Post by mousemaylikecheese on Apr 21, 2009 15:40:57 GMT -5
(This is related to the Liam Neeson/Geoffrey Rush [as Valjean and Javert, respectively] Les Mis movie. It is not intended to be book canon, and is not really in the spirit of Hugo (well, a little bit). It's something of a parody--it's a little like the impossible deleted scene on the Hitchhiker's Guide movie DVD where Arthur escapes Slartibartifast's contraption. However, it isn't funny, really.
There is a tiny bit of cursing in the beginning Since it would be censored, anyway, it was changed.)
**************************************************
(If you were wondering, we leave off at the point where Javert has just taken the handcuffs off Valjean and is trying to put them on himself. It looked to me as if Javert put the handcuffs on himself behind his back, but then they're shown in front. We'll say he put them on in back.)
The inspector struggled to close the handcuffs Jammed! Curses. Click...BANG!! Mon deau! Blast!
------------------------------------------------------------------
He's shot himself in the hand!? Valjean thought, as the pistol fired unexpectedly. Javert fell onto his knees, in a perilous position by the edge of the river. He tried to rise, but fell to the ground, hitting his head. The pistol trigger caught in the shackles and let out a disappointed click--it was not loaded to fire once more. Valjean stood for a moment in shock, then bent down and unfastened the handcuffs, throwing the pistol into the river. He turned Javert over and muttered approval when he felt the man's breath on his hand. Good. He's still alive. Jean looked around. There was no one there, but the sight of the policeman's badge reminded him that Javert had still been pursuing him--perhaps his colleagues would try to continue the chase, especially if they thought Valjean had murdered him.
He slung the limp body over his shoulder for the second time this day and headed for his previous residence--the house of Monsieur LaFitte1...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
He was dreaming... cold, dreary dreams--the convict was bandaging his hand, and a cool cloth was on his forehead... delirium... Valjean was glowing, and he was saying something...something cold and wet pouring over his face... drowning!--Valjean "You are a condemned man... a condemned man... a condemned man... condemned man" and the echoes faded away... dark disquiet, ghosts of doubts flitting around him, whispers in the dark---- "he gave you mercy the convict gave you mercy mercy but law is all there is all there is all there is"...a voice in his half-wake "I have bought you from a life of darkness and redeemed you"... shifting, a misty, becalmed sleep.
Javert awoke to an empty, darkened room. The shades were drawn and he was unsure what day it even was. He stretched and his hand spasmed--he looked and saw a blood-stained bandage wrapped about it. There was some sort of band round his head; he felt and there was another cloth wrapped around a large bruise. He sat up and stood and saw his reflection in a mirror. "Mercy..." he whispered, and then wandered out of the room and then the house as if he were but a ghost.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Good." Valjean nodded to himself. Cosette and Marius were sitting in the parlor, and she was reading him something, her face illuminated by her happiness. Marius, too, looked happy. He had gone to check on them only when he was quite sure that Javert was well enough to be left alone--the man had been feverish and delirious for days.
There was no one in the house when he returned. The bed clothes were awry, but this was the only remaining sign of Javert. "Perhaps he went and killed himself after all" Valjean sighed, and looked at the candlestick which had reminded him of the bishop of Digne several evenings ago. "He redeemed me..."
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Why, it's beginning to rain--why don't you get inside, sir?" the woman was just about to enter a building. Javert had begun to walk aimlessly, and now he was shivering involuntarily at the rain.
"I... haven't a place to go." he mumbled, unsure what to say.
"You don't have a home?" asked she.
He did not reply. "Well, then, you must come inside and get out of the rain." she said, ushering him into a parlour and bidding him sit down on the sofa. Bustling about, she handed him a cup of tea, which he accepted reluctantly, and sat down herself with her sewing basket. She asked him several questions, but the erstwhile police inspector said nothing. As soon as he had finished the tea, the room brightened, and the woman looked up.
"This summer weather is very changeable, don't you think? Now that the rain is stopped, you can go home." And so Javert wandered back out into the street.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"You're not safe in the city." the voice sounded as if it hadn't been used for a while. Valjean opened his eyes--there was Javert, looking like a ghost, half-dressed in his disheveled uniform, a bandage dangling from his hair and a livid bruise on his forehead.
"Why are you telling me this?" Valjean asked.
Javert did not answer, only sat down on the bed. There was a long silence.
"Do you have any family?"
"No." he's a convict, but he... forgives "You must flee the city!" he cried madly, rising once more.
"I will turn myself in." Valjean replied, calmly, as if he had not heard Javert.
"No!" he screamed and grabbed Valjean, who stared up at him quizzically. "There's..." he paused--it was a difficult statement for him to make, to deny all that he had lived for "no reason for you to be imprisoned--you served nineteen years and you don't act like a convict-you saved my life twice!" Once he had begun, the words tumbled out.
"I did wrong, but I wished to keep Cosette safe. She is safe now."
"But why would you need to be imprisoned? You saved my life!"
Valjean looked at the inspector, who looked quite mad at the moment, disheveled as he was, and a small smile crept across his face. "I want you to have another chance, Javert. I saved your life as a... bishop saved mine."
"Another chance?" Javert asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Live your life for God. And for others, inspector. The law is there to keep peace and safety, not to judge and condemn."
"But you can't stay here--the police will be after you!" he continued doggedly. "I set them on you!" Now that he had made his decision, he would stick to it.
"I must accept what I deserve--it is my business, not yours."
"Yes, it is my business! I should not have pursued you, Valjean. You are a better man than I am." Javert pushed on forcefully.
"What do you intend to do now?" Valjean asked him, still calm.
"... I... leave Paris... I think." replied Javert, startled.
"Perhaps you should." Valjean replied thoughtfully, and covered Javert's hand soothingly with his own.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epilogue ~ Fifteen years later
A matronly woman did her best to comfort the lawyer as they stood in church. Normally a quiet old man, he was greatly grieved when he received news that the friend who had left two months ago to visit Paris had died. All the citizens of the small town had expressed their grief... they too missed their loving old schoolmaster, Jean Valjean.
"He was always ready to help..." the shopkeeper eulogized.
"He was... a great man. He taught me the meaning of forgiveness and saved my life twice." Javert said quietly.
"This is the town, Marius, where Papa went." a young mother told her husband as she entered the church.
"He saved my life" said Marius.
"And mine, too" Cosette murmured "My Papa".
"We will all miss Jean Valjean. He was a truly great, compassionate man."
(I just had to write up that idea--it isn't really that great of an idea)
1That's what he's called in the movie... Not Fauchelevant. The movie is weird... Marius is like this weird Enjolras-Marius, Monsieur Gillenormand and the grownup Eponine are omitted entirely, and the Thenardiers aren't in Paris, although Gavroche and his two little brothers are still in the movie.
**************************************************
(If you were wondering, we leave off at the point where Javert has just taken the handcuffs off Valjean and is trying to put them on himself. It looked to me as if Javert put the handcuffs on himself behind his back, but then they're shown in front. We'll say he put them on in back.)
The inspector struggled to close the handcuffs Jammed! Curses. Click...BANG!! Mon deau! Blast!
------------------------------------------------------------------
He's shot himself in the hand!? Valjean thought, as the pistol fired unexpectedly. Javert fell onto his knees, in a perilous position by the edge of the river. He tried to rise, but fell to the ground, hitting his head. The pistol trigger caught in the shackles and let out a disappointed click--it was not loaded to fire once more. Valjean stood for a moment in shock, then bent down and unfastened the handcuffs, throwing the pistol into the river. He turned Javert over and muttered approval when he felt the man's breath on his hand. Good. He's still alive. Jean looked around. There was no one there, but the sight of the policeman's badge reminded him that Javert had still been pursuing him--perhaps his colleagues would try to continue the chase, especially if they thought Valjean had murdered him.
He slung the limp body over his shoulder for the second time this day and headed for his previous residence--the house of Monsieur LaFitte1...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
He was dreaming... cold, dreary dreams--the convict was bandaging his hand, and a cool cloth was on his forehead... delirium... Valjean was glowing, and he was saying something...something cold and wet pouring over his face... drowning!--Valjean "You are a condemned man... a condemned man... a condemned man... condemned man" and the echoes faded away... dark disquiet, ghosts of doubts flitting around him, whispers in the dark---- "he gave you mercy the convict gave you mercy mercy but law is all there is all there is all there is"...a voice in his half-wake "I have bought you from a life of darkness and redeemed you"... shifting, a misty, becalmed sleep.
Javert awoke to an empty, darkened room. The shades were drawn and he was unsure what day it even was. He stretched and his hand spasmed--he looked and saw a blood-stained bandage wrapped about it. There was some sort of band round his head; he felt and there was another cloth wrapped around a large bruise. He sat up and stood and saw his reflection in a mirror. "Mercy..." he whispered, and then wandered out of the room and then the house as if he were but a ghost.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Good." Valjean nodded to himself. Cosette and Marius were sitting in the parlor, and she was reading him something, her face illuminated by her happiness. Marius, too, looked happy. He had gone to check on them only when he was quite sure that Javert was well enough to be left alone--the man had been feverish and delirious for days.
There was no one in the house when he returned. The bed clothes were awry, but this was the only remaining sign of Javert. "Perhaps he went and killed himself after all" Valjean sighed, and looked at the candlestick which had reminded him of the bishop of Digne several evenings ago. "He redeemed me..."
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Why, it's beginning to rain--why don't you get inside, sir?" the woman was just about to enter a building. Javert had begun to walk aimlessly, and now he was shivering involuntarily at the rain.
"I... haven't a place to go." he mumbled, unsure what to say.
"You don't have a home?" asked she.
He did not reply. "Well, then, you must come inside and get out of the rain." she said, ushering him into a parlour and bidding him sit down on the sofa. Bustling about, she handed him a cup of tea, which he accepted reluctantly, and sat down herself with her sewing basket. She asked him several questions, but the erstwhile police inspector said nothing. As soon as he had finished the tea, the room brightened, and the woman looked up.
"This summer weather is very changeable, don't you think? Now that the rain is stopped, you can go home." And so Javert wandered back out into the street.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"You're not safe in the city." the voice sounded as if it hadn't been used for a while. Valjean opened his eyes--there was Javert, looking like a ghost, half-dressed in his disheveled uniform, a bandage dangling from his hair and a livid bruise on his forehead.
"Why are you telling me this?" Valjean asked.
Javert did not answer, only sat down on the bed. There was a long silence.
"Do you have any family?"
"No." he's a convict, but he... forgives "You must flee the city!" he cried madly, rising once more.
"I will turn myself in." Valjean replied, calmly, as if he had not heard Javert.
"No!" he screamed and grabbed Valjean, who stared up at him quizzically. "There's..." he paused--it was a difficult statement for him to make, to deny all that he had lived for "no reason for you to be imprisoned--you served nineteen years and you don't act like a convict-you saved my life twice!" Once he had begun, the words tumbled out.
"I did wrong, but I wished to keep Cosette safe. She is safe now."
"But why would you need to be imprisoned? You saved my life!"
Valjean looked at the inspector, who looked quite mad at the moment, disheveled as he was, and a small smile crept across his face. "I want you to have another chance, Javert. I saved your life as a... bishop saved mine."
"Another chance?" Javert asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Live your life for God. And for others, inspector. The law is there to keep peace and safety, not to judge and condemn."
"But you can't stay here--the police will be after you!" he continued doggedly. "I set them on you!" Now that he had made his decision, he would stick to it.
"I must accept what I deserve--it is my business, not yours."
"Yes, it is my business! I should not have pursued you, Valjean. You are a better man than I am." Javert pushed on forcefully.
"What do you intend to do now?" Valjean asked him, still calm.
"... I... leave Paris... I think." replied Javert, startled.
"Perhaps you should." Valjean replied thoughtfully, and covered Javert's hand soothingly with his own.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epilogue ~ Fifteen years later
A matronly woman did her best to comfort the lawyer as they stood in church. Normally a quiet old man, he was greatly grieved when he received news that the friend who had left two months ago to visit Paris had died. All the citizens of the small town had expressed their grief... they too missed their loving old schoolmaster, Jean Valjean.
"He was always ready to help..." the shopkeeper eulogized.
"He was... a great man. He taught me the meaning of forgiveness and saved my life twice." Javert said quietly.
"This is the town, Marius, where Papa went." a young mother told her husband as she entered the church.
"He saved my life" said Marius.
"And mine, too" Cosette murmured "My Papa".
"We will all miss Jean Valjean. He was a truly great, compassionate man."
~~~~~FIN~~~~~
(I just had to write up that idea--it isn't really that great of an idea)
1That's what he's called in the movie... Not Fauchelevant. The movie is weird... Marius is like this weird Enjolras-Marius, Monsieur Gillenormand and the grownup Eponine are omitted entirely, and the Thenardiers aren't in Paris, although Gavroche and his two little brothers are still in the movie.