{"id":1222,"date":"2012-12-31T09:33:55","date_gmt":"2012-12-31T17:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=1222"},"modified":"2012-12-31T09:37:47","modified_gmt":"2012-12-31T17:37:47","slug":"the-power-of-the-human-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/film-2\/the-power-of-the-human-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of the Human Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"les<\/a>It\u2019s no accident that at the close of 2012, we have a number of films celebrating the power of the human spirit. Les Miserables<\/a> and Lincoln are two such movies that show how far we can go as people.\u00a0 Many know the stories well. \u00a0I haven\u2019t seen Lincoln yet, but I\u2019ve now seen the former, as a stage play three times, and now the movie. What can I say? It\u2019s my favourite musical. I also read the book it\u2019s based on, Victor Hugo<\/a>\u2019s masterpiece, in junior high.<\/p>\n

In Les Miserables, we have the story of a man, imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister\u2019s family. When he breaks parole, he is hunted by another. Along the way, he meets\u00a0 a woman who literally sells her soul in order to provide for her daughter. The hunted, the hunter, the woman, and the child; all their lives interwine. A young and wealthy idealist is also thrown into the mix, along with a bishop who forgives a thief.\u00a0 In the background, we have an extension of the French Revolution<\/a>, where the poor and the downtrodden revolt against the sins of the wealthy and powerful . The film does an excellent job portraying the themes of love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and justice. \u00a0Even with all the sadness, the human spirit rises above all the darkness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting that critics are so divided about this film. I can understand some of the criticism, but I find it incredibly picky.\u00a0 Yes, there was one close-up after another, some of the framing was repetitive, and the singing not consistently stellar, but it all worked brilliantly. In fact, I\u2019d go so far as to say that in choosing to let the actors sing and framing them the way he did, the director, Tom Hooper<\/a>, took the musical to a whole new level. We saw the raw emotion, we felt the pain. \u00a0Though some of the original lyrics were played with, the memorable music \u00a0was still there. \u00a0And yes, there was a lot of CGI, but this was a musical, a magnificent period piece with loving attention to set, costume and makeup.\u00a0Because of the way the movie was constructed,\u00a0I heard the story and understood its complexity better\u00a0than\u00a0before.<\/p>\n

As I watched Les Miserables, I was reminded of other human stands for justice in this past year. Occupy Wall Street<\/a> has slowed since its beginnings. The Arab Spring<\/a> has faltered in Egypt. Palestinians and Israelis clashed<\/a> with no winners. In Syria,\u00a0battle<\/a>s for what\u2019s right are still going on. But the voices are still there, they may be subdued but they are still crying out for what\u2019s fair in the world. And if we are to improve as people, we need to listen to their cries.<\/p>\n

The song in Les Miserables that epitomizes this struggle for justice resonated long after the movie house had been cleared:\u00a0 \u201cDo you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men, it is the music of a people who will not be slaves again…\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

My wish for 2013 is that we continue to hear one another\u2019s voices.\u00a0 Those that cry are not crying in vain.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no accident that at the close of 2012, we have a number of films celebrating the power of the human spirit. Les Miserables and Lincoln are two such movies… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[82,88],"tags":[192,78,34,447,450,445,83,195,449,448,303,446],"class_list":["post-1222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-2","category-life","tag-arab-spring","tag-diana-stevan","tag-film","tag-french-revolution","tag-israeli","tag-les-miserables","tag-movie","tag-occupy-wall-street","tag-palestinian","tag-syria","tag-tom-hooper","tag-victor-hugo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/les-miserables.jpg?fit=214%2C317&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-jI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":765,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/the-many-paths-of-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":1222,"position":0},"title":"The Many Paths of Inspiration","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"29 \u041b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I've written about inspiration before, but I gave it short shrift. The Encarta dictionary defines inspiration as: \u201cstimulation for the human mind to creative thought or the making of art\u201d. The Oxford dictionary says: \u201cthe drawing in of breath\u201d, and \u201cthat which is thought to prompt poets etc. and that\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Stephen-King.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1878,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/writing\/the-rocket-a-great-movie-to-lift-your-spirits\/","url_meta":{"origin":1222,"position":1},"title":"The Rocket – A Great Movie To Lift Your Spirits","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"9 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"With endless bad news on TV, I found a lovely escape and a great beginning to the new year when I watched The Rocket, an inspirational Australian film I took out of the West Vancouver Library. I didn't know what to expect but the cover said it had won a\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Rocket","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/The-Rocket-203x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1187,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/writing\/where-would-we-be-without-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":1222,"position":2},"title":"Where Would We Be Without Books?","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"4 \u0413\u0440\u0443\u0434\u043d\u044f, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I find it incredible that through books, we can visit exotic places, meet interesting characters, and sometimes learn a little about ourselves in the process. Books teach us about the intricacies of life and the human condition. They engage all of our senses, making us laugh or cry, or angry\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Salvador.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1053,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/film-2\/what-is-it-about-guns\/","url_meta":{"origin":1222,"position":3},"title":"What Is It About Guns?","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"23 \u041b\u0438\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m an optimist by nature, so this has been a hard post to write. And I'm sorry for getting off the writing track here. But the senseless killings\u00a0 at the movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado this past week stopped me in my tracks. I, like many, wanted to make sense\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Humphrey-Bogart.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2242,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/film-2\/stepping-out-with-liza-minelli\/","url_meta":{"origin":1222,"position":4},"title":"Stepping Out With Liza Minnelli","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"7 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Stepping Out with Liza Minnelli, shot in 1990, had problems of a different kind than the ones mentioned in my last post about\u00a0Bye Bye Blues. \u00a0Our daughter, Robyn Stevan, was also in this movie. The Cast Stepping Out, adapted from a play by Richard Harris, was supposed to be Liza\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stepping Out with Liza Minelli","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Stepping-Out-162x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1479,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2013\/writing\/what-maisie-knew-a-modern-twist\/","url_meta":{"origin":1222,"position":5},"title":"What Maisie Knew – A Modern Twist","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"7 \u0412\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043d\u044f, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Every once in a while a movie comes along that not only moves me but makes me think about the choices we have in this life. The British Film, What Maisie Knew, superbly directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel is one of those films. 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