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Woohoo art time
Javert ref and the hat scene
Ballvert’s soliloquy animatic (WIP)
Under read more: Shape doodle, and some older renditions of Javert for my own fic
(Seriously Ball Nailed that song, I can so vividly see that animatic in my head)
Thank you for the music (and Javert)
Fun fact: Elf cop has seen this before yall 😂 (He even has a copy)
I can’t believe I actually narrowly finished this in time to show him and for @barricadeday . Such is the power of elf cop
Decided to write something about Russell Crowe’s Stars and ohhhhh my god I can feel the hyperfixation rushing back. I do my best to judge and interpret each Javert based on what their actors and singers give me, instead of what I want it to be, but Crowe will always be THE Javert for me.
I really like the calm, prayer-like quality he gives at the start. His baritone and rougher voice texture invites the image of a granite statue, coarse to the touch, cold as stone, but yet, so undeniably crafted from human hands. This is exactly what I imagined a man who wants to be stone to act like. Repressed with hard-trained discipline, and such blinding faith to his control and path that he would not hesitate to walk on a roof’s edge. He looks up at the stars while his feet teeter at this vulnerable precipice; as long as they guide him true, he will not fall, and he will never have to look down.
Is that not the core of Javert? A man so blindingly following the law in hopes that he would never have to fear falling back down to the gutters from whence he came. He doesn’t even have to look at the people he rose above in the eye, because if he looked down, maybe he would realise he still stands by the edge. (This would later be echoed in his suicide, where he stands on the edge once more) The movie having his Stars fade out to Look Down is another amazing touch, further emphasising the dichotomy of Javert looking up to the Stars, while the World is literally telling him to Look Down. (This would also be echoed in his suicide, where Valjean tells him to look down)
There is also a sort of humility that I really appreciate. To reference another commenter, many musical Javerts (by necessity of theatricality) seems to be commandeering the Stars, but Crowe is the only one who seems genuinely humbled by them, looking to them for guidance instead declaring himself to them. He is capable of humility, of hesitation, and of doubt — even before he was spared by Valjean — only that this vulnerability was always reserved for a higher power. (I regret that the musicals cut out his resignation to the Mayor bc I definitely think this adds to his internality)
(Not to mention the piano version. They dialled up the vulnerability quality to 11 my god.)
Crowe’s more solemn demeanour I think definitely makes him come off more resolute and determined without sacrificing his authority to hysterics. This subtlety is suitable for the movie screen, so I am glad he took advantage of the medium. Where many Javerts seem to be guided by a fiery instinct for the chase, Crowe’s Javert always gives off the feeling of an unstoppable force, of a law that will always be on your heels. It doesn’t matter if you outrun it now, he will keep going, seemingly never suffering from human ailments like fatigue or exhaustion, getting closer and closer. He is the law and the inevitability of the law catching up with you, so do not forget his name.
I also like the placement of Stars in the movie for this reason, it keeps Javert more of a consistent thread in the story to me. In the Musical, Javert disappears after the Confrontation, then we hear Castle on a Cloud, Master of the House, Thenardier’s Waltz, and Look Down. In this whole time we’re introduced to Cosette, the Thenardiers, Gavroche, Eponine, Enjolras, Marius… It would be easy to have forgotten about Javert by then.
One thing I really liked about Russell Crowe’s Javert, especially in Javert’s suicide, is that he is literally processing a “am I the bad guy” thought in real time.
The shake of his voice just conveys the sheer panic he is feeling so well, the sort of confusion and panic that goes in so many directions that it cancels itself out. That is what I exactly expect someone who has never ever doubted himself in his life finally doubting; having never dealt with it before, it overwhelms the mind and paralyses the body. The heart vibrates in place, unable to put itself back into any semblance of order and coordination, unable to return to normal function.
It’s also why I, personally, am not too fond of some of the almost hysterical portrayals of Javert. Like pre-Seine, it almost undermines his air of certainty. The robbery scene is one good example, it’s a bit hard to take him seriously after seeing him act that way in the middle of a public street, you know?
Some Javerts sometimes come off, to me, that they wouldn’t have jumped if they had a few hours where they couldn’t physically act on their turmoil. But that’s not really what happens — Javert in the brick did put thought into it, he was articulate enough to write a whole letter of recommendations first — man put the commit in committing suicide.
I like that Crowe shows Javert processing it in real time. Instead of showing you the cracks immediately, you hear the dam creak and whine before it finally breaks way, and when it does — it washes everything away and leaves nothing behind.
And I find that more compelling.
Trying to rank my favorite Javert’s based on Stars and Javert’s Soliloquy, so I have been going through several recordings. Some on discord might already know I was not the biggest fan of Michael Ball’s Javert. But I decided to give him another fair chance, and holy Fuck was his Javert’s Soliloquy such a stand-out performance?!
The struggle and despair was practically dripping out of his voice. The chokes and gasps, pauses and abrupt ends, or sudden shifts to a more talking cadence. Even though they should be ugly and random sounds, they fit the rhythm and flow of the music and lyrics remarkably well; he knows when to chop it short and when to keep the note — there is deliberation and control underneath the chaos. It blew me out of the water, pun intended.
If Russell Crowe’s version is a “Am I the baddies” moment, then Michael Ball’s is reminiscent of a “screaming drunk -> crying drunk”. And I don’t say it to be demeaning, I say it to describe how bloody raw it sounds, I can imagine Harry Du Bois from Disco Elysium singing it (maybe Harry would be less in tune, but him nonetheless).
I am actually in awe. I think he might be the first musical Javert to actually nail both singing and acting in this song to this level. I didn’t need to loop it 20 different times to try to understand, I just get it. Bravo.
In Stewart Clarke’s defense, I’ve seen and heard other versions of Javerts at least hundreds of times now and had plenty of time to digest and absorb it, whereas I have only seen him once, and this one time happened to have some unforeseen interruptions to the performance, so the game is already a bit rigged against him.
But ☝️ listening to some recordings a few more times, I do think I like it.
The musical version seems to be consistently faster than the movie version (understandably for time reasons), but this also means that, for me, sometimes the heavy moments don’t get enough time to linger. Hardly his fault, just an observation.
For Javert’s suicide, which I consider more important in evaluating a Javert’s performance, I definitely think Clarke handled it well. Even against my own personal tastes and interpretations, he completely sold to me the image of a Javert whose the world is crumbling around him.
It starts with the act of mercy, seeing mountains you worshipped on the horizon split open in a loud, unnatural crack. It must be mocking you. Instead of striking you down, it strikes down your god — and you realize it always could have, but chose not to. You would imagine it laughing cruelly at your folly, if you did not know for a fact that it refuses to do such a thing. Before you can fully process or mourn the loss of such a constant in your life, you hear the rumble get louder and louder — the earth is splitting open, and it is heading towards you. Do you run, or do you stand and accept your fate? Would you run away from the God whom you ferociously served for all these years? Even now, a small part of you rails against such disloyalty. If it could take down a mountain, what use is running on your human feet? And clearly, it was no God, for it just crumbled in front of your very eyes; you are already guilty of worshipping a false Idol. Better damned as a sinner than live as a coward, you think. As the dirt and silt beneath your feet gives way, you fall — just like Lucifer fell. It seems you could not rise above what you so much despised, after all.
I use this metaphor because the impression I get from many Javerts is that the song is a conflict of Javert vs Reality forcibly crashing down on him, but I personally prefer Javert (past) vs Javert (present). Having everything externally close in on him doesn’t feel as satisfying as seeing him coming to his own realization that, with everything he has done and lived for, there is nothing else he can do, not realizing that the externality is something of his own making, but also something he could have broken out of — I believe such is the center of his tragedy.
Again — for the more external interpretation, Clarke did wonderfully. I wouldn’t have written a whole paragraph if he didn’t give me something to work with. The almost feral yells, occasional gasps and pants definitely added to the desperation and anguish he feels, good work.
More show related notes:
Im like 70% sure I saw Stewart Clarke come out of the side door but he looked like he was in a hurry (with a hat and headphones, plus the show was interrupted and delayed earlier) so I didn’t stop him for a photo.
Because of the interruption unfortunately we all had to see him get up after the Confrontation, instead of him leaving when the stage turns dark. A bit sad, but a bit funny.
It’s kinda funny seeing Jordan Simon-Pollard as the foreman and later Fantine’s first customer. What r u doing there Javert.
The paragraph on Stewart Clarke’s Stars is here woohoo.
I think my core takeaway from his version is “push and pull”. The way he controls the flow of the lyrics is quite reminiscent, to me, of tides in the ocean. While the stars move in a set path, the tides are not quite straightforward — it expands and contracts in natural oscillation, almost like breathing.
This push and pull dynamic extends to his relationship with Valjean, and as a metaphor for law and lawlessness: in constant flux, in constant competition — the Confrontation literally have them in a tug of war.
I do think the ocean is an interesting connection to tie to Javert; the first scene in the musical is literally a crashing ocean wave and convicts rowing a ship, he is born in prison, presumably one similar to that of Toulon. While Valjean spoke in the convict’s chorus of Look Down, what does Javert speak in? He who spent so much of his youth in such a place, would he not be attuned to the whims of the currents, would he not speak in its rhythm? And when he died, was he not returning to the water’s wine-dark embrace?
The imagery of tides also creates some interesting dissonance; Javert looks to the stars, but the moon controls the tides, not the stars. The moon is associated with Thenardier (Dog Eat Dog), the Sewers, and the filth of the gutter where Javert is from, where he stands on top of. The ocean may glimmer and reflect infinitely the shine of the stars above it, but when the stars are gone, so does the ocean’s light. Without the guiding light of its sentinels, the ocean finds itself moved by forces it could neither see nor explain, a force more primal and powerful than anything the ocean could itself muster. Suddenly changing course and aim, dashed against jagged rock that trembles at the force, it hisses only in its splash, before being pulled back and thrown forward once more.
Getting back to Stars, though, I definitely get the feeling of a wave cresting and crashing against the coast, threatening to invade the land and take back what belongs to it, which I think very well aligns with Javert’s building motivations to recapture Valjean. I don’t know how much of this is intentional but I like that I got this out of it.
(Unrelated note(s): bc of the lighting and probably his eye colour he kinda looks like he didn’t have any pupils when he’s looking up lol)
