrong interpretation of such a specific commandment. This particular commandment had to do with Personal Property Rights of Tribal Inheritance. You see, each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel was given a Divine Inheritance by God. So that if you steal someone's inheritance ( usually, land and/or procreative rights ), you destroy that man's distinct identity before God; and for such a willful wrong-doing, severe punishment ( death by stoning ), must be handed-down and God's Curse be put upon that guilty man's bastard children ( through an unlawful adulterous procreative union if such [an] act[s] took place ) to the third and fourth generation!
As a deterrent to such a crime, another Commandment was given: "Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Property ( i.e. Inheritance )." In other words, don't even think about it!
But the Roman Catholic Church abused its position by imposing severe penalties for any and every thievery committed just so it could wield Absolute Power over the illiterate and/or ignorant masses!
By the way, there is a Biblical precedent to this issue of petty thievery in The Old Testament: King David stole the "showbread" from God's Tabernacle! But the High Priest didn't have him put to death--it must have been because David and his men were armed with swords, knives, spears, sling-shots and bows and arrows, and were quite adept in the use of such weapons. Ha, ha, ha.
Seriously, though ...
In the movie, where Jean Valjean was forgiven by the priest for stealing the church's expensive silver utensils, he had an epiphany: He became remorsefully penitent because he was not jailed or put to death for such a serious theft whereas he was forced to endure injustice through years of incarceration in his simple theft of a little piece of bread! Jean Valjean then protested the unfairness of arbitrary human law by tearing-up his parole document. But he kept and treasured the two silver candle-holders ( the most precious of all the silver in the church, according to the priest ) because to him they were symbolic of his moral enlightenment and the priest's spiritual enlightenment; for although there were two different candle holders before the altar of God ( i.e. Eyes of God, in this example ), the left one representing Valjean's former bad nature and the right one representing the priest's holy nature, their respective candles ( i.e. inherent goodness ) and their respective concomitant lights ( i.e. spirituality ) made them both equal in the presence of God as shown in their eventual reunion in the House of God filled with lit candles.
I cannot help but think of Susan Boyle whenever I hear the song, "I Dreamed A Dream." Who sang it better? 'Hard to say. But Anne Hathaway's version conveyed the right emotion.
word of advice: Life's Lessons will change a man.
"Man does not live by bread alone." ( Old Testament of The Bible; Deuteronomy Chapter 8, verses 2 & 3 )
tidbits: I decided to have lunch first at Tin Tin Chinese Buffet before seeing this movie. As I was getting ready to make a left turn into the parking lot of the shopping center where the Chinese buffet is at, an Asshole driver of a big pick-up truck made a left onto the roadway with part of his truck hanging over the opposite lane where my car was at, almost running into my car in the process. I honked at the idiot to let him know that he doesn't know how to drive safely. What is it with redneck idiots who drive big pick-up trucks although they don't know how to drive safely? Are they driving big vehicles just to compensate for some penis-size insecurity? I bet such redneck idiots need a guide dog to help them "hit the target" when they engage in sexual intercourse! ( I know this guide dog "thing" doesn't make any sense, but it just came to mind and I just had to put it out there. )
While I was at the buffet counter, some fat bitch just came up close to me because the hungry pig found something in the trough that she liked! She didn't even say, "Excuse me," even though she clearly invaded my personal space!! How rude of her!!!
I swear, with my more than a dozen years of experience eating at "all-you-can-eat" buffets twice or more per week, it is only the ugly and dumpy bitches who rudely cut in line!!! What's up with that? ( Here, Ms. Piggy. It's feeding time. Oink, oink! )
During the Ending Credits, the audience clapped their hands when Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway's names were shown.
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