#les mis 1925 is still my fave

[for-the-love-of-javert]

Watching more Shoujo Cosette tonight

Going to try and get the series finished this weekend then next week I will watch a different adaptation.

I have now watched Les Mis

1925

1935

1978

1982

1998

Shoujo Cosette (to be finished soon)

I know there is another anime adaptation which I may watch if I can find it online. If not I'll watch a different one, which one should I watch next? (leave recommendations in comments)

Please keep in mind that I have seen the 2012 film adaptation of the musical a few times already though not recently and I'm not ready to watch it again yet even if it's just for screenshots and reviewing.

In case you were wondering LM 1925 is still my favourite adaptation closely followed by Shoujo Cosette and then LM 1982. I now somw people may prefer 1978 or 1998 and even 2012 adaptations but I have to respectfully disagree. Also as a 48 (nearly 49 year old I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed Shoujo Cosette which is really aimed at young people/teenagers. I don't know if that means I'm regressing or if I'm losing the plot but it really is a wonderful series.

[pilferingapples]

Les Miserables Adaptations Tracklist

This is just a list for my own use to help me keep track of adaptations I’ve seen, mostly in groupwatches, and/or  /posts I’ve got about them! Going to be a WIP obviously! 

1897, Victor Hugo et les principaux personnages des misérables, a short film by the Lumière brothers:  really just a very quick Cosplay reel

1925, directed by Henri Fescourt:  one of the most brilliant adaptations! Stellar performances, great crowd scenes.

1934,  directed by Raymond Bernard and starring Harry Baur, another excellent classic version

1935, directed by Richard Boleslawski and starring Fredric March as Valjean, Charles Laughton as Javert- “Hayes Code Les Mis” , featuring some very conservative politics 

1943, Los Miserables, a Mexican adaptation directed by Renando A. Rovero; notable for starting at the convent, saving Valjean’s backstory for the very last episode. 

1948 I Miserabili: featuring ACTION VALJEAN!  The daring horse stealing escape! the foundry fire escape! the...honestly horrible bit with Catherine the doll...  Anyway still watching it but it belongs here now! 

1952, directed by Lewis Milestone, aka The One With Robert, and Valjean’s pottery factory

1958, directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, starring Jean Gabin; feat. Waterloo, an OFPD scene, and the Wacky Chase Scene. Otherwise notable for being pretty boring, honestly!

1964, I miserabili, Italian TV-miniseries, almost 10 hours long; a thorough adaptation with the feel of theater and a lot of rarely-adapted scenes, including a musing on Waterloo and the escape from the Orion

1966, Gavrosh, Soviet animation short

1967, BBC miniseries, directed by Alan Bridges, starring: Frank Finlay as Valjean. 3 hours of one of the best adaptations I’ve ever seen, and two of the drunkest. 

1971, Los Miserables, Spanish production by TVE as part of the Novela TV series, directed by José Antonio Páramo and starring José Calvo as Jean Valjean; heavy on dream sequences/ surreal imagery, an interesting take!

1972, French TV miniseries directed by Marcel Bluwal, focusing almost entirely on the post-timeskip Paris events.

1977, Cosette, Soviet claymation short 

1978, a British telefilm directed by Glenn Jordan and starring Richard Jordan as Valjean, Anthony Perkins as Javert,  Javert does a flip into the Seine, I genuinely recall nothing else. 

1982, directed by Robert Hossein , AKA The One Where Catherine Kills Valjean

1992, a 26-episode French animated TV series by Studios Animage, AB Productions, Pixibox and Studio SEK

1995, directed by Claude Lelouch and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo; a multilayered adaptation , set in the early 20C , more about Les Mis as Les Mis and the way the issues and stories it tells keep playing out than a straight adaptation of the story.

1998, directed by Bille August and starring Liam Neeson as Valjean, Geoffrey Rush as Javert, Uma Thurman as Fantine, 

2000, 6-hour French TV /3 hour English TV movie miniseries starring: Gérard Depardieu; Everyone’s Problematic Least Fave!! Either horrible or just boring, depending on the version you see. 

2007, Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette, a 52-episode Japanese animated TV series

2012, adaptation of the stage musical

2014, Bedtime Story TV, a short animated adaptation covering only Valjean’s encounter with Myriel

2019, a six-part BBC miniseries by Andrew Davies: **stares into the distance**

2019, 2-hour Fuji TV Les Misérables Owarinaki Tabiji : Jdrama LM, Earthquakes and Reconciliation

[melancholyarchivist]

Hello! If you feel like rambling about Javert to another Javert fan, I'd like to know who's your favorite and least favorite (s) Javert from any adaptations!

Aahh yes!! God, ramble icoming then. I'd love to hear yours, too.

Brick Javert is forever my light but to be honest I have very few standards for Javert, he’s such a fun archetype and great character that he tends to shine through even with poor writing. He’s also already a pretty horrible person so he’s easier to get right even when they make him worse. That being said I hate the “not all cops” route most les mis adaptations go where hes literally the only problem in the whole system and its all because he’s uniquely evil or sadisti, or breaks the law. Smarter minds have probably said stuff about it but his problem is not being a bad cop, his problem is that he is a “good cop” but cops are bad, so, he’s bad. (pet peeve but also hate post seine stuff where hes still a cop please my man died for acab let him keep that single W in life</3) Another aside is that all of these are whitewashed but as no lm adaptation has ever casted this role right. So we have to keep making noise about it til someone with half a rain picks up the reigns. But yeah.

Okay. Loveislove for all Javerts, but I’m personally less drawn to those that emphasize his poise+power and make him seem cool and am interested in the ones where he’s absolutely neurotic. I think he should be an insane guy trying to keep it together. Okay, so my faves:

1964′s TINO CARRANO *is* Javert. absolute unmatched king. I love how much of a intensely weird but still capable guy he is. You really get the sense he has his own life outaide of the plot, he keeps to himself just cause he feels like it but he can speak with people fine-- just hates ‘em.I like how much he laughs and makes impressions when he talks. absolute 1-1 brickvert, no doubt in my mimd your honor. There’s a clip of him talking about champmathieu(no subs im sorry, just, his energy, Gah.) that’s just the best. Here:

Shared fave spot is Anthony Perkins’s unbeated old nerotic queen energy. Absolutely fantastic inspired performance and wow, his insane line reads! My God. Him aging through the years and becoming more pathetic and behind the times as he follows Valjean ending up alone in the chase is not particularly unique, but damn is it done best here. Peak gayvert. I do like when a Javert isn’t necessarily obsessed with Valjean but finds him incredibly annoying á la brick BUT who am I to disagree with a good psychosexual chase. Love it.

1925′s Jean Toulout is another super fave. I love this guy! He rocks. His energy and physicality is so fun and he just has the perfect Javert posture and mannerisms on lock. He made me laugh out loud many times at how funny and brick-esque he acts. Plus lipstick! Absolute queen.

Other faves are shojo Cosette Javert, gah. One of the best adaptations out there real ones know! I love his design, his voice, aura, all of it. Plus fix it end for our guy<3 1948′s Hans Hinrich’s Javert is also real fun. Suffers from bad adaptation, but he’s so smug and fun look at him making fun of Madeleine!

Ulhas in 1955′s Kundan is also particularly great. Amazing Javert physicality and energy, and his face is super close to how imagine Javert. He nails that sweet spot between fanatic devotee, authoratative monster and confused really sad guy. 

I will say I also like Oyelowo, Rush and Malkovich, but they all suffer greatly from their adaptations being especially awful too. Particularly Rush and Oyelowo bring the heat with their performances! I love Rush’s wet greasy sad envy and Oyelowo’s righteous arch angel radiance coupled with how petty he is.

As for my sadgirl Javerts. Gah, crazy about them! Not how I see the character in the brick, but as I said, I just love all Javerts so much. This version rocks too.

Russel Crowe can’t sing these notes, yeah, but God it does not matter to me in the slightest in fact it enhances it. Genius performance. He revolutionized the meta. His javert balancing on the roof during stars being like “teehee oh, I’m gonna jump<33 ahh I’ll do it one day watch me<3″ was absolutely lethally good. Him having a crush on Madeleine may be less fun than the Brick’s 2 year spying campaign but god, the drama. This girl is a Mess.

1935′s Charles Laughton has to be seen to be believed, just a sobbing mess from his first scene where he explains about his parents to his superiors. Is it very Javert, who is repressed to hell and back? No, but see, it kind of owns. Where else will you get a Javert patting down Madeleine and complimenting his physique? Where will you get him gritting out “The law. It is the law that wants you, not I.” Greatness. (Terrible Hayes code wash of a film though, not worth it. Cameron Mitchell’s Chadius Pontmercy is hilarious however.) -> (said first scene)

My favorite musical Javert is Terrence Mann!!! I’m also a drunk stars truther. Javert is psychotic #girl representation and he GETS it. He brings the cats energy that Brick Javert has and more. My next musical fave is Norm Lewis,  I love that he has this just under the surfance bubbling emotions that are almost constantly overflowing, but he keeps them in check with a stiff dignity closer and closer to cracking under pressure that I associate w Javert. Flawless.

I also adore Earl Carpenter, I have a real soft spot for Hayden Tee.Tam Mutu is ugh next level too👌👌👌Kunio Murai makes me see red he’s so good as well... I like Bradley Jaden too though I’m not 100 on him cause he sounds so tiny, but I really like the fanatic vibe he brings out. You really do get the feeling he’s a brainwashed insane person.

I don’t think i have any Javert I hate.... maybe dallasvert. I’m not a fan of LMDallas in general apart from having one of the best Marius and Cosettes of all time(not cause of the modern concept it’s just... not good I don’t think) but Wattsvert in particular produces an emotion in me i can only compare to being repeatedly stabbed in the stomach and then contracting anthrax from the wound. I think a lot has to do with his visual presentation(his glasses make me so sick), but his entire presence is just too much wayyy too bad. I mean that’s part of the point but damn take him away from me I don’t wanna see him!

Far, far from hate but I’m not crazy about Quast, perhaps from over-exposure. I think he’s an amazing singer and performer but he just doesn’t embody the part to me as he does for a lot of people. Usually I tend to find him too monotone, and kind of an authorative mask without any of the tasty emotion underneath except for rage. Like all I get from him is poise and anger. I know Javert in the books is a stone wall who doesnt show when he’s upset— but I think the medium of musical exists to externalise that huge emotion inside! It’s silly and cheesy and big! And he doesnt bring that energy for me, just anger and pettiness. Carpenter and Lewis both serve that brand too, but with more nuance added to it…. in my opinion they perfected his formula, so Quast to me is going back to just cake without frosting. That being said, man is that basic cake the groundwork for the rest, and it is great.

I actually made a fancam of sorts for some of my fave javerts haha (mostly musical-- I made this about my favorites from way back, so it’s not very updated either. Anyway:)

ALL OF THIS TO SAY AHH I’d love to hear your takes as well:) Javert fans unite.