Inspired by greatness

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Don and I went to see the movie last night. I am still overwhelmed. I am trying to remember the last time I was so moved by a movie before...  maybe Chariots of Fire?
We saw Lincoln a couple of weeks ago, and I'm so glad we saw that one first. I must say that Lincoln was an excellent movie. I would put it in the top five in the past two years, along with The Help. But there is no comparison to Les Mis. It reached right down into my soul and reminded me of things that were inside of me that I had almost forgotten were there.
The actors let themselves go and allowed feelings to pour right out of the screen into my heart and grabbed me. The raw-ness of humanity was so vividly depicted. The baseness of evil made God's light shine so brightly, but not in an overly churchy way. In the midst of the disgusting misery that life can turn into, I saw God's power in a different way. It was like Jesus was reminding me that the thing that shows his power the most is the fact that instead of annihilating all evil and grossness, He enters it and rescues human souls.
I was also reminded of my love for the French people, and that took me by surprise. I guess this seems kinda silly since most of the actors are American. But the story is clearly French. and I have memories of celebrating the French Revolution on July 14th growing up in France. Each country has cultures unique to itself. And Les Miserables is written by a Frenchman, someone who apparently had a love for French people as well. I believe that Victor Hugo was inspired in writing this story; Alain Boublil and Jean-Michel Schonberb were inspired in writing the original French musical; Herbert Kretzmer was inspired when he wrote the English version; and Tom Hooper was inspired when he directed the movie. Finally, I believe that Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Russell Crowe (Javert), Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Samantha Barks (Eponine), Eddie Redmayne (Marius), and others were inspired when they performed -- with both acting and singing.
Ahhh, yes. Last night, we were surprised by greatness.
Every once in a while, you feel like you get a new launching point, and new inspiration in life. I don't know about y'all, but sometimes in life, I get a little numb.
I guess one thing that I appreciated so much about this movie, is that I didn't come away feeling numb. I felt something.
This film sort of peels back the things that we use to cover up emotions so much of the time.
You feel like you grieve with them, and your spirit soars when they soar.
At the end, Jean Valjean just sings to the Lord that he wants to be with him.
It's beautiful. It's the Mona Lisa of movies. Yea, it's that good.
*Sigh*