Les Misérables

LES MISERABLES

Written by

William Nicholson Alain Boublil, Claude- Michel Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer

Adapted from the Stage Musical "Les Misérables"

Based on the novel by                                   Victor Hugo

May 20, 2012

BLACK SCREEN

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION:

The year is 1815.

The French revolution is a distant memory. Napoleon has been defeated. France is ruled by a King again.

A1  EXT. TOULON PORT - DAY                                    A1

RISE UP out of the iron-grey surface of the ocean, seething in the wind, towards the shore. Winter rain slices the air. Ahead, the port of Toulon, home of the French navy. A forest of tall masted warships.

The great ships heave at anchor, the wind whipping their rigging.

Through the sea spray we see the great ribs of warships under construction, and warships being refitted.

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION:

Toulon Home port of the French navy

1   EXT. TOULON DOCK - DAY                                       1

Storm-lashed sea and driving rain. A great wave rises up    and hammers down. As it recedes we see the figures of men heaving on great ropes, the sea water streaming down over their faces. The harsh storm light catches glints of metal: these men are CONVICTS, chained by manacles, heads shaved, wearing red shirts with prison numbers crudely stitched onto them.

Now we see that the ropes run up to a ship that is being hauled ashore - a storm-damaged man-of-war, its masts broken, rising and falling on the surge.

As yet another great wave rolls over the convicts, we    follow the straining ropes down into the base of the slipway, and find the convict JEAN VALJEAN, up to his waist in water, chained by two sets of manacles, as the rain and spray and wind scream round him. A great brute of a man, he             seems to feel nothing.

2.

The convicts sing in time with the rhythmic pulls on the rope -

CONVICTS Ha - Ha -

CONVICT 3 Ha - Ha - Look down, look down Don't look them in the eye

CONVICTS Look down, look down You're here until you die.

CONVICT 4 No God above And Hell alone below

CONVICTS Look down, look down There's twenty years to go.

The camera RISES UP to find JAVERT, the officer in charge of the convict workforce, looking on, his face rain-lashed and expressionless. He stands above the men on the top of the dock, as lines of convicts labour beneath him on the steep steps of the dock wall.

Behind Javert, through the storm rain we glimpse a forest of  half-built ships, their ribbed frames like great skeletons in   the mist.

FOREGROUND convicts are at work on another ship that is almost completed, labouring in the crashing spray.

CONVICT 2 I've done no wrong Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer!

CONVICTS Look down, look down Sweet Jesus doesn't care.

CONVICT 5 I know she'll wait I know that she'll be true -

CONVICTS Look down, look down They've all forgotten you.

CONVICT 1 When I get free You won't see me         Here for dust! 3.

CONVICTS Look down, look down Don't look'em in the eye.

CONVICT 3 How long, O Lord Before you let me die?

CONVICTS Look down, look down You'll always be a slave. Look down, look down You're standing in your grave.

With a last great heave the lines of convicts haul the damaged ship onto the slipway.

CRACK! The stern flagpole of the ship snaps in a vicious gust of wind and crashes down into the shallow water near Valjean. Javert sees and points his stick at Valjean in silent command. Valjean stares back for a beat, defying him. Then he    drops down into the seething water and re-emerges with the great mast in his hands, held over his head. His head breaks water with his bitter gaze still on Javert, as he throws the mast ashore in a deliberate display of strength.

Javert nods to the guards, and they begin to form the chained men into lines to return to their prison. The storm is passing now, blown by the driving wind.

Javert approaches Jean Valjean.

JAVERT Now Prisoner 24601. Your time is up         And your parole's begun. You know what that means?

VALJEAN Yes. It means I'm free.

JAVERT No! It means you get Your yellow ticket-of-leave.

He hands Valjean a folded yellow paper.

JAVERT This badge of shame You'll show it everywhere. It warns you're a dangerous man.

VALJEAN I stole a loaf of bread My sister's child was close to         death And we were starving. 4.

JAVERT You will starve again Unless you learn the meaning of             the law.

VALJEAN I know the meaning of those nineteen years A slave of the law!

JAVERT Five years for what you did, The rest because you tried to             run. Yes, 24601!

VALJEAN My name is Jean Valjean!

JAVERT And I'm Javert! Do not forget my name. Do not forget me - 24601!

He strides away to command the lines of convicts as they're   marched away. Valjean walks away, hardly able to take in               that he is free at last.

The convicts sing as he goes.

CONVICTS Look down, look down You'll always be a slave. Look down, look down You're standing in your grave.

2  EXT. ROAD OUT OF TOULON - DAWN                               2

Valjean makes his way up a rising track, a worn knapsack on   his back. He comes to a stop at the top of the hill, and there before him, lit by the rising sun, spreads a wide vista of fields and towns and villages, stretching into the distance, with the snow capped Alps beyond. Behind and below him lies Toulon at the sea's edge. As we hear the musical theme ('Freedom is Mine'), we see for the first time the darkness in his face give way to a new hope.

VALJEAN Freedom at last - How strange the taste! Never forget the years - the waste, Nor forgive them for what they've             done. They are the guilty - Everyone! The day begins (more) 5.

VALJEAN (cont'd)              And now lets see What this new world Will do for me!

3   SCENE OMITTED                                                 3

4   EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY                                      4

Valjean strides down the long rising road, pulling his thin coat close round him against the cold winter wind.

He passes a long line of labourers working. He approaches the OVERSEER.

VALJEAN Monsieur can I help? A day's work?

The overseer notices shaved hair showing under his cap.

OVERSEER Take your hat off.

Valjean takes his hat off, revealing his shaved and scarred head.

OVERSEER Passport.

The overseer scans the yellow paper, and hands it back.

OVERSEER No work here.

5   SCENE OMITTED                                                 5

6   EXT. MOUNTAIN ROAD - END OF DAY                              6

Valjean slogs on up the rising track into the mountains. Snow on the ground here, and darkness falling.

He looks up and sees ahead a village built on a rock cliff, its lights twinkling, the snowy mountains rising behind. The tower of its handsome church rises up like a promise of    refuge. This is Digne.

6A  EXT. DIGNE - DUSK                                          6A

Valjean enters Digne. As he drinks from the fountain, he sees a guard standing outside the Mairie. 6.

6B  INT. MAIRIE, DIGNE - DUSK                                   6B

Valjean stands waiting. The officer fastidiously writes down the name of Valjean in his huge ledger and the name of the town in his passport. The officer signs and stamps the passport.

OFFICER Valjean.

The officer hands back the passport. Valjean leaves.

6C  EXT. DIGNE - DUSK                                           6C

Valjean walks down the high street, spies the warm glow of an    inn and enters.

7   INT. COUNTRY INN, DIGNE - DUSK                               7

Valjean sits in the corner, his hat low over his head. He    eyes hungrily a group of cart drivers tucking into a roast meal by a roaring fire place. The innkeeper serves him a    beer. As he reaches for it his coat sleeve rides up to    reveal his wrist, calloused and scarred by manacles. The innkeeper eyes him warily. He discusses Valjean with two other men, then asks for his paper. Sees the phrase "Extremely Dangerous".

VALJEAN'S POV - From the yellow paper in the innkeeper's    hands up to the innkeeper's face. A blank stare, a shrug of    refusal.

INNKEEPER My inn is full.

7A  EXT. DIGNE - NIGHT                                          7A

Valjean moves off wearily through the village. As he passes down the narrow street, faces peer at him from doorways, but the doors close when he goes by. A shadowy figure follows him. Word has spread that he's a `dangerous man'.

Passing the uncurtained window of a cottage, he comes to a    stop. Through the window he sees a scene that breaks his heart: a father at a table by lamplight, his young wife before him, his children on either side. Nothing special, and yet everything he's never had.

8   EXT. PRISON, DIGNE - NIGHT                                   8

He stops at the local jail. An iron chain attached to a bell hangs from the prison door. He rings. A grate slides open. 7.

VALJEAN Jailer. Would you let me stay here for tonight?

JAILER This is a prison, not an inn. Get yourself arrested. Then we will open up for you.

The grate slides shut. As Jean Valjean walks away, some children who have been following begin throwing stones at    him. He threatens them with his stick and they scatter.

8A  EXT. DIGNE - NIGHT                                          8A

He sees over a garden wall a low doorway in a stone turret. Valjean stoops through the doorway and lies down on some straw. He hears a ferocious growl and sees the head of an    enormous mastiff. It is a dog kennel.

8B  EXT. DIGNE - NIGHT                                          8B

Snow falling as Valjean makes his way down the road, hungry, weary, moving slowly, his trousers ripped and bloody from where the dog has bitten him.

At the end of a road, the snow-covered church; beside it, a    dark churchyard.

9   EXT. CHURCH YARD, DIGNE - NIGHT                              9

Snow-covered gravestones in moonlight. Exhausted, Valjean collapses to the ground and huddles himself into the shelter of a doorway.

A lantern glows in the dark. The lantern approaches, throwing shadows. Its little circle of light comes to rest on the crumpled figure of Valjean.

He stirs and opens his eyes.

VALJEAN'S POV - The glow of the lantern in the darkness. Beyond it, the half-seen features of a kind old man. The BISHOP.

BISHOP Come in, sir, for you are weary And the night is cold out here. Though our lives are very humble What we have we have to share.

Bewildered, fearful, suspicious, Valjean gets up and goes with the Bishop into the house by the church. 8.

10  INT. BISHOP'S HOUSE - NIGHT                               10

A simple table on which is laid out bread and wine, with silver cutlery. Two silver candlesticks light the room, illuminating walls painted with religious scenes. The Bishop ushers the bewildered Valjean into the room. The bishop's             sister Madame Baptistine stands. Valjean hesitates.

BISHOP There is wine here to revive you. There is bread to make you strong. There's a bed to rest till morning - Rest from pain, and rest from wrong.

BISHOP Sit, my brother.

The Bishop gestures to the housekeeper Madame Magloire.

BISHOP Madame, set one more place. (to Valjean) Please sit.

The Bishop gently takes his arm and draws him into a chair.

Valjean sits, and the Housekeeper lays food before him. Famished, Valjean eats like an animal. The Bishop says a    short grace.

BISHOP May the Lord bless the food we eat today. Bless our dear sister and our honoured guest. (To Valjean) Please, eat. Where are you travelling to my brother?

VALJEAN Pontarlier.

BISHOP Is that where your family is?

VALJEAN No. The destination is compulsory. That is where the Law sends me. I              have no home.

BISHOP Then let this be your home, for as long as you need it. 9.

11  INT. BEDROOM, BISHOP'S HOUSE - NIGHT                         11

The Bishop leads Valjean to a bedroom where the walls are also painted with religious imagery. Across the passage, Valjean sees the open door to the Bishop's own bedroom. There the Housekeeper is putting the table silver away in a    cupboard.

He turns to see a bed made up with clean white linen waiting for him. He hasn't slept in such a bed ever in his life. But the Bishop is smiling, offering it to him.

BISHOP Sleep well. Tomorrow morning before you leave you will have a              cup of milk from our cows, nice and hot.

The Bishop turns away to go to sleep.

VALJEAN You let me sleep here next to you? How do you know I'm not a murderer?

Valjean laughs a strange laugh.

BISHOP God will take care of that.

LATER THAT NIGHT -

Valjean lies on the bed, fully dressed, deeply asleep.

Outside a dog barks.

Valjean's eyes snap open. The first thing he sees by the light of the moon is an image of God the Father gazing down on him from the painted ceiling. In panic, fearing judgement, he sits bolt upright. Then he looks round, and remembers. He gets out of bed, and opens the door.

There, across the narrow passage, the door stands open to    the Bishop's bedroom. In the moonlight, he sees the Bishop lying asleep. Above his bed, the cupboard where the silver is kept.

Valjean moves silently into the Bishop's room, holding a                 metal miner's spike which he pulls from his bag. The floor boards creak. He looks down at the old man, holding his breath, but the bishop is peacefully and innocently asleep. He reaches up to the cupboard. It is unlocked. The cupboard door opens with a sharp cracking sound. The Bishop, disturbed in his sleep, moves a little. At once Valjean is    over him, like a wild animal, spike raised to strike should he wake. The Bishop sleeps on. The moon comes out and lights up his beautific, smiling face. Valjean is thrown. He turns back and opens the cupboard door fully: there is    the silver. 10.

Carefully he picks it out, fearful of every clink. One last look at the sleeping old man, and he makes a run for the door.

12  EXT. CHURCHYARD - NIGHT                                     12

Valjean rushes out of the back door of the house. He                    crosses the graveyard, scrambles over a back wall, and he's              gone.

13  INT. BISHOP'S HOUSE - DAY                                   13

The Bishop is coming in from morning Mass in his vestments when the door bursts open and two policemen drag Valjean before him. Valjean hangs his head, unable to meet the Bishop's eyes.

CONSTABLE Monsignor, we caught the thief red-handed! He has the nerve to              say you gave him all this!

He upends Valjean's kitbag, and the silver tumbles out.

The Bishop looks from the silver to Valjean.

BISHOP That is right.

Amazed, Valjean looks up.

BISHOP But my friend, you left so early, You forgot I gave these also. Would you leave the best behind?

The old Bishop is holding out the two silver candlesticks.

BISHOP (to policemen) Messieurs, release him. For this man has spoken true. I commend you for your duty Now God's blessing go with you.

Silenced by the Bishop's gentle tones, the policemen turn and leave.

Valjean, utterly bewildered, takes the silver candlesticks.

BISHOP But remember this, my brother - See in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver To become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, (more) 11.

BISHOP (cont'd)              By the passion and the blood, God has raised you out of              darkness - I have bought your soul for God.

14  INT. CHURCH, DIGNE - DAY                                  14

Valjean kneels in the church.

He takes out his yellow passport and stares at it.

He turns towards the altar, and the crucifix above it.

VALJEAN What have I done? Sweet Jesus, what have I done? Become a thief in the night Become a dog on the run! And have I fallen so far And is the hour so late That nothing remains but the cry of my hate? The cries in the dark that nobody hears Here where I stand at the turning of the years.

If there's another way to go              I missed it twenty long years ago. My life was a war that could never be won. They gave me a number and murdered Valjean When they chained me and left me              for dead Just for stealing a mouthful of              bread! Yet why did I allow this man To touch my soul and teach me              love? He treated me like any other He gave me his trust He called me brother. My life he claims for God above...              Can such things be? For I had come to hate the world - This world that always hated me!

Take an eye for an eye! Turn your heart into stone! This is all I have lived for! This is all I have known! One word from him and I'd be back Beneath the lash, upon the rack. Instead he offers me my freedom! (more) 12.

VALJEAN (cont'd)              I feel my shame inside me like a               knife. He told me that I have a soul...              How does he know? What spirit comes to move my              life? Is there another way to go?

Slowly, he examines the yellow passport and raises it high, as if to the altar.

VALJEAN I am reaching, but I fall And the night is closing in... As I stare into the void - To the whirlpool of my sin.

Valjean stands and turns, walking fast to the door of the church.

VALJEAN I'll escape now from that world - From the world of Jean Valjean. Jean Valjean is nothing now!

15  EXT. CHURCH, DIGNE - DAY                                    15

Valjean comes out of the church into the graveyard and reaches a bell set on the edge of a promontory. Below lies the steep drop down the mountainside to the dark valley below.

VALJEAN Another story must begin!

He rips the yellow paper into pieces and throws the pieces out over the valley. The scraps flutter in the wind.

FOLLOW the scraps of yellow paper as they dance in the wind then fall away into the void below. One scrap of paper dances upwards in the sunlight. We follow this and accelerate upwards leaving Valjean and the town of Digne far below, towards the sun gloriously breaking through the heavens with the alps beyond. The camera then starts to                 tumble back down through mist and cloud below - through time and space - down to discover -

16  EXT. ROAD TO MONTREUIL - DAY                                16

The camera hurtling towards three horses riding down a long muddy road on a flat plain towards the walled town of                   Montreuil-sur-Mer. Montreuil sits on an estuary leading out to the sea. We see ships sitting in low tide on the mud of              the estuary along the dockside of the town, and red brick factory buildings. 13.

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION:

Eight years later Montreuil-sur-Mer, 1823.

The camera closes in to ground level to reveal the horseriders:

Javert, flanked by two policemen.

16A  EXT. GATES TO MONTREUIL - DAY                              16A

As the riders enter the walled town we see the poor clustered around the gates - destitute and sick people clammering to           get in.

BEGGARS' CHORUS At the end of the day you're               another day older And that's all you can say for the life of the poor. It's a struggle! It's a war! And there's nothing that anyone's               giving. One more day standing about - What is it for? One day less to be living.

Javert sees the destitution of the people. Expressionless as ever.

BEGGARS' CHORUS At the end of the day you're               another day colder And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill. And the righteous hurry past They don't hear the little ones crying And the plague is coming on fast Ready to kill - One day nearer to dying!

TRACK PAST a plague victim, wrapped in a shroud, being thrown onto a cart.

The police enter the harbour.

17   EXT. HARBOUR - MONTREUIL - DAY                             17

The beggars are pushed back as the gates open and close for the police. 14.

BEGGARS' CHORUS At the end of the day there's                 another day dawning And the sun in the morning is                 waiting to rise Like the waves crash on the sand Like a storm that'll break any second There's a hunger in the land There's a reckoning still to be                 reckoned And there's gonna be hell to pay At the end of the day!

Javert looks round at the factory buildings, the boats in                  the harbour, the poor clamouring behind him, and rides on.

18     SCENE OMITTED                                                18

19     EXT. FACTORY YARD, MONTREUIL - DAY                          19

Heavy carts wait to be loaded with wooden crates of goods. Workmen carry the crates out of the factory as the FOREMAN strides in through the doors, gesturing to a cart driver, FAUCHELEVENT, who's taking a quick rest on a crate.

19A    INT. FACTORY, MONTREUIL - MEN'S SECTION - DAY              19A

The foreman passes men packing boxes on tables and loading boxes onto crates. He passes through a door under a first floor office.

20-22  INT. FACTORY, MONTREUIL - WOMEN'S SECTION - DAY       20-22

The long work space is full of tables at which conservatively dressed women are working, making jewelry out of shellac, a black resin which looks like jet. An                     impressive sight: obviously a very successful business. A       wooden staircase climbs one wall to a glass-windowed business office. The figure of a man within.

FOREMAN (flirtatiously, to women) At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing! Sitting flat on your bum doesn't                 buy any bread!

FACTORY WOMAN 4 There are children back at home -

FACTORY WOMAN 2 And the children have got to be                 fed. 15.

FACTORY WOMAN 7 And you're lucky to be in a job -

The Foreman has stopped beside FANTINE, a pretty young woman. As he leans over to whisper in her ear Fantine, surprised, pricks her finger with her needle.

FOREMAN (quietly, to Fantine) And in a bed!

FACTORY WOMAN 8 (to Fantine, as a warning) And we're counting our blessings!

The Foreman continues his rounds, encouraging the women to      speed up their work.

FOREMAN At the end of the day just be glad to be working For a master who cares for the lives of the poor.

FACTORY WOMAN 7 He's a riddle..

FACTORY WOMAN 4 He's no fool..

FACTORY WOMAN 6 He's the answer to anyone's prayer

FACTORY WOMAN 8 And he paid for the brand new school

FACTORY WOMAN 4 It's no wonder they made him the mayor!

FACTORY WOMEN Bless the man who leads the way! At the end of the day!

They get on with their tasks, all glancing up at the boss in    the office above.

The Foreman returns to Fantine, trying to help her.

MAIN FACTORY WOMAN Have you seen how the foreman is         fuming today With his terrible breath and his wandering hands? 16.

FACTORY WOMAN 3 It's because little Fantine won't         give him his way.

FACTORY WOMAN 5 Take a look at his trousers, you'll see where he stands!

FACTORY WOMAN 2 And the boss, he never knows That the foreman is always on                                   heat.

MAIN FACTORY WOMAN If Fantine doesn't look out, Watch how she goes, She'll be out on the street!

The Foreman rings a bell, announcing the end of the work day.

The women start to take off their overalls and pack up their tools for the day.

FACTORY WOMEN/FOREMAN At the end of the day its another day over With enough in your pocket to last for a week Pay the landlord, pay the shop Keep on working as long as you're                               able Keep on working till you drop Or it's back to the crumbs off the table Well, you've got to pay your way At the end of the day!

The women queue up to be paid by the Foreman at the door.

Fantine has taken out a letter. The main factory woman snatches the letter away from Fantine.

MAIN FACTORY WOMAN And what have we here, little innocent sister?

The letter is passed surreptitiously down the line of women workers.

MAIN FACTORY WOMAN Come on, Fantine, let's have all the news. (reading) `Dear Fantine, you must send us         more money, Your child needs a doctor, There's no time to lose.' 17.

FANTINE Give that letter to me         It is none of your business. With a husband at home And a bit on the side! Is there anyone here Who can swear before God She has nothing to fear? She has nothing to hide?

The main factory woman starts to take Fantine's letter over to the Foreman.

Fantine tries to get the letter back. The women scuffle.

The owner enters the factory floor. We see him only from behind: a well-dressed prosperous man.

VALJEAN What is this fighting all about? Will someone tear these two apart? This is a factory, not a circus.

As he sings, the CAMERA MOVES ROUND to discover him. Clean- shaven, well-fed, transformed: it's Valjean.

VALJEAN Now come on, ladies, settle down. I run a business of repute.

Suddenly Valjean sees Javert appear on the first floor balcony of his office. His world drops away.

VALJEAN (to the foreman) Deal with this, Foreman. Be as patient as you can.

He walks back to the stairs up to his office.

On the factory floor -

FOREMAN Now someone say how this began!

The factory women all turn on Fantine.

FANTINE/FACTORY WOMAN 5 At the end of the day she's the one who began it!

MAIN FACTORY WOMAN There's a kid that she's hiding in some little town.

FACTORY WOMAN 5 There's a man she has to pay 18.

MAIN FACTORY WOMAN You can guess how she picks up         the extra - You can bet she's earning her keep Sleeping around! And the boss wouldn't like it.

FANTINE Yes, it's true there's a child And the child is my daughter And her father abandoned us, Leaving us flat. Now she lives with an innkeeper man and his wife And I pay for the child. What's the matter with that?

Fantine continues to defend herself to the Foreman, as the women sing -

FACTORY WOMEN At the end of the day she'll be         nothing but trouble And there's trouble for all when there's trouble for one! While we're earning our daily bread She's the one with her hands in         the butter - You must send the slut away Or we're all going to end in the gutter And it's us who'll have to pay At the end of the day!

The Foreman pulls Fantine away.

FOREMAN I might have known the bitch could bite! I might have known the cat had claws! I might have guessed your little secret! Ah yes, the virtuous Fantine Who keeps herself so pure and clean - You'd be the cause, I had no         doubt Of any trouble hereabout. You play a virgin in the light But need no urging in the night!

MAIN FACTORY WOMAN She's been laughing at you While she's having her men! 19.

FACTORY WOMEN She'll be nothing but trouble again and again!

FACTORY WOMAN 5 You must sack her today!

FACTORY WOMEN Sack the girl today!

FOREMAN Right, my girl! On your way!

Below, Fantine turns and calls to Valjean in his office above with a pitiful cry.

FANTINE M'sieur Mayor, help me! I have a              child!

Valjean hears the cry, but he has other concerns. He turns round to face Javert.

Javert stares at him.

On the factory floor below, the Foreman hustles Fantine out, as she struggles against him.

23  INT. FACTORY OFFICE - DAY                                   23

Javert bows.

JAVERT I introduce myself, Inspector of Police. I've come to take the watch I'm here to keep the peace. Please know me as Javert.

I'm here at your command With honour due to each. With justice in our hands No man's beyond our reach. Let all beware.

VALJEAN Welcome, sir Come guard our laws I'm sure we're here In common cause.

Javert turns to look through the high window onto the men's             factory floor below. The last men are leaving for the day.

JAVERT You've done the city proud, You've raised their banner high. (more) 20.

JAVERT (cont'd)                You manufacture gems That anyone can buy Your people thrive.

Valjean shows some demonstration samples of their work.

VALJEAN The dignity of toil To stay alive.

Javert is puzzled. He's sure he recognises Valjean, but from where?

JAVERT It seems to me                We may have met.

Valjean throws him a sharp glance.

VALJEAN Your face is not a face I would forget.

A CRASH from outside in the yard - shouts -

24  EXT. TRACK LEADING TO FACTORY, MONTREUIL - DAY              24

Valjean and Javert hurry out across the factory yard and down the muddy track beyond to discover -

A heavily laden cart has toppled onto the cart driver - Fauchelevent, the worker seen before taking a rest on a    crate.

The  cart driver and the Foreman are trying to lift the cart off  the crushed man, but it's too heavy, and the ground is     too   soft. Fauchelevent screams as the cart slowly sinks in    the   mud.

Valjean, Javert and Javert's assistant all hurry to help, but they can't get a proper purchase in the spongy ground. All the time the cart is sinking further, pushing Fauchelevent deeper into the mud that will soon bury him. Then Valjean sees a way. At one end the wheels of the cart have stopped sinking - the ground is harder here. He throws himself under the cart at this higher end, and braces himself to lift it from beneath.

VALJEAN Get back! It may fall!

FOREMAN No, Monsieur le Mayor!

CROWD It'll kill you as well! 21.

Javert stands back and looks on. As he looks, we see a memory stirring in him.

JAVERT'S POV - Valjean's posture beneath the cart is exactly the same as the convict beneath the fallen mast. The same crouching power. The same almost-suicidal determination.

Valjean sees Javert looking at him, and knows exactly what he's thinking. For a moment he hesitates. Then he hears Fauchelevent's choking scream as the mud gags his mouth. Valjean strains every muscle, and slowly one end of the cart begins to rise. As soon as it clears the crushed and gasping man, the others pull him clear.

Valjean lets the cart down again, and climbs out. As he brushes himself down he finds Javert staring at him.

JAVERT Can this be true? I don't believe what I see! A man your age To be as strong as you are! A memory stirs...                                             You make me think of a man From years ago A man who broke his parole.. He disappeared.

He shakes his head, realising how absurd his suspicions are.

JAVERT Forgive me, sir.         I would not dare -

VALJEAN Say what you must. Don't leave it there.

Valjean holds Javert's gaze, challenging him to say more. Javert is not yet confident enough to continue.

Valjean goes to help Fauchelevent.

VALJEAN Let me help you up.

Fauchelevent groans as he rises.

FAUCHELEVENT Monsieur le Mayor, you come from God! You are a saint!

VALJEAN No more cart driving for you! 22.

Javert stares. He can't rid himself of his suspicion.

JAVERT Monsieur le Mayor.

He draws himself up and gives a bow. As he walks away, he                discusses something with his assistant.

25  EXT. HARBOUR, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                              25

Fantine makes her way to the harbour wall. Beggars shelter in       the tunnels under the red brick buildings.

26  EXT. RED LIGHT DISTRICT, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                   26

Fantine makes her way down  wet slimy steps. This leads to an           alleyway that runs down to   the harbour and three ships lying on the mud at low tide. At  the far end, the largest is the rotting hulk of a vast old  warship. A single whore sits in a           doorway.

FANTINE Excuse me, is this where the Pawnbrokers is?

WHORE 1 (pointing) It's just there.

FANTINE Thank you.

Drunken sailors spill out into the alleyway below. The first sailor is trying to find the whorehouse.

SAILOR 1 I smell women! Smell'em in the air! Think I'll drop my anchor In that harbour over there!

They spot Fantine, mistaking her for a whore. Fantine presses on down the steps, trying to ignore the sailors.

SAILOR 2 Lovely ladies! Love `em till your broke! Seven months at sea can make you Hungry for a poke!

The sailors then see whores start to appear from the shadows of warehouse doorways.

SAILOR 3 Even stokers need a little stoke! 23.

A man with no legs, reacting to the sailors, cranks up an       organ-grinder and from doorways and overhead windows harbour whores appear and tout for business.

A man selling dentures stands by his cart and we hear fragments of his sales pitch.

WHORES                        TOOTH MAN Lovely ladies                  Lovely dentures Waiting for a bite! Guaranteed to bite Waiting for the customers      They clean up real easy Who only come at night. You can take them out at Lovely ladies                  night Ready for the call,            Sell your teeth here make a Standing up or lying down       pretty sum Or any way at all -            Best Tooth Man in the harbour Bargain prices up against the  Guaranteed no painful gums wall! Bargain prices up against the wall!

During the above chorus, Fantine sells a locket containing a    cutting of Cosette's hair to the pawnbroker.

PAWNBROKER Hello sweetheart, I'll give you four francs.

FANTINE It's worth at least ten.

The pawnbroker goes back in his shop and Fantine watches the whores.

FANTINE Alright, five.

The pawnbroker takes the locket in exchange for the money.

An old woman leers at Fantine from the shadows, beckoning. She approaches Fantine, reaching out to stroke her hair.

HAIR CRONE What pretty hair! What pretty locks you've got there! What luck you got. It's worth a centime, my dear! I'll take the lot!

FANTINE Don't touch me! Leave me alone!

HAIR CRONE Let's make a price. I'll give you all of ten francs. Just think of that! 24.

FANTINE It pays a debt...

HAIR CRONE Just think of that.

FANTINE What can I do? It pays a debt. Ten francs may save my poor Cosette.

The hair crone leads Fantine down to her shop at the base of              the stairs.

Fantine is sat on a low stool. She bows her head before the hair crone, who at once whips out a razor blade and cuts off her hair at the roots.

26A  EXT. RED LIGHT DISTRICT MONTREUIL - END OF DAY              26A

Fantine walks down the steps with short hair, mocked by the voices of the whores on either side.

A PIMP and the HEAD WHORE watch her progress as the organ- grinder grinds out the music.

Whores sing from the warehouse doorways, from on top of the spars of the ships, writhing around figureheads and from the rotting ship.

The few men in the street choose their whores and disappear by the end of the chorus.

WHORES                         TOOTH MAN Lovely ladies                    Lovely dentures guaranteed to      Waiting in the dark. bite Ready for a thick one            They clean up real easy Or a quick one in the park. You can take them out at                                       night HEAD WHORE                Lovely teeth dear shining Long time, short time            like the stars Anytime my dear! I'll whip em out quite Cost a little extra              quickly If you want to take all year     And I won't leave any scars. WHORES Quick and cheap is underneath the pier

Fantine reaches the hair crone.

FANTINE Please, you wouldn't have any work for me would you? Please, I sold you my hair. I could do anything.

The hair crone points at the head whore and the tooth man. 25.

HAIR CRONE Go and see them.

Fantine looks towards the tooth man and the head whore.

TOOTH MAN                       HEAD WHORE Come over here,                  Come here my dear. I'll pay well for your youth. I pay ten francs for a tooth.

Fantine heads to the tooth man.

TOOTH MAN You have, my dear, The clear advantage of youth.

HEAD WHORE (whispers) Just the back ones.

TOOTH MAN The pain won't last, You'll still be able to bite.

She grabs Fantine's cheeks and forces open her mouth to     inspect her teeth.

TOOTH MAN I do it fast, I know my business all right. It's worth a go.

The pimp pushes her down.

FANTINE You'll pay me first What I am due.

TOOTH MAN You'll get twice If I take two!

She opens her mouth, and the pincers go in, as everyone gathers round to watch. Fantine screams as the first tooth is removed.

26B  EXT. RED LIGHT DISTRICT MONTREUIL - NIGHT                   26B

The pimp is passing among the whores, checking that they're               all fit for business.

WHORES God, we're weary, Sick enough to drop!

LOVELY LADY 1 Belly burns like fire, Will the bleeding ever stop! 26.

PIMP Cheer up, deary! Show a happy face! Plenty more like you here If you can't keep up the pace.

LOVELY LADY 1 Only joking! Deary knows her place!

The pimp gestures at Fantine, now slumped in a doorway, her cropped head in her hands.

A shy captain watches Fantine. The pimp notices.

PIMP Gimme the dirt - Who's that bit over there?

WHORE 1 A bit of skirt, She's the one sold her hair.

HEAD WHORE She's got a kid, Sends her all that she can.

PIMP I might've known There is always some man.

He moves in on Fantine.

PIMP Lovely lady, come along and join us! Lovely lady!

Fantine looks up, a trickle of blood in one corner of her mouth. The whores cluster round her, hands reaching out to draw her in to their world. On the rotting warship, more whores appear out of the gaps of the hull to sing the chorus.

WHORE 1 Come on, dearie, why all the fuss?

WHORES ... why all the fuss.

WHORE 2 You're no grander than the rest of us.

WHORES ... than the rest of us. 27.

WHORE 3 Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap.

WHORES ...at the bottom of the heap.

Whore 3 bites her fingertip and applies her blood to rouge Fantine's cheeks.

HEAD WHORE Join your sisters -

WHORE 1 Make money in your sleep!

WHORES ... make money in your sleep.

WHORE 2 That's right, dearie, Show him what you've got!

WHORES ... show him what you've got.

WHORE 3 That's right, dearie, Let him have the lot!

WHORES ...let him have the lot.

The whores perform for the benefit of Fantine on the orders of the head whore, as the head whore leads her towards the hulk.

WHORES Old men, young men, take'em as         they come! Harbour rats and alley cats And every kind of scum! Poor men, rich men, leaders of         the land - See them with their trousers off, They're never quite as grand! All it takes is money in your hand!

The pimp leads the captain down the middle of the whores to    Fantine who wears a filthy white dress. The pimp joins the captain and Fantine's hands as the head whore officiates - like a twisted wedding ceremony.

WHORES Lovely ladies Going for a song, (more) 28.

WHORES (cont'd)              Got a lot of callers But they never stay for long...

Fantine puts on a show of courage as she leads the captain into the ship's hulk, which is a brothel.

FANTINE Come on, Captain, you can wear your shoes. Don't it make a change to have a                                        girl who can't refuse?

27  INT. ROTTING SHIP'S HULK, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                 27

Fantine, pale and frail, her bodice loosened, leads the captain down to the damp dregs of the ship.

We see the rotting straw mattress within as they enter, then Fantine lays down.

FANTINE Easy money lying on a bed. Just as well they never see The hate that's in your head! Don't they know they're making love To one already dead?

28  INT. ROTTING SHIP'S HULK, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                 28

CLOSE ON a man's hand leaving money. We hear him exit. MOVE TO FIND Fantine lying alone on the mattress.

She pulls herself into a sitting position against the head of the mattress. She draws her legs up and wraps her arms round her knees, huddling against the misery of the world.

FANTINE There was a time when men were kind, When their voices were soft And their words inviting. There was a time when love was blind And the world was a song And the song was exciting. There was a time...              Then it all went wrong.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by, When hope was high And life worth living. I dreamed that love would never die. I dreamed that God would be              forgiving. (more) 29.

FANTINE (cont'd)

Then I was young and unafraid And dreams were made and used and wasted. There was no ransom to be paid, No song unsung, no wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night With their voices soft as thunder As they tear your hope apart As they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side, He filled my days with endless wonder. He took my childhood in his stride But he was gone when autumn came.

And still I dream he'll come to              me! That we will live the years together... But there are dreams that cannot be              And there are storms we cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be              So different from this hell I'm               living - So different now from what it              seemed! Now life has killed the dream I              dreamed.

As she ends her song, her next customer is waiting. The head whore beyond.

29  EXT. RED LIGHT DISTRICT, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                29

Fantine is out on the snow and ice-covered quayside, shivering, waiting for trade. She looks pale and sickly, but still attempts an alluring smile.

She moves past the anchored ships, beneath the bowsprits, trying pathetically to attract custom. Then she comes to a    stop, staring. She has seen and recognised Valjean, some way off. He's out in the harbour district. He is talking to           a beggar. Before he moves on, he hands over some money.

As Fantine watches Valjean on his mission of mercy, a well- dressed young man, BAMATABOIS, comes up to her. He arrives with two friends and a valet. 30.

BAMATABOIS Here's something new. I think I'll give it a try. Come closer, you! I like to see what I buy. The usual price For just one slice of your pie.

FANTINE I don't want you! No! No, M'sieur! Let me go!

BAMATABOIS Is this a trick? I won't pay more!

FANTINE No, not at all!

BAMATABOIS You've got some nerve, you little slut! You've got some gall! It's the same with a tart as it is                             with a grocer The customer sees what he gets in                              advance It's not for the whore to say "yes                             sir" or "no sir" It's not for the harlot to pick and to choose or to lead me a dance!

He pulls her clothing open and laughingly stuffs snow down her cleavage. Fantine reacts with fury. They fall over in the snow and Bamatabois laughs.

FANTINE I'll kill you, you bastard! Try any of that! Even a whore who has gone to the bad Won't be had by a rat!

Fantine scratches Bamatabois across the face. Bamatabois touches his face and sees the blood on his fingers. His friends drag Fantine against the harbour wall.

BAMATABOIS (furious but aroused) By Christ you'll pay for what you've done! This rat will make you bleed, you'll see! I guarantee I'll make you suffer! For this disturbance of the peace For this insult to life and property! 31.

Bamatabois suddenly sees that police have arrived.

FANTINE I beg you, don't report me, sir. I'll do whatever you may want.

BAMATABOIS Make your excuse to the police!

Bamatabois' friend drags Fantine towards the police. It's    Javert.

JAVERT Tell me quickly what's the story. Who saw what and why and where? Let him give a full description, Let him answer to Javert! In this nest of whores and vipers Let one speak who saw it all. Who laid hands on this good man here? What's the substance of this brawl?

BAMATABOIS Javert, would you believe it? I was walking, it was dark When this prostitute attacked me         You can see she's left her mark!

He shows the blood. Javert turns to Fantine.

JAVERT She will answer for her actions When you make a full report. You may rest assured, M'sieur, That she will answer to the court.

Fantine is almost fainting with fear, still racked with occasional spasms of coughing. Unseen by her, Valjean is approaching from behind. Javert's assistants pick Fantine up. Javert covers his mouth with a handkerchief as he        approaches Fantine.

FANTINE There's a child who sorely needs me, Please, m'sieur, she's but that high. Holy God, is there no mercy? If I go to jail she'll die.

JAVERT I have heard such protestations Every day for twenty years. Let's have no more explanations, (more) 32.

JAVERT (cont'd)         Save your breath and save your tears.

Javert indicates to the two policemen to drag Fantine away.

Valjean steps out of the shadows.

VALJEAN A moment of your time, Javert. I do believe this woman's tale.

JAVERT Monsieur le Mayor!

VALJEAN You've done your duty. Let her be. She needs a doctor, not a jail.

JAVERT Monsieur le Mayor!

Javert looks on, containing his anger, as Valjean reaches out a hand to Fantine. To Fantine, it's as if he's come to her in a dream -

FANTINE Can this be?

VALJEAN Where will she end - This child without a friend?

He holds Fantine's hands, looking into her face.

VALJEAN I've seen your face before. Show me some way to help you. How have you come to grief In such a place as this?

FANTINE M'sieur, don't mock me now, I         pray It's hard enough I've lost my         pride. You let your foreman send me         away. Yes, you were there And turned aside. I never did no wrong.

VALJEAN Is it true what I've done -

FANTINE My daughter's close to dying. 33.

VALJEAN - to an innocent soul?

FANTINE If there's a God above -

VALJEAN Had I only known then!

FANTINE He'd let me die instead.

VALJEAN In His name my task has just begun. I will her to the hospital.

Valjean picks Fantine up in his arms.

Javert is quietly coldly furious.

JAVERT Monsieur le Mayor!

FANTINE Bring Cosette back to me.

VALJEAN Where is she?

FANTINE At an inn in Montfermeil...

JAVERT Monsieur le Mayor!

VALJEAN I will see it done! I will send for her immediately!

As Valjean and Fantine move away, Javert stares after them, then turns and quietly instructs his assistant to follow after them.

30  EXT. POLICE STATION, MONTREUIL - DAY                      30

As Javert walks up the steps to his police station his assistant stops him with an urgent letter.

JAVERT'S ASSISTANT From Paris, Monsieur.

Javert seizes it, opens it, and reads. As he reads, his expression changes. Appalled, he realizes he's made a    terrible mistake. 34.

31  INT. FACTORY, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                             31

Valjean is at his desk in his office, going through his papers once everyone else has gone, when Javert enters and stands before him. He looks up.

JAVERT Monsieur le Mayor I have a crime to declare! I have disgraced The uniform that I wear. I've done you wrong, Let no forgiveness be shown. I've been as hard On every rogue I have known. I'll bear the blame, I must be treated Just the same.

VALJEAN I don't understand. What is this crime, Javert?

JAVERT I mistook you for a convict, I have made a false report. Now I learn they've caught the culprit - He's about to face the court.

Valjean conceals his shock.

JAVERT And of course the thief denies it, You'd expect that from a con. But he couldn't run for ever, No, not even Jean Valjean.

VALJEAN You say this man denies it all, And gives no sign of              understanding or repentance? You say this man is going to              trial, And that he's sure to be returned to serve his sentence?

JAVERT He will pay, and so must I.              Press charges against me, sir!

VALJEAN You have only done your duty It's a minor sin at most. All of us have been mistaken You'll return, sir, to your post. 35.

JAVERT Must I do as you say?

VALJEAN It's your duty to obey!

Javert is about to protest again, but Valjean raises one commanding hand, to indicate his decision is made. Javert gives an abrupt bow, and departs.

Left alone, Valjean paces his office, deeply disturbed.

VALJEAN They think that man is me - Without a second glance. This stranger they have found - This man could be my chance!

Why should I save his hide? Why should I right this wrong? When I have come so far And struggled for so long?

If I speak I am condemned. If I stay silent, I am damned!

He goes out onto the balcony that looks down on the empty factory.

VALJEAN I am the master of hundreds of               workers - They all look to me. Can I abandon them? How would they live If I am not free?

If I speak they are condemned. If I stay silent, I am damned!

31A  INT. VALJEAN'S HOUSE, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                    31A

Valjean is sitting staring at the Bishop's candlesticks.

Who am I?               Can I condemn this man to                slavery? Pretend I do not feel his agony? This innocent who bears my face, Who goes to judgement in my               place...                Who am I?

31B  INT. VALJEAN'S HOUSE, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                    31B

Valjean is furiously packing stuff up. 36.

VALJEAN Can I conceal myself for ever more? Pretend I'm not the man I was before? And must my name until I die Be no more than an alibi?

31C  EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT. 31C

Close on two horses panting. A stopped carriage in a wide night landscape. The driver is Valjean, hesitating.

Must I lie? How can I ever face my fellow men? How can I ever face myself again?

31D  INT/EXT. COURTROOM - NIGHT                                  31D

Valjean hesitates outside the courtroom and in the lobby of               the courtroom, pacing back and forth.

VALJEAN My soul belongs to God, I know, I made that bargain long ago. He gave me hope when hope was gone! He gave me strength to journey on! Who am I?               Who am I?                I'm Jean Valjean!

Valjean pushes through the crowds at the back of the courtroom.

32   INT. COURTROOM - NIGHT                                      32

The man accused of being Jean Valjean, a wretched down-and- out, stands before the JUDGE. He looks uncannily like the real Valjean. Before the judge has a chance to speak, the doors open and Valjean bursts in. Sensation in the court.

VALJEAN And so, your honour, you see it's               true That man bears no more guilt than you! Who am I?               24601! 37.

The judge is too stunned to respond. The others in the court can't believe what they've just heard. The Mayor of    Montreuil-sur-Mer, a convict!

VALJEAN If you don't believe me ask Inspector Javert. He knows where to              find me.

The judge goes over to Valjean and gently leads him out.

JUDGE Monsieur le Mayor, you are not well, you must come with me, do you have a carriage outside? Monsieur le Mayor, we must get you home to                                       bed immediately!!

33  INT. HOSPITAL, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                            33

The hospital is in the long attic of Valjean's factory.

Valjean hurries into the hospital, breathless. He sees a    nursing sister outside Fantine's room.

VALJEAN Is her daughter with her?

NURSE No, monsieur. Her guardian sent this.

She gives Valjean a note. He reads it with mounting anger.

VALJEAN `Money not enough. Send more. Thenardier.' What sort of man is              this?

34  INT. HOSPITAL, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                            34

Fantine lies in bed, delirious. She is dressed in pure white. Her eyes are closed.

FANTINE Cosette, it's turned so cold! Cosette, it's past your bedtime! You've played the day away And soon it will be night.

Fantine's eyes open and she sees Cosette, playing in the room. She looks healthy and is dressed prettily.

Come to me, Cosette, the light is              fading. (more) 38.

FANTINE (cont'd)         Don't you see, the evening star appearing? Come to me, and rest against my                               shoulder, How fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder?

Valjean enters, and sees at once that Fantine is close to     the end. He drops to his knees by her bed.

VALJEAN Dear Fantine, Cosette will be                                 here soon! Dear Fantine, she will be by your side

FANTINE (trying to get out of bed) Come Cosette, the night has grown so cold!

VALJEAN (putting her back in bed) Be at peace! Be at peace ever more.

FANTINE My Cosette -

VALJEAN - shall live in my protection.

FANTINE Take her now!

She pushes into his hand a scrap of paper on which she's written her wishes.

VALJEAN Your child will want for nothing.

FANTINE Good m'sieur, you come from God in heaven.

VALJEAN And none shall ever harm Cosette as long as I am living.

Fantine has stopped looking towards the window. All her fading strength is now directed towards Valjean. She tries to reach up to him.

FANTINE Take my hand...         The night grows ever colder. 39.

VALJEAN Then I will keep you warm.

He wraps her in his arms.

FANTINE Take my child I give her to your keeping.

VALJEAN Take shelter from the storm.

FANTINE For God's sake, please stay till I am sleeping... And tell Cosette I love her And I'll see her when I wake...

Fantine starts to spasm. She sees something over Valjean's     shoulder. Valjean doesn't realise. Her eyes go glassy as       she passes away. Valjean then hears the unforgettable voice of Javert behind him.

JAVERT Valjean, at last We see each other plain! `M'sieur le Mayor' You'll wear a different chain!

Valjean stands to face Javert.

VALJEAN Before you say another word, Javert, Before you chain me up like a         slave again, Listen to me! There is something I must do. This woman leaves behind a         suffering child. There is none but me who can intercede - In mercy's name, three days are all I need, Then I'll return, I pledge my         word! Then I'll return...

Javert draws his sword and aims it at Valjean.

JAVERT You must think me mad! I've hunted you across the years. Men like you can never change - A man such as you!

Valjean breaks a section of timber beam from the roof. 40.

The men start to circle each other.

They sing at the same time, duelling in song.

VALJEAN Believe of me what you will There is a duty that I'm sworn to         do. You know nothing of my life - All I did was steal some bread. You know nothing of the world - You would sooner see me dead. But not before I see this justice done!

JAVERT Men like me can never change. Men like you can never change. No, 24601! My duty is to the law. You have no rights. Come with me, 24601!

The two men fight.

VALJEAN I am warning you, Javert, I'm a stronger man by far! There is power in me yet! My race is not yet run!

JAVERT Now the wheel has turned around - Jean Valjean is nothing now. Dare you talk to me of crime And the price you had to pay. Every man is born in sin Every man must choose his way.

Javert disarms Valjean and drives him backwards towards an      attic door.

You know nothing of Javert! I was born inside a jail. I was born with scum like you. I am from the gutter too.

Valjean is pushed through the doors out onto a wooden loading platform beneath a hoist. Below, the walls of the factory lead straight down to the black sea at high tide. Javert is triumphant.

Valjean glances down and pushes back, dropping into the darkness of the ocean.

Javert goes to jump after him and cannot bring himself to do    it. 41.

Javert stares into the black sea - there is no sign of                     Valjean.

34A  EXT. HARBOUR, MONTREUIL - NIGHT                              34A

Javert and various police search the harbourside with lanterns.

Valjean, dripping wet, watches from a tunnel under a factory, as Fantine's body wrapped in a shroud is dumped on a cart.

They sing to themselves, continuing their duet without knowing.

VALJEAN And this I swear to you tonight -

JAVERT There is no place for you to               hide.

VALJEAN Your child will live within my               care -

JAVERT Wherever you may hide away -

VALJEAN And I will raise her to the light.

JAVERT/VALJEAN I swear to you, I will be there!

35   EXT. MONTFERMEIL - DUSK                                      35

The village street is bright with booths set up for a Frost Fair. Families and visitors are out buying baubles, or                     laughing at the antics of travelling players. Small girls cluster round a stall that displays prettily-dressed dolls. Amongst them is a prettily-dressed girl of 8 or 9 years: EPONINE.

Across the road from this stall stands a shabby inn. A                     sign lashed to an old cart swinging in the wind reveals the inn to be `The Sergeant of Waterloo'. The inn is still closed despite the small crowd at the fair.

MOVE IN on the frosted window of the inn, through which we                 see a little girl, COSETTE, gazing out at the display of      dolls. 42.

36  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - END OF DAY                          36

Cosette is in the process of sweeping the floor. She's come to a stop, gazing out of the window, mesmerized by the sight of the most beautiful doll in the display, and jealous that Eponine can see it and touch it up close.

COSETTE There is a castle on a cloud I like to go there in my sleep. Aren't any floors for me to              sweep, Not in my castle on a cloud.

Cosette gets out from a hiding place in the wall a knotted grimy rag - this is her "doll", the knot is the doll's head.

There is a lady all in white Holds me and sings a lullaby. She's nice to see and she's soft to              touch (holding doll to her ear                                                  and whispering) She says, Cosette, I love you very much.

I know  a place where no one's               lost I know  a place where no one cries. Crying  at all is not allowed, Not in  my castle on a cloud.

Madame Thenardier comes bustling down the stairs in a bad mood. She glowers at little Cosette and changes the closed sign from "closed" to "open".

MADAME THENARDIER Now look who's here! The little madam herself, Pretending once again She's been so awfully good! Better not let me catch you slacking! Better not catch my eye! Ten rotten francs your mother sends me - What is that going to buy? Now take that pail, My little Mademoiselle, And go and draw some water from the well. We should never have taken you in              In the first place - How stupid the things that we do! Like mother, like daughter, the scum of the street. 43.

Cosette goes to put the broom away.

Eponine comes in from outside.

MADAME THENARDIER Eponine, come my dear. Eponine, let me see you. You look very well in that little blue hat! There's some little girls who know how to behave And they know what to wear And I'm saying thank heaven for that!

Madame Thenardier sees that Cosette far from going is            hiding behind the far wall. We see Cosette's frightened eyes peering out from a tiny gap in this wall.

MADAME THENARDIER Still there, Cosette? Your tears will do you no good! I told you to fetch some water from the well in the wood.

COSETTE (singing through the gap) Please do not send me out alone. Not in the darkness on my own.

Madame Thenardier imitates Cosette as she sings.

MADAME THENARDIER (singing through the gap) Enough of that, or I'll forget to         be nice! You heard me ask for something, And I never ask twice!

The innkeeper's gang posing as customers who have been loitering outside come in, explaining to a fifth man who is a    newer recruit a story from Monsieur Thenardier's past. Madame Thenardier goes outside to open up the rather pathetic frost fair stall on the porch of the inn.

CUSTOMER 1 Mine host Thenardier He was there, so they say, At the field of Waterloo.

CUSTOMER 2 Got there, it's true, When the fight was all through But he knew just what to do.

CUSTOMER 3 Crawling through the mud, So I've heard it said, (more) 44.

CUSTOMER 3 (cont'd)               Picking through the pockets of                the English dead.

CUSTOMER 4 He made a tidy score from the spoils of war.

We suddenly hear the voice of the landlord, Thenardier. He               has been there all the time, asleep on a bench. He wakes from his drunken slumbers and roars out:

THENARDIER My band of soaks, My den of dissolutes, My dirty jokes, my always pissed as newts, My sons of whores, Spend their lives in my inn! Homing pigeons homing in - They fly through my doors, And their money's as good as               yours!

36A  EXT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - DUSK                               36A

Madame Thenardier is trying to sell something unappealing from her stall to a portly looking man when slushy snow from the stall's roof falls on the man's head. Madame Thenardier ushers him inside.

37   INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - DUSK                               37

THENARDIER Welcome, m'sieur! Sit yourself down And meet the best Innkeeper in town!

Madame Thenardier pretends to accidentally drop a comb from her hair and the customer helpfully picks it up, allowing Madame Thenardier to pick his wallet from a back pocket as               he stands up. Monsieur Thenardier takes his coat which allows the couple to see the customer transfer a pocket watch from coat to jacket pocket.

THENARDIER As for the rest - All of them crooks Rooking the guests And cooking the books. Seldom do you see Honest men like me               A gent of good intent Who's content to be -

He pours a strong drink for the new customer - 45.

THENARDIER Master of the house! Doling out the charm Ready with a handshake And an open palm

Thenardier has thieved the pocket watch using his handshake as a distraction. He passes this off to Madame Thenardier.

THENARDIER Tells a saucy tale Makes a little stir Customers appreciate a bon-viveur Glad to do a friend a favour Doesn't cost me to be nice But nothing gets you nothing Everything has got a little price!

THENARDIER Master of the house! Keeper of the zoo! Ready to relieve'em               Of a sou or two - (serving wine) Watering the wine

37A  INT. KITCHEN, INN, MONTFERMEIL - FLASHBACK - DAY          37A

Thenardier is pissing into the very wine bottle he's using to        serve the customer.

37B  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - DUSK                              37B

THENARDIER Making up the weight Picking up their knick-knacks When they can't see straight Everybody loves a landlord Everybody's bosom friend! I do whatever pleases - Jesus! Won't I bleed'em in the end!

37C  EXT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - DUSK                              37C

At Madame Thenardier's stall, a frost fair customer is                  covered by snow, only this time we realise Madame Thenardier is responsible for pushing the snow off the awning with a               stick.

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Master of the house! Quick to catch your eye (more) 46.

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS (cont'd)               Never wants a passer-by To pass him by!

Madame Thenardier ushers the customer inside.

37D  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - DUSK                                 37D

Again Madame Thenardier drops her comb in front of the new customer but this time the thieving is foiled by little Cosette who helpfully picks it up. Over the chorus she shouts at little Cosette to get out.

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Servant to the poor Butler to the great Comforter, philosopher and lifelong mate Everybody's boon companion Everybody's chaperone -

THENARDIER But lock up your valises - Jesus! Won't I skin you to the bone!

A FAMILY enters the inn. Thenardier fusses over them.

THENARDIER Enter, messieurs! Lay down yer load Unlace yer boots And rest from the road. This weighs a ton Travel's a curse But here we strive To lighten your purse.

He's got the father's purse out, and is removing notes.

THENARDIER Here the goose is cooked Here the fat is fried And nothing's overlooked Till I'm satisfied - Food beyond compare Food beyond belief

38   INT. KITCHEN, INN, MONTFERMEIL - FLASHBACK - DAY             38

Thenardier shows off the secrets of the squalid kitchen - every possible animal being used to make mince meat.

THENARDIER V/O Mix it in a mincer And pretend it's beef Kidney of a horse (more) 47.

THENARDIER V/O (cont'd)               Liver of a cat Filling up the sausages With this and that!

38A  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - DUSK                               38A

Thenardier serves the disgusting food that we've seen him create in the flashback to the family.

THENARDIER Residents are more than welcome Bridal suite is occupied

38B  INT. BRIDAL SUITE - FLASHBACK - NIGHT                      38B

A groom and bride consummate their union.

Thenardier is going through the groom's trousers.

THENARDIER V/O Reasonable charges Plus some little extras on the side.

38C  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - NIGHT                              38C

THENARDIER Charge'em for the lice Extra for the mice Two percent for looking in the mirror twice. Here a little slice There a little cut Three percent for sleeping with the window shut. When it comes to fixing prices There are lots of tricks he knows How it all increases All those bits and pieces - Jesus! It's amazing how it grows.

39   EXT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - NIGHT                              39

Thenardier comes out of the inn, backed by a posse of his gang of loyal customers, and takes control of a brass band to        sing to the Frost Fair.

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Master of the house! Quick to catch your eye Never wants a passer-by To pass him by! 48.

Further down the street, carrying her empty buckets, Cosette turns to look sadly back at the cheery sight.

THENARDIER Servant to the poor Butler to the great Comforter, philosopher and lifelong mate Everybody's boon companion Gives'em everything he's got -

The Portly Customer has discovered he's been robbed. He                 comes out to protest, holding out his emptied wallet. At     once two of Thenardier's thugs grab him and hustle him off.

THENARDIER Dirty bunch of geezers Jesus! What a sorry little lot!

39A  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - NIGHT                             39A

Madame Thenardier approaches a handsome soldier who is                  drinking at a table by the fire in the inn. She sits on his lap and gets him to look back at Thenardier, so allowing her to see inside his coat and spot his wallet.

MADAME THENARDIER I used to dream That I would meet a prince But God almighty Have you seen what's happened since? `Master of the house' Isn't worth my spit! Comforter, philosopher And lifelong shit! Cunning little brain Regular Voltaire Thinks he's quite a lover But there's not much there.

As Madame Thenardier reaches for the man's groin, she lifts his wallet skillfully and hands it off to Monsieur Thenardier.

THENARDIER What a cruel trick of nature Landed me with such a louse. God knows how I've lasted Living with this bastard in the house!

She pulls the young man into a dance, enabling her to steal everything else of value he has. Father Christmas has also been lured from the frost fair and the Thenardiers slit his presents sack and exchange it for a sack containing snow. 49.

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Master of the house!

MADAME THENARDIER Master and a half!

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Comforter, philosopher -

MADAME THENARDIER Don't make me laugh!

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Servant to the poor Butler to the great -

MADAME THENARDIER Hypocrite and toady And inebriate!

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Everybody bless the landlord! Everybody bless his spouse!

THENARDIER Everybody raise a glass!

MADAME THENARDIER Raise it up the master's arse!

THENARDIER/CUSTOMERS Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house!

40/41  SCENES OMITTED                                           40/41

42     EXT. WOOD BY THE INN - NIGHT                                42

Cosette has filled her buckets at the well in the wood, and is now heading back. Through the dark trees ahead we glimpse the cheerful lights of the Frost Fair and the distant inn. She goes slowly, because the buckets are heavy. She hums to       herself to keep her spirits up, a wordless verse of `Castle on a Cloud'.

After a few steps she pauses to rest the weight of the buckets.

Strong arms reach for the buckets and lift them out of her hands. She looks up, amazed. There's Valjean.

VALJEAN Hush now, do not be afraid of me. Don't cry. Show me where you live. (more) 50.

VALJEAN (cont'd)              Tell me, my child, what is your name?

COSETTE I'm called Cosette.

VALJEAN Cosette?

She gazes up at him. Hardly knowing why, the little girl trusts this stranger. Valjean picks up the heavy buckets, and they head back towards the inn. As they go, they hum `Castle on a Cloud' together.

43  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - NIGHT                              43

Valjean enters with Cosette. Madame Thenardier hurries over. Madame and Monsieur Thenardier try to thieve from Valjean using the same tricks established earlier, but he              evades every attempt. Eponine watches silently from a                  corner.

VALJEAN I found her wandering in the wood This little child, I found her trembling in the shadows. And I am here to help Cosette, And I will settle any debt you may think proper. I will pay what I must pay To take Cosette away.

This is a duty I must heed. There is a promise I have made. For I was blind to one in need, I did not see what stood before me. Now your mother is with God. Her suffering is over, And I speak here with her voice, And I stand here in her place, and from this day, and ever more -

MADAME THENARDIER Let me take your coat, m'sieur!

VALJEAN Cosette shall live in my              protection.

THENARDIER You are very welcome here!

VALJEAN I will not forget my vow. 51.

THENARDIER Take a glass!

MADAME THENARDIER Take a chair!

VALJEAN Cosette shall have a father now.

Thenardier turns to his wife.

THENARDIER What to do? What to say Shall you carry our treasure away? What a gem! What a pearl! Beyond rubies is our little girl! How can we speak of debt? Let's not haggle for darling Colette!

MADAME THENARDIER Cosette!

THENARDIER Cosette - Dear Fantine - gone to rest - Have we done for her child what is best? Shared our bread - shared each bone - Treated her like she's one of our own! Like our own, m'sieur!

VALJEAN Your feelings do you credit, sir. And I will ease the parting blow. Let us not talk of bargains and bones and greed.

He gives Thenardier money.

VALJEAN Now may I say we are agreed?

MADAME THENARDIER That would quite fit the bill If she hadn't so often been ill. Little dear, cost us dear! Medicines are expensive, m'sieur. Not that we begrudged a sou - It's no more than we Christians must do.

Valjean gives more money. 52.

THENARDIERS One thing more! One small doubt! There are treacherous people about! No offence! Please reflect! Your intentions may not be              correct!

Valjean hands over more money.

VALJEAN No more! Here's your price! Fifteen hundred for your sacrifice. Come, Cosette, say goodbye. Let's seek out some friendlier sky. Thank you both for Cosette - It won't take you too long to              forget.

He leads Cosette to the door.

44  EXT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - NIGHT                              44

Valjean lifts Cosette into the waiting cab.

VALJEAN Where I go, you will be.

COSETTE Will you be like a Papa to me?

VALJEAN Yes, Cosette! This is true! I'll be father and mother to you!

The cab sets off down the road.

45  INT. INN, MONTFERMEIL - NIGHT                              45

Madame Thenardier takes the bunch of notes from her husband's hand and inspects them.

THENARDIER Not bad!

MADAME THENARDIER Not enough!

Through the open door Thenardier sees a man on horseback rattling up to the inn. 53.

MADAME THENARDIER There's a copper at the door! What the devil have you done?

Javert strides into the inn.

JAVERT Where's the child Cosette?

MADAME THENARDIER She's gone with a gent, Didn't tell us where they went, Didn't leave his home address.

JAVERT Did you catch the fellow's name?

Both Thenardiers shake their heads.

Javert stares once, contemptuously, round the seedy inn, and departs without a further word. Thenardier goes to the doorway to watch him leave.

MADAME THENARDIER You're a bloody fool Look at what we got.

THENARDIER Should have struck the iron, Struck it while it's hot.

THENARDIER/MADAME THENARDIER Next time round we'll be here And we're gonna get the lot.

46  EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF PARIS - NIGHT                             46

Valjean's cab, moving fast, passes down the road into the city.

IN CAB - Valjean has one arm round Cosette to protect her from the jolting of the cab. He gazes at her as she slips into a fitful sleep.

VALJEAN Suddenly I see Suddenly it starts When two anxious hearts Beat as one. Yesterday I was alone Today you walk beside me              Something still unclear Something not yet here Has begun. Suddenly the world Seems a different place Somehow full of grace (more) 54.

VALJEAN (cont'd)               And delight.

How was I to know That so much love Was held inside me? Something fresh and young Something still unsung Fills the night.

How was I to know at last That happiness can come so fast? Trusting me the way you do               I'm so afraid of failing you Just a child who cannot know That danger follows where I go               There are shadows everywhere And memories I cannot share

Nevermore alone Nevermore apart You have warmed my heart Like the sun. You have brought the gift of life And love so long denied me.

Suddenly I see What I could not see Something suddenly Has begun.

He brushes the hair from her face, and satisfies himself that she's comfortable. Then he puts his head out of the window. At the gate into Paris, soldiers are checking documents of occupants of carriages.

Valjean slips out of the carriage with Cosette and makes his way along the wall, away from the gate.

46A  EXT. PARIS BROKEN WALL - NIGHT                            46A

Valjean finds a section of tumble down wall and climbs over.

46B  EXT. PARIS SLUM STREET - NIGHT                            46B

Valjean and Cosette make their way down a darkened street.

46C  EXT. PARIS - RIVER SEINE - NIGHT                          46C

Valjean and Cosette turn down a narrow street, no longer hurrying.

The narrow street turns, and opens out onto the river. Valjean stops. There, on the other side of the river, in the light of a lamp, stands Javert. 55.

47  SCENE OMITTED                                              47

48  EXT. MAZE OF OLD STREETS - NIGHT                          48

Now Valjean and Cosette are running - down narrow alleys, into small dark courtyards, not knowing which way to turn. Whenever Valjean thinks they've thrown their pursuer, there he is, not far behind. And he's no longer alone. With him are a detachment of soldiers.

Javert and his team never seem to run. But he's always there.

49  EXT. DEAD END - NIGHT                                     49

Valjean and Cosette turn into a street that is walled in by    high windowless houses. They follow it round a corner to    find - a dead end. A high wall before them. They're    trapped.

Valjean looks round. No way out. Then he sees a nearby lamp bracket. Hanging from it is the rope that is used to lower the oil lamp for lighting. He tears off the rope and ties one end round Cosette, beneath her armpits. Then holding the other end, he scales the wall, using the corner to    brace himself as he rises. Once on the top, he hauls Cosette up by the rope. Only then does he turn to look down onto the other side.

A cloister. A building in the middle, windows glowing. Grave stones black against the white snow. The sound of    women's voices, singing a psalm.

NUNS Te lucis ante terminum Rerum Creator poscimus Ut pro tua clementia Sis praesul et custodia...

Valjean lowers Cosette down into the garden, and drops down after her.

Javert and his men enter the dead end to find them gone.

50  INT. CONVENT CLOISTER - NIGHT                             50

Valjean crouched low, with Cosette in his arms, holding her still and quiet until Javert is gone.

Then he straightens up and looks round. He takes in the sound of singing.

NUNS Procul recedant somnia Et noctium phantasmata (more) 56.

NUNS (cont'd)         Hostemque nostrum comprime Ne polluantur corpora...

He goes closer to the windows of the building. Through the blurry glass he can make out a chapel, and a line of nuns singing.

Valjean continues and sees a man filling in a new grave. The man starts as he sees Valjean.

FAUCHELEVENT Who's that?

Valjean jumps, takes Cosette protectively into his arms. Turns to answer.

FAUCHELEVENT Why, it's Monsieur Mayor!

It's Fauchelevent, now a gardener, still limping from his injury.

VALJEAN Who are you?

FAUCHELEVENT Don't you remember? The cart fell on me!

VALJEAN Monsieur Fauchelevent!

FAUCHELEVENT You saved my life! You got me         this job as a gardener!

Valjean gazes at him, and remembers.

VALJEAN Now you can do the same for me. We need a place of sanctuary. This child and I, we need to         disappear.

FAUCHELEVENT In this place of Holy Orders You are brought to God's domain May the sisters grant you shelter May their prayers ease your pain.

Valjean and Cosette follow him to the convent.

VALJEAN We'll give thanks for what is         granted What the sisters may ordain Here we pray for new beginnings - Here our lives can start again. 57.

Valjean looks to the heavens. The camera soars into the air and heads east as dawn breaks over Paris. We rush low over Paris as the sun comes up, towards the Place de la Bastille.

51  EXT. PLACE DE LA BASTILLE, PARIS - DAY                      51

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION:

Nine years later

The dawn light glows on a massive ELEPHANT. The monument, made of wood and plaster, now ruined and crumbling, stands on a plinth on one side of the wide open square. On the far side, the remains of the great fortress that was the Bastille. In the middle, scaffolding surrounds a half-built triumphal column, which is being erected to celebrate the new regime.

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION:

Paris, 1832.

The streets that run from the square lead in one direction to the Paris of power and wealth; in the other direction into the slums.

The camera sweeps in and down to meet the elephant.

A head pops out of one of the elephant's many holes - GAVROCHE, a street urchin. He gives a shrill whistle. At    once a dozen more street urchins show themselves, from every crack in the monument's skin. Agile as a monkey, Gavroche drops to the ground, followed by his band.

52  EXT. PARIS BOULEVARD - DAY                                  52

FOLLOW GAVROCHE in as he races down a grand boulevard, dodging the crowds of strolling bourgeoisie and beggars, weaving in and out of the lines of carriages attempting to    make their way in either direction. These are the conveyances of the rich, fine gilded coaches with matched horses and footmen on the back. Virtually at a standstill, they lend Gavroche a platform as he leaps from coach to    coach, a street urchin dancing on the heads of the elite.

As he goes, the poor on the pavements sing to the stony- faced rich in their golden high-sprung glory -

BEGGARS CHORUS Look down and see the beggars at              your feet! Look down and show some mercy if              you can! Look down and see the sweepings of the street! (more) 58.

BEGGARS CHORUS (cont'd)         Look down, look down, Upon your fellow man!

The fine ladies and grand gentlemen in the carriages avert their eyes, or raise the blinds of their carriage windows to shut out the sight of the losers of their world.

Gavroche, bounding over their heads, evading the swipes of liveried footmen, lands on the running board of one particularly grand carriage and begs/taunts the RICH OCCUPANT.

GAVROCHE `Ow do you do? My name's         Gavroche! These are my people, here's my         patch. Not much to look at - nothing posh! Nothing that you'd call up to         scratch. This is my school, my high society! Here in the slums of St Michel. We live on crumbs of humble piety Tough on the teeth - but what the hell! Think you're poor? Think you're         free? Follow me! Follow me!

BEGGARS CHORUS Look down and show some mercy if         you can! Look down, look down, upon your fellow man!

STILL RUNNING WITH Gavroche as he hops onto the back of another very grand carriage, the traffic now moving at        last, hitching a ride on the back - one or two of his gang hop on back of carriage with him, the others run panting after to hear his political lecture.

GAVROCHE There was a time we killed the King We tried to change the world too fast. Now we have got another King, He is no better than the last. This is the land that fought for liberty - Now when we fight we fight for bread! Here is the thing about equality - Everyone's equal when they're         dead. Take your place! (more) 59.

GAVROCHE (cont'd)              Take your chance! Vive la France! Vive la France!

53  EXT. LAMARQUE'S HOUSE, PARIS - DAY                        53

The carriage has reached an arch into a courtyard where a             crowd of a couple of hundred is gathered outside a house of            sickness. The carriage stops as its occupant wants to watch what is going on. The street is padded with straw. Many eyes gaze up at the draped windows. People cross themselves. A             priest is seen hurrying into the house, accompanied by two altar boys.

Gavroche jumps off as the carriage stops and joins the crowd. The crowd is made up of citizens of Paris, student revolutionaries, the poor and beggars. The students hand out printed leaflets and try to excite the crowd.

STUDENTS/BEGGARS CHORUS Look down and show some mercy if                                      you can! Look down, look down, upon your fellow man!

COURFEYRAC When's it gonna end?

BEGGAR 1 When we gonna live?

JOLY Something's gotta happen now!

BEGGAR 2 Something's gotta give!

STUDENTS AND BEGGARS It'll come, it'll come, it'll              come... It'll come, it'll come, it'll              come...

A student, ENJOLRAS, stands on a raised step, making an               impassioned speech with fellow student MARIUS. The occupant of the stopped carriage is MONSIEUR GILLENORMAND, Marius' Grandfather. He is clearly deeply unhappy to see his grandson engaged in such an activity.

In the crowd a young street girl, EPONINE, has her eyes fixed longingly on the handsome Marius.

ENJOLRAS Where are the leaders of the land? Where are the swells who run this show? 60.

MARIUS Only one man, General Lamarque Speaks for the people here below!

Marius looks towards Lamarque's house behind him.

ENJOLRAS Lamarque is ill and fading fast - Won't last a week out, so they say.

MARIUS With all the anger in the land, How long before the Judgement Day?

ENJOLRAS Before we cut the fat ones down to size?

STUDENTS Before the barricades arise?

Mounted Police ride in to break up the crowd.

POLICE Look down, look down, don't look us                            in the eye! Look down, look down, stay here and you die!

The crowd breaks up. The students shout to the crowd:

ENJOLRAS Tomorrow we will return!

MARIUS Tell everyone you know

COURFEYRAC We will show them!

COMBEFERRE Lamarque is the only leader on our side!

COURFEYRAC We have a right to pray for Lamarque!

JOLY We need more people, then the police will not dare ride against us!

MARIUS Vive le General Lamarque! 61.

Marius turns to see his Grandfather staring him down, furious.

GILLENORMAND Do you have any idea of the shame you bring on your family! You're                                         behaving like a child.

Gillenormand spies a gun poking out of his jacket.

Gillenormand turns to get back in his carriage.

54  INT. GORBEAU TENEMENT                                        54

Through a crack in a door, we see Marius sitting on a tatty mattress in a tiny hovel of a room. He is taking out a                   hunting rifle from under the mattress, wrapped in a rag. His eye is caught by the ring on his finger.

CLOSE ON a signet ring, a family crest.

Marius stares at the ring then takes it off his finger.

We reveal EPONINE staring at him through the door.

EPONINE Hey there Monsieur what's new with you? Haven't seen much of you of late. Planning no doubt to change the world? Plotting to overthrow the state? Still living here in this old sewer Might as well doss down in a ditch You still pretending to be poor Everyone knows your Grandpa's rich

Marius rushes down the stairs of the slum, Eponine following. We see glimpses of misery off the stairwell.

MARIUS How did you...?

EPONINE There's lots of things I know

MARIUS Won't take a franc that I've not earned All of those bridges have been burned.

EPONINE I like the way you talk Monsieur!

MARIUS I like the way you always tease. 62.

Eponine comes to a stop, looking wistfully after Marius.

EPONINE Little he knows - Little he sees.

55  EXT. RUE DE LA CHANVRERIE - END OF DAY                      55

Marius is stopped as he exits the front door of the Gorbeau Tenement by a passing carriage. Once it passes Marius sees two people in the street outside. One is an old gentleman, Valjean. The other is a beautiful young girl, Cosette. The two are giving alms to beggars as they walk back from evening church service.

Marius can't take his eyes off Cosette. He's never seen anyone so lovely in his life. We hear the instrumental foreshadowing of `A Heart Full of Love'.

As if drawn by Marius's gaze, Cosette looks up and meets his eyes. She too is amazed: he's looking at her as if he    already knows her. A second carriage breaks their held gaze.

Marius continues on down the street and when he looks back, at that precise moment Cosette looks at him again.

Valjean instinctively puts his arm round her, guarding her jealously from this distant boy's gaze.

We cut further down the street to an alleyway where the Thenardiers, heavily disguised, are waiting for Valjean's               approach with their gang of crooks, Babet, Brujon, Clacquesous, Montparnasse.

THENARDIER Everyone here, you know your place - Brujon, Babet, Clacquesous - You, Montparnasse, watch for the law - With Eponine - take care. (Montparnasse hurries over                                                to the doorway where                                                     Eponine was watching                                                     Marius) You turn on the tears! (to Madame Thenardier who                                                 is holding a baby) No mistakes, my dears!

Thenardier approaches Valjean and lures him into the mouth of the alleyway where Madame Thenardier is sat on the ground holding the crying infant. Cosette is a few steps behind, still entranced by the sight of Marius. 63.

THENARDIER Please, M'sieur, come this way. Here's a child that ain't eaten today. Save a life, spare a sou! God rewards all the good that you do.

As Valjean bends down to look at Madame Thenardier she recognizes him.

MADAME THENARDIER Wait a bit! Know that face! (to Monsieur Thenardier) Ain't the world a remarkable place!

THENARDIER Men like me don't forget - You're the bastard who borrowed Cosette!

VALJEAN What is this? Are you mad? No, Monsieur, you don't know what you say!

Thenardier pulls off his disguise. Valjean recognises him.

THENARDIER You know me! I know you! And you'll pay what I'm due.

He signals to his gang. A door opens in the alleyway revealing the huge Brujon. The gang move in on Valjean menacingly.

EPONINE (shouts from up the                                             street) It's the police! Disappear! Run for it! It's Javert!

The gang spill out into the street to find themselves confronted by Javert now with his men. Marius watches, as      does Gavroche, drawn by the rumpus.

JAVERT Another brawl in the square! Another stink in the air! Was there a witness to this? Well, let him speak to Javert!

He sees man with his arm protectively round a girl but does not recognize Valjean as Valjean has averted his face. 64.

JAVERT Monsieur, these streets are not safe. But let these vermin beware, We'll see that justice is done!

He turns back on the Thenardier gang in the passage.

JAVERT Look upon this fine collection Crawled from underneath a stone. This swarm of worms and maggots Could have picked you to the bone! I know this man over here, I know his name and his trade. And on your witness, m'sieur, I'll see him suitably paid.

He turns back to find Valjean and Cosette gone.

JAVERT But where's the gentlemen gone? And why on earth did he run?

THENARDIER You will have a job to find him! He's not all he seems to be - And that girl he trails behind him She's the child he stole from me!

Marius, equally baffled, goes off in search of them.

JAVERT Could it be he's that old jailbird That the tide now washes in? Heard my name and started running...         All the omens point to him.

Thenardier, listening, hears this all with great interest. So Valjean is a crook like him.

JAVERT And the girl who stood beside him, When I turned they both had gone. Could he be the man I've hunted? Could it be he's Jean Valjean?

THENARDIER In the absence of a victim, Dear Inspector, may I go? And remember when you've nicked him It was me what told you so. 65.

JAVERT (to himself) Let the old man keep on running I will run him off his feet! (to the crowd) Everyone about your business!

(to Gavroche) Clear this garbage off the street!

Gavroche is sitting on a horse trough and falls back into it    when Javert surprises him.

He is furious. He sings to Javert's departing back, and to      Marius who is close by.

GAVROCHE That inspector thinks he's         something But it's me who runs this town! And my theatre never closes And the curtain's never down! Trust Gavroche! Have no fear! You can always find me here!

EPONINE Cosette! Now I remember...         Cosette! How can it be? We were children together. Look what's become of me.

She turns back to find Marius gazing down the street.

MARIUS Eponine! Who was that girl?

EPONINE That bourgeois two-a-penny thing!

MARIUS Eponine, find her for me!

EPONINE What will you give me?

MARIUS Anything!

EPONINE Got you all excited now, But God knows what you see in         her. Aren't you all delighted now? No, I don't want your money, sir. 66.

MARIUS Eponine, do this for me, Discover where she lives. But careful how you go - Don't let your father know. Eponine! I'm lost until she's                 found.

EPONINE You see? I told you so! There's lots of things I know! Eponine, she knows her way around.

56-61  SCENES OMITTED                                         56-61

62     EXT. PARIS POLICE HQ - NIGHT                                62

WIDE of the Police Headquarters on the Isle de la Cite: a                  huge bureaucracy. The camera finds Javert standing inside looking out of a door leading onto the roof. As he sings he walks out onto the roof and stands by the symbol of the HQ, a monumental stone eagle. He looks down at the lights reflected in the river below. Then up at the great city. Javert too has a God, and this is his prayer.

JAVERT There, out in the darkness A fugitive running Running from God Fallen from grace - God be my witness I never shall yield Till we come face to face - Till we come face to face...

He knows his way in the dark Mine is the way of the Lord Those who follow the path of the righteous Shall have their reward And if they fall As Lucifer fell - The flame!

The sword! Stars in your multitudes! Scarce to be counted Filling the darkness With order and light - You are the sentinels Silent and sure Keeping watch in the night - Keeping watch in the night...

You know your place in the sky You hold your course (more) 67.

JAVERT (cont'd)              And your aim And each in your season Returns and returns And is always the same And if you fall As Lucifer fell You fall In flame!

And so it must be, and so it is              written On the doorway to paradise That those who falter And those who fall Must pay the price!

Lord, let me find him That I may see him Safe behind bars! I will never rest till then! This I swear This I swear by the stars!

Javert stands silhouetted against the stars, his arms raised up to the night sky.

63  EXT. RUE DE LA CHANVRERIE - NIGHT                            63

Marius comes down the street, his mind full of thoughts of               Cosette.

64  INT. CAFÉ MUSAIN - NIGHT                                     64

Marius arrives at the first floor front room. Here a group of students are cleaning rifles and sharing their excitement at the coming revolution: ENJOLRAS, COMBEFERRE, COURFEYRAC, JOLY, GRANTAIRE, FEUILLY, PROUVAIRE and others.

ENJOLRAS Well, Courfeyrac! Do we have all the guns? Joly, Prouvaire! Our time is                                             running short!

COURFEYRAC Students, workers, everyone! There's a river on the run! Like the flowing of the tide, Paris is coming to our side!

COMBEFERRE Enjolras! At Notre Dame The sections are prepared! 68.

FEUILLY At Rue du Bac They're straining at the leash!

ENJOLRAS Grantaire, put the bottle down! Did we get the guns we need?

GRANTAIRE Give me brandy on my breath And I'll breathe them all to death!

ENJOLRAS The time is near... So near it's stirring the blood in their veins. And yet beware! Don't let the wine go to your brains. For the army we fight is a           dangerous foe With the men and the arms that we           never can match. It is easy to sit here and swat them like flies But the National Guard will be           harder to catch. We need a sign To rally the people To call them to arms To bring them in line!

Joly turns goes over to Marius at the back, a faraway look on his face.

JOLY Marius, wake up! What's wrong today? You look as if you've seen a           ghost.

GRANTAIRE Some wine, and say what's going on!

They sit.

MARIUS A ghost, you say? A ghost maybe! She was like a ghost to me - One minute there - then she was gone!

GRANTAIRE I am agog! I am aghast! Is Marius in love at last? I've never heard him Ooh and Aah. You talk of battles to be won (more) 69.

GRANTAIRE (cont'd)         And here he comes like Don Juan! It is better than an opera!

They burst into laughter. But Enjolras isn't smiling.

ENJOLRAS It is time for us all To decide who we are. Do we fight for the right To a night at the opera now? Have you asked yourselves What's the price you might pay? Is this simply a game For rich young boys to play? The colours of the world Are changing day by day -

Red -   the blood of angry men! Black   - the dark of ages past! Red -   a world about to dawn! Black   - the night that ends at          last!

MARIUS Had you seen her today You might know how it feels To be struck to the bone By a moment of breathless delight!

Had you been there today You might also have known How the world may be changed In just one burst of light And what was right seems wrong And what was wrong seems right!

GRANTAIRE Red!

MARIUS I feel my soul on fire!

GRANTAIRE Black!

MARIUS My world if she's not there!

STUDENTS Red!

MARIUS The colour of desire!

STUDENTS Black! 70.

MARIUS The colour of despair!

ENJOLRAS Marius, you're no longer a child - I do not doubt you mean it well But now there is a higher call! Who cares about your lonely soul? We strive towards a larger goal - Our little lives don't count at         all!

ENJOLRAS Red!

STUDENTS The blood of angry men!

ENJOLRAS Black!

STUDENTS The dark of ages past! Red - a world about to dawn! Black - the night that ends at         last!

A scuffle at the door - Gavroche struggling with the barman. Courfeyrac lets him through.

GAVROCHE Listen! Listen to me!

COURFEYRAC Listen, everybody!

GAVROCHE General Lamarque is dead!

Enjolras turns to his companions.

ENJOLRAS Lamarque is dead...         Lamarque... His death is the hour of fate. The people's man...         His death is the sign we await! On his funeral day they will honour his name With the light of rebellion ablaze in their eyes. From their candles of grief we         will kindle our flame. On the tomb of Lamarque shall our barricades rise!

The time is here! (more) 71.

ENJOLRAS (cont'd)              Let us welcome it gladly with courage and cheer!

STUDENT Let us take to the street with no              doubt in our hearts

COURFEYRAC But a jubilant shout!

LESGLES They will come one and all!

STUDENTS They will come when we call!

As the students sing, Eponine enters wanting to talk to                 Marius. Marius sees her.

65  INT. VALJEAN'S HOUSE, RUE PLUMET - NIGHT                    65

Cosette is pacing in her bedroom. It's a pretty room, the best room in this small summer house. Her shutters are open, giving a view of a wild unkempt garden. She looks at              herself in a mirror, aware of her looks perhaps for the first time.

COSETTE How strange - This feeling that my life's begun at last! This change - Can people really fall in love so              fast? What's the matter with you, Cosette? Have you been too much on your own? So many things unclear - So many things unknown...

In my life There are so many questions and answers That somehow seem wrong. In my life There are times when I catch in              the silence The sigh of a faraway song And it sings Of a world that I long to see - Out of reach Just a whisper away Waiting for me!

Does he know I'm alive? Do I know if he's real? (more) 72.

COSETTE (cont'd)         Does he see what I see? Does he feel what I feel?

In my life I'm no longer alone - Now the love in my life Is so near...         Find me now! Find me here!

Valjean knocks and opens her door. He closes her shutters.

VALJEAN Dear Cosette, You're such a lonely child. How pensive, how sad you seem to         me. Believe me, were it within my         power I'd fill each passing hour. How quiet it must be, I can see, With only me for company.

COSETTE There's so little I know That I'm longing to know Of the man that you were In a time long ago... There's so little you say Of the life you have known, Why you keep to yourself, Why we're always alone. So dark! So dark and deep, The secrets that you keep! In my life Please forgive what I say You are loving and gentle and good. But papa, dear papa, In your eyes I am still like that child Who was lost in a wood.

VALJEAN No more words - No more words. It's a time that is dead. There are words That are better unheard, Better unsaid.

COSETTE In my life I'm no longer a child and I yearn For the truth that you know Of the years... Years ago! 73.

Valjean leaves and goes into his own bedroom. A simple wooden shack at the back of the summerhouse, Valjean himself lives with spartan simplicity - he has given the best room to                  Cosette.

Cosette follows. Valjean sits on his bed, his back to                    Cosette.

VALJEAN You will learn. Truth is given by God To us all in our time, In our turn.

66  EXT. RUE PLUMET - NIGHT                                      66

Marius rushes down the street, Eponine following. At the far end is the walled garden behind which lies Valjean's                 house.

MARIUS In my life She has burst like the music of              angels The light of the sun! And my life seems to stop As if something is over And something has scarcely begun! Eponine, you're the friend Who has brought me here. Thanks to you I am one with the Gods And heaven is near! And I soar through a world that is new, That is free!

EPONINE Every word that he says Is a dagger in me! In my life There's been no one like him anywhere, Anywhere, where he is              If he asked... I'd be his!

MARIUS/EPONINE In my life There is someone who touches my              life -

MARIUS (sees Cosette in the                                                      garden) Waiting near! 74.

EPONINE Waiting here!

MARIUS A heart full of love!

Cosette sees Marius. She comes up the garden path towards him. She sees Eponine by Marius's side.

MARIUS A heart full of song! I'm doing everything all wrong - Oh God, for shame - I do not even know your name. Dear Mad'moiselle, Won't you say? Will you tell?

Cosette holds the wrought-ironwork of the gate with both hands, eyes on Marius. Eponine looks on and suffers. Marius wraps his hands round Cosette's.

COSETTE A heart full of love! No fear, no regret!

MARIUS My name is Marius Pontmercy.

COSETTE And mine's Cosette.

MARIUS Cosette... I don't know what to         say -

COSETTE Then make no sound.

MARIUS I am lost -

COSETTE I am found!

MARIUS A heart full of light -

COSETTE/MARIUS A night bright as day -

MARIUS And you must never go away, Cosette - Cosette!

COSETTE This is a chain we'll never break. 75.

MARIUS Do I dream?

COSETTE I'm awake.

MARIUS A heart full of love -

EPONINE He was never mine to lose Why regret What could not be?

COSETTE A heart full of you -

EPONINE These are words he'll never say Not to me, not to me         Not for me!

MARIUS A single look and then I knew!

COSETTE I knew it too!

EPONINE His heart full of love...

MARIUS From today -

EPONINE He will never feel this way.

COSETTE Every day...

MARIUS/COSETTE For it isn't a dream - Not a dream After all!

Valjean comes to the door.

VALJEAN Cosette! Cosette!

Cosette turns and runs in to the house.

Valjean walks down the overgrown garden path to the gate.

Marius moves quickly away, instinctively nervous of discovery, and hides behind the wall. 76.

Valjean peers into the shadows. He senses that perhaps Cosette has been talking to someone. He looks pensive.

Valjean returns inside.

Cosette has dropped a keepsake through the gate. Marius picks it up.

Marius makes his way back down the street, filled with thoughts of his love. Completely forgetting Eponine is there.

Shadows move up the street from the other direction. It's      Thenardier and his gang. They gather at the wrought-iron gate.

MONTPARNASSE This is his lair! I've seen the old fox around.

BABET He keeps himself to himself He's staying close to the ground.

THENARDIER I smell profit here! Ten years ago He came and paid for Cosette. I let her go for a song. It's time we settled the debt. This'll cost him dear.

BRUJON What do I care Who you should rob? Gimme my share! Finish the job!

THENARDIER You shut your mouth! You'll get what's yours!

Brujon starts working on the gate lock. He finds Eponine lurking in the shadows.

BRUJON What have we here?

THENARDIER Who is this hussy?

BABET It's your brat Eponine! Don't you know your own kid? Why's she hanging about here? 77.

THENARDIER Eponine, get on home! You're not needed in this. We're enough here without you.

EPONINE I know this house, I tell you! There's nothing here for you! Just the old man and the girl. They live ordinary lives.

THENARDIER Don't interfere! You've got some gall! Take care, young miss, You've got a lot to say!

BRUJON She's going soft!

CLACQUESOUS Happens to all!

MONTPARNASSE Go home, Eponine! Go home, you're in the way!

They huddle round the garden gate, which is now broken open.

EPONINE I'm gonna scream! I'm gonna warn them here!

THENARDIER One little scream and you'll              regret it for a year!

He goes to the gate and opens it.

Eponine screams.

67  SCENE OMITTED                                               67

68  INT. RUE PLUMET, PARIS - NIGHT                             68

Valjean, now in his own bedroom, hears the scream and turns to the window.

69  EXT. RUE PLUMET - NIGHT                                    69

Thenardier and his gang shrink into the shadows, as    Eponine's scream ends at last. 78.

THENARDIER Make for the sewers! Get underground! Leave her to me, Don't wait around!

He turns on Eponine and slaps her hard across the face.

THENARDIER You wait, my girl! You'll rue this night! I'll make you scream! You'll scream all right!

His men have levered up a grating, and now Thenardier and the gang disappear down into the sewers.

70  INT. VALJEAN'S HOUSE - RUE PLUMET, PARIS - NIGHT           70

Valjean comes running into Cosette's room. Valjean takes her in his arms.

VALJEAN My God, Cosette! I heard a cry in the dark. I heard the shout of angry voices in the street.

COSETTE Three men I saw beyond the wall...              Three men in shadow moving fast!

VALJEAN This is a warning to us all! These are the shadows of the past!

He moves away to his own bedroom.

VALJEAN Must be Javert. He's found my cover at last. I've got to get Cosette away Before he returns.

He comes back to Cosette.

VALJEAN We must get away from shadows That will never let us be. Tonight we leave Cosette!

COSETTE To where? 79.

VALJEAN Rue de L'Homme Armee.

COSETTE No! No!

VALJEAN And then a ship across the sea.

VALJEAN Hurry, Cosette! Prepare to leave, And say no more. Tonight we'll away!

COSETTE (overlapping) No! Please no! We can't go!

VALJEAN Hurry, Cosette! It's time to close another door And live another day!

Valjean leaves to start packing.

Feverishly, Cosette scribbles a letter.

71  SCENE OMITTED                                                71

72  EXT. GARDEN, RUE PLUMET - NIGHT                             72

Cosette hurries down the  garden to the gate, and goes to               put the folded letter in   the grill where her and Marius' hands entwined. Then she  sees Eponine. Eponine steps forward. She thrusts her  letter into her hand.

COSETTE Please give this to Marius! He              must know where to find me.

She runs back inside.

73  EXT. RUE PLUMET/BRIDGE/RUE DE LA CHANVRERIE - NIGHT         73

Eponine crumples up the letter.

She walks sadly away down the street.

Rain is just starting to fall.

EPONINE And now I'm all alone again - Nowhere to turn, no one to go to. Without a home, without a friend, (more) 80.

EPONINE (cont'd)         Without a face to say hello to. The city goes to bed And I can live inside my head.

On my own Pretending he's beside me         All alone I walk with him till morning Without him I feel his arms around me         And when I lose my way I close my          eyes And he has found me.

She crosses a bridge over the river.

EPONINE In the rain The pavement shines like silver All the lights Are misty in the river In the darkness the trees are full of starlight And all I see is him and me         forever and forever!

And I know it's only in my mind - That I'm talking to myself and not to him. And although I know that he is         blind, Still I say there's a way for us.

I love him But when the night is over He is gone - the river's just a         river. Without him the world around me         changes - The trees are bare and everywhere The streets are full of         strangers.

I love him But every day I'm learning All my life I've only been pretending. Without me, his world will go on         turning A world that's full of happiness That I have never know.

I love him I love him I love him But only on my own. 81.

Her solitary journey has brought her to the Gorbeau slum. She goes inside.

73A  INT. GORBEAU TENEMENT - NIGHT                                73A

Eponine stands outside Marius' door. She opens the letter, reads it, then hides it in her pocket. She pushes open Marius' door. Marius looks up.

EPONINE I came to tell you she's gone.

MARIUS Gone? What do you mean?

EPONINE She's gone to England.

Marius sets off at a run towards the Rue Plumet.

74   EXT. RUE PLUMET - NIGHT                                      74

Marius finds the gate broken open, sees the house beyond dark and deserted. He pushes in to the garden, up to the house windows, sees the rooms empty within. He stands staring, in shock.

Eponine has followed him, and watches him in silence.

75   SCENE OMITTED                                                 75

76   INT. CARRIAGE - NIGHT. 76

Valjean and Cosette sit on either side of the carriage, apart, staring out of their respective windows. A stark contrast to the carriage scene when Valjean sang to Cosette as a little girl.

VALJEAN One day more! Another day, another destiny. This never-ending road to               Calvary. These men who seem to know my               crime Will surely come a second time - One day more!

77   EXT. RUE PLUMET - NIGHT                                      77

Marius by the empty house. 82.

MARIUS I did not live until today - How can I live when we are parted?

78  INT. CARRIAGE - NIGHT                                       78

VALJEAN One day more!

COSETTE Tomorrow you'll be worlds away And yet with you my world has started!

79  EXT/INT. RUE PLUMET/CARRIAGE - NIGHT                        79

INTERCUT between Eponine at the gate, Cosette and Valjean in the carriage, and Marius in the dark garden.

EPONINE One more day all on my own...

MARIUS/COSETTE Will we ever meet again?

EPONINE One more day with him not caring...

MARIUS/COSETTE I was born to be with you!

EPONINE What a life I might have known...

MARIUS/COSETTE And I swear I will be true!

EPONINE But he never saw me there.

80  INT. CAFÉ MUSAIN GROUND & 1ST FLOOR/EXT. RUE DE LA          80 CHANVRERIE - NIGHT

Enjolras and the students have a production line under way for making bullets. The rifles are now stacked and ready for the uprising. Grantaire is downstairs flirting with a               BARMAID. MADAME HUCHELOUP the proprietress of the Cafe Musain is sewing a red revolutionary flag to help the students.

ENJOLRAS One more day before the storm! 83.

INTERCUT WITH Marius walking back sadly through the Rue de              la Chanvrerie. Eponine follows him at a distance.

MARIUS Do I follow where she goes?

ENJOLRAS At the barricades of freedom!

MARIUS Shall I join my brothers there?

ENJOLRAS When our ranks begin to form -

MARIUS Do I stay and do I dare?

ENJOLRAS (from top of stairs, for                                                 Grantaire's benefit) Will you take your place with me?

Grantaire rather reluctantly goes upstairs.

ALL The time is now! The day is here! One day more!

81  INT. PARIS POLICE HQ - NIGHT                                81

Javert is briefing a hundred uniformed police about the coming day in a grand ornate old room at Police Headquarters.

JAVERT One day more to revolution. We will nip it in the bud. We'll be ready for these schoolboys. They will wet themselves with blood!

82  INT. CARRIAGE - NIGHT                                       82

VALJEAN One day more!

83  INT. CAFÉ MUSAIN - GROUND & 1ST FLOOR - NIGHT               83

Monsieur and Madame Thenardier are in the ground-floor bar, slyly watching a student smuggling some rifles up the stairs disguised in a piece of cloth. 84.

Joly takes a tray and collects empty tankards. As he                   ascends the stairs, Madame Hucheloup tries to get him to                give the tankards back.

THENARDIERS Watch'em run amuck! Catch'em as they fall! Never know your luck When there's a free-for-all. Here a little dip, There a little touch - Most of them are goners So they won't miss much!

The drinkers in the bar raise their glasses to the students with their rifles. The students appeal to them. Grantaire is drunk already. Joly starts to melt the tankards in a pot to make more bullets. Marius enters the ground floor and takes the red flag from Madame Hucheloup that she has just finished. The citizens on the ground floor join the students.

STUDENTS/CROWD One day to a new beginning! Raise the flag of freedom high! Every man will be a king! Every man will be a king! There's a new world for the winning! There's a new world to be won! Do you hear the people sing?

Marius enters the first floor to join them at last.

MARIUS My place is here! I fight with you!

84  INT/EXT. RUE DE L'HOMME ARMEE/RUE DE LA CHANVRERIE/CAFÉ    84 MUSAIN GROUND & 1ST FLOOR/POLICE STATION - NIGHT

Valjean and Cosette arrive at their new hideout -

Marius ties the red flag onto a flagpole -

VALJEAN One day more!

COSETTE/MARIUS I did not live until today How can I live when we are parted?

Eponine outside the café, gazing longingly towards Marius -

EPONINE One more day on my own...                                                         85.

Javert in the police station to his men -

JAVERT I will join these people's heroes I will follow where they go. I will learn their little secrets, I will know the things they know.

VALJEAN/JAVERT One day more!

MARIUS/COSETTE Tomorrow you'll be worlds away And yet with you my world has started.

JAVERT One more day to revolution We will nip it in the bud We'll be ready for these schoolboys -

THENARDIERS Watch'em run amuck Catch'em as they fall Never know your luck When there's a free-for-all!

VALJEAN Tomorrow we'll be far away.

VALJEAN/JAVERT Tomorrow is the judgement day.

ALL Tomorrow we'll discover What our God in heaven has in              store - One more dawn! One more day! One day more!

We pull back from Enjolras and Marius holding their flag at             the first floor window with the students beyond them to see that citizens have spilled out of the Cafe Musain into the street and have all joined in the final chorus.

85  EXT. PARIS STREETS - DAY                                    85

All is still. Then comes the soft beating of draped drums. The tramp of feet.

All down the streets, waiting, the silent faces of the poor. Among them we see Enjolras, Marius, and the radical students. 86.

Police and national guardsmen control the growing crowds.

Now into view come the leaders of a great FUNERAL PROCESSION. An entire battalion of infantry, marching with weapons reversed. A column of black-suited dignitaries carrying branches of laurel. A division of Cavalry rides in     front, behind a section of military drummers who drum a          military tatoo.

INTO FRAME comes a team of black horses stepping slowly, black plumes nodding, drawing behind them a gun carriage draped in the tricolour flag. On the carriage stands a          COFFIN.

Softly, in time with the drums, the watching people begin to sing.

CROWD Do you hear the people sing Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again!

The police and guardsmen look round to see who is singing so subversively, but they can't be sure where it's coming from. The singing grows stronger.

CROWD When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!

The dignitaries become aware of the singing, and glance uneasily from side to side.

CROWD Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see?

As the coffin on its carriage draws level with the students, Enjolras suddenly steps out in front of the horses drawing the carriage and waves the red flag, stopping the horses and the procession.

ENJOLRAS Then join in the fight That will give you the right To be free!

The students break the ranks of the crowd and surround the coffin carriage. 87.

STUDENTS/CROWD Do you hear the people sing Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!

Enjolras, Marius and Courfeyrac and other students climb onto the top of the carriage as the horses and led by         Combeferre.

ENJOLRAS Will you give all you can give So that our banner may advance?

COURFEYRAC Some will fall and some will live Will you stand up and take your chance?

ENJOLRAS/MARIUS/COURFEYRAC The blood of the martyrs Will water the meadows of France!

The crowd supports them and surround the coffin carriage, blocking the attempts of the police to intervene, singing with passion.

STUDENTS/CROWD Do you hear the people sing Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!

Enjolras, the students, and the impassioned crowd have now become the procession. They turn off the main street away from the expected course of the funeral procession. Gavroche's elephant looms over this side street. Gavroche and his gang jump down from the elephant to join in.

As the procession turns off, the calvary division gallop ahead and disappear round a corner.

STUDENTS/CROWD Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see? Do you hear the people sing? (more) 88.

STUDENTS/CROWD (cont'd)              Say, do you hear the distant drums? It is the future that we bring When tomorrow comes!

The students and crowd come face to face with the calvary. On       one side, muskets of the infantry poke through the broken down fence surrounding the elephant. Other infantry have taken up position in a cafe opposite, upending tables to            provide cover.

There is a tense, prolonged silence. Then suddenly one nervous SOLDIER lets off a round. It hits a middle aged kindly looking WOMAN CITIZEN in the crowd around the coffin carriage. The crowd is furious. Students charge the soldier, grab his musket and knock him down with the hilt of the gun.

More shots ring out. The cavalry charges. The funeral explodes into a riot. The people of Paris turn on the dragoons, the National Guards, the police. More squadrons of dragoons charge into the crowd, sabres unsheathed. Women run screaming in terror.

ENJOLRAS To the barricades!

STUDENTS/CROWD To the barricades! To arms! To              arms!

Some students fire weapons into the air, some into the cavalry and at the infantry. Enjolras knocks a calvary officer off his horse and Marius jumps on the horse.

The students break away and race off through the cafe into a side street where citizens begin to erect a barricade. A              cavalry rider gives chase and is shot by one of the students and falls through the window of an upended carriage. The students, with Marius on horseback, race to               the slums.

86  EXT. RUE DE LA CHANVRERIE/INT. CAFE MUSAIN - DAY            86

FOLLOW the students as they burst into their home street. They have been joined by a motley collection of citizens including burghers and an old eccentric man FATHER MABEUF who works as hard as anyone. They raid a fencing shop and a             gun shop for weapons, they force wives to give up their husbands' muskets and chalk up the debt to the revolution on their front doors, they encourage homeowners to                      contribute furniture sometimes appearing at high windows to              help overcome any reluctance. Soon the street is raining tables, chairs, mattresses, sofas. They smash streetlamps. They set to work to build their barricade. Students commandeer an omnibus which is overturned to form the barricade's heart. Three students arrive in the street hauling an uprooted tree. 89.

They pull up paving stones, rip boards, timbers and front doors from house and shop-fronts, pull down buttresses, and raid the Cafe Musain, systematically stripping it of every item of furniture despite the lamentations and protestations of Madame Hucheloup and her barmaid.

As the barricade rises they bring down from the first floor of the cafe the rifles and ammunition they've gathered, to     prepare to defend their chosen ground. A student stands on     a stone post distributing weapons. They line the first and second floor front rooms with paving stones to create protected shooting positions. The inside of the barricade is built neatly with steps up made from paving stones. The outside is a crazy knarled mess.

ENJOLRAS Here upon these stones We will build our barricade. In the heart of the city We claim as our own Each man to his duty And don't be afraid.

A man in worker's clothing is helping build the growing barricade,. He wears the insignia of the rebels, and keeps his head down.

ENJOLRAS Wait! I will need a report On the strength of the foe.

The man who's just arrived looks up. It's Javert.

JAVERT I can find out the truth! I know their ways, Fought their wars, Served my time In the days Of my youth.

He slips away through the barricade, which is still rising.

PROUVAIRE See! The people unite!

GRANTAIRE Pray your right

COMBEFERRE Dogs will bark!

GAVROCHE Fleas will bite!

LESGLES They will do what is right. 90.

87   EXT. BARRICADE - DUSK                                     87

The barricade is now complete: an impressive wall up to                 twelve feet high, with one heavily guarded section that can be wheeled open to allow access. Two smaller barricades protect the left and right side of the cafe. Enjolras climbs halfway up the main barricade and turns to his little army. Grantaire prises the final piece of Madame Hucheloup's furniture from her arms - her favourite sewing armchair - and adds it to the barricade. As the men sing she steals it back defiantly.

ENJOLRAS Red, the blood of angry men!

ALL Black, the dark of ages past! Red, a world about to dawn! Black, the night that ends at               last!

87A  EXT. BARRICADE - NIGHT                                    87A

It is night. The students have been waiting for hours.

A single flaming torch atop the barricade caged in by cobbles underlights a fluttering red flag.

There is no sign yet of any opposition.

A boy climbs down from sentry duty on the barricade. Marius realizes its Eponine. She sits down with her back to him.

MARIUS Hey, little boy, what's this I see? God Eponine the things you do!

EPONINE I know this is no place for me, Still I would rather be with you!

MARIUS Get out before the trouble starts! Get out, `Ponine, you might get shot!

EPONINE I've got you worried now, I have! That shows you like me quite a                                          lot...

MARIUS Get Out!

Joly, sentry on the main barricade, sees a figure approach. 91.

JOLY He's back!

Javert, still in his disguise as a rebel, is let back through the guarded `gate' into the barricaded street.

JAVERT Listen, my friends, I have done as I said. I have been to their lines, I have counted each man. I will tell what I can. Better be warned They have armies to spare And our danger is real - We will need all our cunning To bring them to heel.

ENJOLRAS Have faith! If you know what their movements are We'll spoil their game. There are ways that a people can fight - We shall overcome their power!

JAVERT I have overheard their plans. There will be no attack tonight. They intend to starve you out Before they start a proper fight - Concentrate their force, Hit us when it's light -

GAVROCHE Liar!

They all look up. There's Gavroche, on the top of the barricade.

GAVROCHE Good evening, dear Inspector. Lovely evening, my dear! I know this man, my friends. His name's Inspector Javert! So don't believe a word he says Cause none of it's true. This only goes to show What little people can do.

Guns swing round to aim at Javert. He stares back in defiance.

Gavroche comes dancing down the barricade to Courfeyrac's      delighted embrace. 92.

COURFEYRAC Bravo, little Gavroche! You're the top of the class!

Gavroche grabs Grantaire's red cap and puts it on his own head, mimicking the students.

PROUVAIRE So what are we going to do          With this snake in the grass?

Enjolras faces Javert.

ENJOLRAS Tie this man and take him To the tavern in there! The people will decide your fate, Inspector Javert!

JAVERT Shoot me now or shoot me later - Every schoolboy to his sport! Death to each and every traitor! I renounce your people's court!

ENJOLRAS Take this man. Bring him through. There is work we have to do.

Javert is led into the cafe. As they pass through the front door only one student is holding Javert. Seizing his opportunity, Javert breaks free and the students have to         subdue him by force. Javert is on his knees and is being tied to the staircase.

ENJOLRAS When are they coming!?

Silence.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, the students and citizens at the barricade here an ominous distant sound. The sound of marching feet, hundreds of men, marching in unison. First soft, then building louder and louder, closer and closer. Boots on cobbles. The sound comes right into the end of the street.

Enjolras and all the students man the main barricade.

Silence.

They peer over the barricade. In the pitch blackness, all they can make out is hundreds of gossamer thin slivers. These are bayonets and musket barrels dimly lit by the reflection from the torch.

A voice shouts out from the darkness. 93.

ARMY OFFICER Who's there?

At the same time we hear the clatter of guns being levelled.

ENJOLRAS French Revolution.

ARMY OFFICER Fire!

A flash turns all the facades of the street bright crimson as though the door of a furnace has suddenly open and shut.

A dreadful explosion bursts over the barricade. The red flag falls, the pole sliced through. Bullets richochet off the cornices of the houses, bore into the barricade and wound several men.

ENJOLRAS (as students return fire) Comrades, do not fire back! Do not waste powder!

In the darkness, the clang of ramrods in muskets - the troop reloading weapons.

Enjolras picks up the fallen flag and is about to take it up     when the old man Father Mabeuf who has seen many insurrections before this takes the flag and runs up onto the top of the barricade.

ARMY OFFICER Who's there? Get down!

MABEUF Vive la France!

ARMY OFFICER Fire!

A second volley.

Father Mabeuf falls down dead. While everyone is reacting to  the dead old man and the wounded, the men are distracted from noticing that some French soldiers have used the cover of darkness to creep down the street.

All at once the FIRST FULL ATTACK begins. Shouts and the rattle of gunfire as SOLDIERS throw themselves up and over the barricade. The students run for their guns and return fire. They are taken by surprise. All could be lost in the first instant. Some soldiers make it up to the top of the barricade, where they're driven back by the fierce resistance of the defenders. Eponine sees one soldier aiming his rifle at Marius - she throws herself in front of Marius just as the rifle fires - and Marius is safe. 94.

They are being  overrun. Panic ensues. The gun battle is fierce. Marius  in a flash of inspiration realises all is lost unless they do  something. He drags a barrel of gunpowder to the top of the  barricade, grabs the torch and with a face of deadly resolve   he tips the torch towards the barrel.

MARIUS Clear out or I'll blow up the barricade!

Everyone freezes.

ARMY OFFICER Blow it up then and take yourself with it!

MARIUS And myself with it!

Marius brings the torch closer to the powder keg.

But already the soldiers have cleared out.

Marius comes down from the barricade.

FEUILLY (to Marius) Thank you!

LESGLES What were you thinking!

As everyone surrounds Marius in amazement he spots Eponine lying propped against the barricade.

MARIUS Eponine! What have you done?

He kneels by her side. Eponine is dying.

EPONINE Here... It's from Cosette...         I kept it from you...

With a struggle she pulls the letter out of her pocket, and pushes it into his hand.

EPONINE Don't be too hard on me...

Marius is shocked to find blood pouring from her wound.

MARIUS Eponine, you're hurt! You need some help!

Rain begins to fall. 95.

EPONINE Don't you fret, M'sieur Marius - I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain Can hardly hurt me now. You're here - that's all I need to know And you will keep me safe And you will keep me close And rain will make the flowers grow...

MARIUS But you will live, Eponine - Dear God above! If I could close your wounds with words of love -

EPONINE Just hold me now, and let it be. Shelter me... Comfort me...

MARIUS You will live a hundred years If I could show you how...         I won't desert you now...

EPONINE The rain can't hurt me now... This rain will wash away what's         past And you will keep me safe And you will keep me close I'll sleep in your embrace at         last.

Marius tries to comfort Eponine in his arms.

MARIUS Hush-a-bye, dear Eponine You won't feel any pain A little fall of rain Can hardly hurt you now I'm here.

EPONINE So don't you fret, M'sieur Marius I don't feel any pain A little fall of rain Can hardly hurt me now...

MARIUS I will stay with you Till you are sleeping.

EPONINE That's all I need to know And you will keep me safe (more) 96.

EPONINE (cont'd)              And you will keep me close And rain.. Will make the flowers...              Grow...

Eponine dies in Marius's arms.

Marius looks up at the others, his eyes full of tears.

ENJOLRAS They were the first to fall. The first to fall upon this barricade.

MARIUS Her name was Eponine! Her life was cold and dark, yet she was unafraid!

COMBEFERRE We fight here in her name...

PROUVAIRE She will not die in vain...

LESGLES She will not be betrayed...

They pick up Eponine's body and carry her into the tavern.

COURFEYRAC (to Gavroche) Are you alright?

GAVROCHE That was my sister.

88  EXT. BARRICADE - NIGHT                                      88

Marius reads the letter Eponine has given him. He takes out pencil and paper and writes a note. Looking round, he sees Gavroche.

MARIUS Gavroche! Do you know the Rue de              l'Homme Armé?

GAVROCHE Course I do!

MARIUS Will you take this for me?

He holds out his note. 97.

89  INT. INN, RUE DE L'HOMME ARMEE, PARIS - NIGHT              89

The LANDLADY climbs the stairs, followed by Gavroche. The landlady indicates the door, and Gavroche knocks boldly. The door opens a crack to reveal a cautious Valjean.

GAVROCHE Letter for Cosette.

VALJEAN I'll take it.

Gavroche holds out the letter with one hand, not quite giving it, the other hand open for a tip.

Valjean gives him a coin, which he pockets as he hands over the letter.

GAVROCHE Something for you, something for me. Who needs charity?

90  INT. VALJEAN'S ROOM, LODGING HOUSE - NIGHT                 90

ON VALJEAN - As he reads the note.

VALJEAN `Dearest Cosette, you have entered my soul And soon you will be gone. Can it be only a day since we met And the world was reborn? If I should fall in the battle to              come Let this be my goodbye. Now that I know you love me as              well It is harder to die. I pray that God will bring me              home To be with you. Pray for your Marius. He prays for you.'

He looks up, deeply distressed. He can't bear the thought of losing Cosette.

VALJEAN They haven't got a chance, these boys They almost certainly will die She'll be alone And she will need me all the more And we will go on as before When he is gone I dare not think like this I must find this boy 98.

91  EXT. PARIS STREETS - NIGHT                                  91

Valjean walks the streets, not caring where he goes, struggling with his tormented thoughts. He sees a barricade being dismantled. And bodies.

Suddenly he knows what he's going to do. He sees a dead soldier. He takes his jacket and swiftly pulls it on.

He continues on his way in the dark.

Looking up he sees that he's been walking all the time towards the very barricade where Marius waits.

Now looking like a soldier, he passes unchallenged through their lines, and into the shadows.

As he passes, he notices two soldiers climbing up onto the rooftops.

92  EXT. BARRICADE - NIGHT                                      92

Glimpses through the barricade of a lone figure approaching from the far end of the narrow street.

The figure comes into lamp light. It's Valjean, in the soldier's jacket. The student sentries level their guns. Gavroche jumps up.

VALJEAN Don't shoot!

JOLY Here comes a man in uniform! What brings you to this place?

VALJEAN I come here as a volunteer.

JOLY Approach and show your face!

PROUVAIRE You wear an army uniform.

VALJEAN That's why they let me through.

The student sentries open the slot in the barricade to let Valjean enter.

JOLY You've got some years behind you, sir.

VALJEAN There's much that I can do. 99.

JOLY You see that prisoner over there?

He points to Javert, in a dark corner, his hands tied.

GRANTAIRE A volunteer like you!

COMBEFERRE A spy who calls himself Javert!

GRANTAIRE He's going to get it too!

Javert looks up and meets Valjean's eyes. A steady shared look.

GAVROCHE Don't shoot! I know him! He's no                                soldier!

Suddenly Valjean spots a couple of snipers creeping over the roofs to gain an angle of attack on them. They are aiming at Enjolras. Swiftly Valjean grabs a gun and shoots up at them sending them scattering. Quickly other students join in and the snipers are driven back.

There is a burst of gunfire from both ends of the street as a  brief fire fight ensues.

The snipers have disappeared.

Enjolras turns to Valjean.

ENJOLRAS For your presence of mind, For the deed you have done, I will thank you, M'sieur, When our battle is won.

MARIUS Thank you, M'sieur.

VALJEAN Give me no thanks, M'sieur. There's something you can do.

ENJOLRAS If it is in my power.

VALJEAN Give me the spy Javert! Let me take care of him.

Javert hears this with grim satisfaction. 100.

JAVERT The law is inside out. The world is upside down.

ENJOLRAS Do what you have to do - The man belongs to you.

He turns to his little army.

ENJOLRAS The enemy may be regrouping! Hold yourselves in readiness! Come, my friends, back to your positions! The dawn is breaking fast.

Valjean takes Javert out the back of the Cafe Musain. He    carries a knife.

VALJEAN We meet again...

JAVERT You've hungered for this all your life. Take your revenge. How right you should kill with a         knife.

Valjean uses the knife to cut Javert free.

VALJEAN You talk too much. Your life is safe in my hands.

JAVERT Don't understand...

VALJEAN Get out of here.

JAVERT Valjean, take care! I'm warning you.

VALJEAN Clear out of here!

JAVERT Once a thief, forever a thief. What you want, you always steal. You would trade your life for mine. Yes, Valjean, you want a deal! Shoot me now for all I care - If you let me go, beware! You'll still answer to Javert! 101.

VALJEAN You are wrong, and always have been wrong. I'm a man no worse than any man. You are free, and there are no         conditions - No bargains or petitions. There's nothing that I blame you for. You've done your duty, nothing more. No doubt our paths will cross again.

He raises his gun and points it at Javert.

VALJEAN Go!

As Javert goes, he raises the gun barrel and fires a single shot into the air.

ENJOLRAS Courfeyrac, you take the watch - They may attack before it's         light. Everybody keep the faith, For certain as our banner flies, We are not alone - The people too must rise!

Marius is manically working to raise the height of one of the smaller barricades.

ENJOLRAS Marius, rest.

Grantaire drunkenly starts singing a drinking song and it is  taken up more seriously by Feuilly. Bottles are passed round.

GRANTAIRE Drink with me to days gone by!

FEUILLY Sing with me the songs we knew!

PROUVAIRE Here's to pretty girls Who went to our heads!

JOLY Here's to witty girls Who went to our beds! 102.

STUDENTS Here's to them - (Marius sings to                   Valjean) And here's to you!

GRANTAIRE Drink with me to days gone by! Can it be you fear to die? Will the world remember you when you fall? Can it be your death Means nothing at all? Is your life just one more lie?

Grantaire glares at Enjolras and enters the cafe.

ALL Drink with me              To days gone by! To the life That used to be! At the shrine of friendship Never say die... Let the wine of friendship Never run dry! Here's to you And here's to me!

Valjean is moving through the cafe when he hears Marius through a window. He moves to the window. Marius sits beneath it.

MARIUS Do I care if I should die Now she goes across the sea? Life without Cosette Means nothing at all.. Please don't weep, Cosette, Should Marius fall. Will you weep, Cosette, For me?

Valjean listens to Marius's song, and he's moved.

93  EXT. BARRICADE/ INT. CAFE MUSAIN - NIGHT                     93

Look-outs keep watch at either end of the barricaded street. Many of the rest of the rebels are sleeping.

Valjean paces, unable to sleep, inside the cafe. Dead bodies are lined up on the ground floor. He comes to a                   stop, and gazes on Marius as he sleeps through the window.

VALJEAN God on high Hear my prayer (more) 103.

VALJEAN (cont'd)              In my need You have always been there. He is young He's afraid Let him rest Heaven blessed. Bring him home Bring him home Bring him home! He's like the son I might have known If God had granted me a son. The summers die One by one How soon they fly On and on              And I am old And will be gone. Bring him peace Bring him joy He is young He is only a boy. You can take You can give Let him be              Let him live, If I die, let me die Let him live Bring him home Bring him home Bring him home!

Valjean is now kneeling next to the sleeping Marius.

CRANE UP AND UP - Seeing the little world of the barricaded street now surrounded by waiting soldiers - and the streets round them packed with soldiers in their thousands, so many that we know the little band can never win.

CRANE UP AND UP until the barricade and the army that entraps it has become a small pool of darkness in the centre of the bright lights of Paris.

94  EXT. PARIS - DAWN                                            94

The sun still below the rooftops. Every house is tightly shuttered.

95  INT. CAFE MUSAIN - DAWN                                      95

Grantaire is fast asleep in the upstairs room, dead drunk. 104.

96  EXT. BARRICADE - DAWN                                     96

Enjolras re-enters the barricade through the secret gate. He has been on a reconnaissance. He looks at the street. No           one is stirring, but for a single shutter which opens a     crack - a face peeps - and it closes again. Below him the students are up and getting ready.

ENJOLRAS The people have not stirred.

COURFEYRAC Yet we will not abandon those Who still live in fear.

ENJOLRAS The people have not heard, Yet we will not abandon those who cannot hear. Let us not waste lives! Let all who wish to                                                   Go from here!

There is silence. Uncertainty. Yet no one moves to go.

GAVROCHE (from top of barricade) Do you hear the people sing

GAVROCHE/COURFEYRAC Singing the song of angry men

STUDENTS/CITIZENS (joining) It is the music of the people Who will not be slaves again When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!

Under this:

FEUILLY Enjolras! Ammunition's short.

MARIUS I will go into the streets. There are bodies all around. Ammunition to be had. Lots of bullets to be found.

ENJOLRAS I can't let you go. 105.

VALJEAN Let me go! He's no more than a boy. I am old. I have nothing to fear.

Gavroche is already climbing the barricade under cover of the smoke.

GAVROCHE I volunteer!

COURFEYRAC Come back, Gavroche! Don't you dare!

JOLY Someone pull him down right now!

GAVROCHE Look at me, I'm almost there!

GAVROCHE Little people know When little people fight We may look easy pickings But we've got some bite! So never kick a dog When he's just a pup - We'll fight like twenty armies And we won't give up!

The rays of the rising sun break through, lighting up Gavroche.

GAVROCHE So you'd better run for cover When the pup grows -

Crack! A musket shot. Gavroche falls face down onto the barricade.

COURFEYRAC No-o!

He runs up the barricade, seizes Gavroche's body in his arms, convulsed with grief, and brings it back through the gate in the barricade.

At the other end of the street Javert has appeared. He sees this gate. And talks to the Army Officer.

As the smoke from the muskets clears horses are revealed drawing field artillery into position. The Army Officer is lining up the big guns carefully. 106.

ARMY OFFICER You at the barricades listen to         this! The people of Paris sleep in         their beds! You have no chance, No chance at all! Why throw your lives away?

Enjolras gazes on his pitifully small group.

ENJOLRAS Let us die facing our foes! Make them bleed while we can!

COMBEFERRE Make'em pay through the nose!

COURFEYRAC Make'em pay for every man!

ENJOLRAS Let others rise to take our place Until the earth is free!

The sun now appears above the rooftops of the city.

And the big guns fire - BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The bombardment hits the barricade, rocking it. In its wake a massive barrage of musket fire.

The big gun has been lined up with the gate and has burst right through in the first hit.

Bullets fly, and every few moments another cannon ball smashes into the piled debris. Javert is glimpsed among the attackers.

Enjolras and the students throw themselves onto the barricades, firing at the attackers, handing their rifles down to others to be re-loaded, firing again.

Valjean moves among them, tending to the wounded, lifting down the dead, regardless of his own safety.

Marius takes a bullet, and crumples and falls. Valjean runs towards him -

CRASH! The latest cannonade bursts a hole in the barricade and now the soldiers are storming through. The hard core of student fighters retreat, firing as they go, into the Café Musain. 107.

97   INT. CAFÉ MUSAIN - DAY                                      97

Students and soldiers fight in the café, on the stairs, up     the stairs to the upper room. Students driving back the pursuing soldiers hack away at the staircase, smashing it     to fragments - the soldiers below fire up at them - students fall, their bodies caught on the jagged remnants of the stairs. Grantaire is still unconscious from drink.

98   EXT. BARRICADE - DAY                                        98

Valjean has Marius in his arms and is hiding him from the onrush of the soldiers -

99   INT. CAFÉ MUSAIN - DAY                                      99

The students' ammunition has run out, they're hurling sticks and bottles - but the soldiers have found a way to     clamber up, shooting as they come, and one by one the students are falling.

100  EXT. STREET OUTSIDE CAFÉ MUSAIN - DAY                      100

Valjean carries Marius away from the carnage. A soldier challenges him. One violent blow from Valjean sends the soldier flying -

101  INT. CAFÉ MUSAIN - DAY                                     101

The soldiers break through at last to the upper room, to find there's only Enjolras still alive. He stands by the window, knowing he will die now, proud and unafraid. Seeing him the soldiers hesitate. The sudden silence wakes Grantaire from his drunken slumber.

GRANTAIRE Long live the republic!

He sees Enjolras with the muskets raised against him. Grantaire goes and joins him. Enjolras smiles, and raises his now-ragged red flag.

The rifles blaze. Grantaire drops back to the ground. Enjolras falls back -

102  EXT. BARRICADE - DAY                                       102

Enjolras falling backwards out of the window, until he     hangs upside down, the red flag still in his hands, streaming like blood down the wall. 108.

PULL BACK to see the street littered with corpses, and the remains of the barricade, and soldiers scouring the rubble for any last pockets of resistance.

BACK AND BACK to come to a stop looking at the wide scene. INTO FRAME walks Javert, grimly surveying the victory of     law over rebellion.

103  EXT. BACK ALLEY - DAY                                      103

Valjean carries Marius down a long narrow alley that runs between the backs of tall houses. The alley turns a corner - and there ahead is a dead end. Behind him, the stamp of     soldiers' boots. Ahead, no way out.

Then his searching gaze falls on an iron grating in the ground. A storm drain.

ON THE SOLDIERS - As they come round the corner into the end of the alley. They look round. It's empty.

SOLDIER Nothing here!

The soldiers depart. A moment of silence.

Then into the alley's end steps Javert. Not so easily fooled. He walks all the way to the end, and looks round. He sees the drain at his feet. He sees the signs that the grating has been lifted.

He stoops, and tries to lift it. It's far too heavy for him.

He straightens up and looks round, calculating. Where does the drain lead?

104  INT. PARIS SEWERS - DAY                                    104

Valjean is pulling Marius after him down a tight sloping pipe, where dark water races. Suddenly they start to slide, then drop through a vent into a wide sewage tunnel. Faint light reflecting off the slime of curving tunnel walls. The skitter of rats. Sodden forms floating by: dead bodies.

Valjean carries Marius down the tunnel, moving as fast as     he can, losing strength all the time. He reaches an     intersection where four sewers meet. Light falls through distant gratings. One of the four sewers is dry. Here he     lets his burden down, and himself sinks to the slimy ground to rest. He lets his eyes close.

A voice echoes in the shadows. 109.

THENARDIER Here's a hint of gold Stuck into a tooth - Pardon me, m'sieur, You won't be needing it no more. Shouldn't be too hard to sell.

A figure coming closer. A sewer thief, robbing corpses. No sign of life in either Valjean or Marius.

THENARDIER Well, someone's got to clean'em         up, my friends, Before the little harvest Disappears into the mud. Someone's got to collect their odds and ends When the gutters run with blood.

Now we see the thief is Thenardier. He finds a ring on Marius's finger and pulls it off.

THENARDIER Here's a tasty ring Pretty little thing Heart's no longer going And he's lived his little time, But his watch is ticking yet.

It's a world where the dog eats the dog. Where they kill for the bones in         the street. And God in his heaven, He don't interfere Cos he's dead as the stiff at my         feet! I raise my eyes to see the heavens And only the moon looks down. The harvest moon shines down!

Valjean wakes, rears up, seizes Thenardier by the arm, slams him against the sewer wall.

VALJEAN How do I get out of here?

THENARDIER There! That way!

Valjean drops him, picks Marius up once more, and sets off.

Thenardier stares after them, grinning. He's sent then the wrong way.

LATER - Valjean in the sewers, Marius on his back, and they're sinking ever deeper into the slimy water. 110.

As he feels himself sink, Valjean holds Marius up in his arms and forges on, chest deep, lifting the younger man above his head. Still he sinks, until his face is half- submerged and he's gagging in the filth. He stumbles, and suddenly he's sunk beneath the surface, and Marius is     dropping -

Then up he bursts again, face black with slime, eyes burning with his refusal to be beaten.

LATER - Valjean staggers down the endless sewers, Marius on     his back. But all the time he can hear, closer now, the rushing sound of the river.

Round a bend and at last - moonlight ahead.

He drags himself on through the shallow running water towards the moonlight.

He reaches the exit at last. Before him the river.

105  EXT. RIVER EMBANKMENT, PARIS - NIGHT                         105

Valjean, crusted with slime, heaves Marius out of the sewer onto the embankment that runs beside the river.

He looks up. There, staring at him, is Javert.

Valjean rises slowly. Heaves Marius up onto his back once more. The strain of the night is showing. He's a man near the end of his strength.

VALJEAN It's you, Javert! I knew you wouldn't wait too long. The faithful servant at his post once more. This man's done no wrong. And he needs his family's care.

JAVERT I warned you I would not give in! I won't be swayed!

VALJEAN Another hour yet And then I'm yours And all our debts are paid.

JAVERT The man of mercy comes again And talks of justice! 111.

VALJEAN Come, time is running short - Look down, Javert! He's standing in his grave!

He starts to move past Javert.

Javert draws his pistol and holds it to Valjean's head.

JAVERT One more step and you die.

Valjean meets his eyes. That old battle of will against will.

VALJEAN Then I die.

He starts walking past Javert. Javert's hand trembles as it holds the pistol.

Valjean keeps walking. Javert wills himself to shoot, but he just can't do it. Frustrated, enraged with himself, he lowers the gun.

JAVERT Take him, Valjean, Before I change my mind! I will be waiting...         24601!

He turns away, trembling now all up and down his body. He stares into the river. Valjean is gone now. He's alone.

JAVERT Who is this man? What sort of devil is he? To have caught me in a trap And choose to let me go free? It was his hour at last To put a seal on my fate Wipe out the past And wash me clean off the slate! All it would take Was a flick of his knife Vengeance was his And he gave me back my life!

He begins to move away along the embankment, up steps, towards a bridge. He's unaware of everything except the turmoil in his brain.

JAVERT Damned if I live in the debt of a         thief! Damned if I yield at the end of         the chase! (more) 112.

JAVERT (cont'd)         I am the law and the law is not mocked! I'll spit his pity right back in         his face! There is nothing on earth that we         share! It is either Valjean or Javert! How can I allow this man To hold dominion over me? This desperate man that I have hunted...         He gave me my life! He gave me         freedom!

I should have perished by his hand It was his right...         It was my right to die as well...          Instead I live... But live in         hell!

He moves up from the embankment onto the bridge. Here he stands, looking down at the dark water of the night river. The Seine forms a whirlpool here, where violent currents swirl round the piles of the bridge.

JAVERT And my thoughts fly apart Can this man be believed? Shall his sins be forgiven? Shall his crimes be reprieved?

And must I now begin to doubt Who never doubted all those years? My heart is stone and still it         trembles... The world I have known is lost in         shadow Is he from heaven or from hell? And does he know That granting me my life today This man has killed me even so?

He climbs up onto the parapet, reaching his arms up to the night sky.

JAVERT I am reaching but I fall And the stars are black and cold As I stare into the void Of a world that cannot hold...

I'll escape now from that world From the world of Jean Valjean This is nowhere I can turn...         There is no way to go on...                                                             113.

He reaches higher, turning his body, twisting, as if he     wants some angel from on high to save him - and so, turning, he falls into the river. The swirling eddies close over him. And he's lost.

106  EXT. STREET OUTSIDE CAFÉ MUSAIN - DAY                        106

Soldiers are dismantling the last of the barricade. Women move about the street, seeking their dead loved ones among the bodies that still litter the barricade. These are both the middle-class mothers of the students - Enjolras's     mother, Grantaire's sister - and the working women of the slums for whom they died, united now in their grief.

WOMAN 1 Did you see them Going off to fight?

WOMAN 2 Children of the barricade Who didn't last the night.

WOMAN 3 Did you see them Lying where they died? Someone used to cradle them And kiss them when they cried.

WOMAN 4 Did you see them lying side by               side?

WOMAN 5 Who will wake them?

WOMAN 6 No one ever will.

WOMAN 2 No one ever told them that A summer day can kill.

WOMAN 7 They were schoolboys Never held a gun Fighting for a new world that Would rise up like the sun.

WOMAN 3 Where's that new world Now the fighting's done?

The women move off to go about their day's business. 114.

107  INT. MARIUS'S FAMILY HOUSE, PARIS - DAY                      107

CLOSE ON MARIUS - He's waking from the nightmare, finding himself in a fine bed, with clean linen. He looks round: a     handsome room.

GILLENORMAND Marius! You've come back to us!

Marius recognises the old man anxiously watching him: his grandfather, Monsieur GILLENORMAND.

MARIUS Grandfather...

He struggles to rise, but he lacks the strength. His grandfather's face shows only love and concern.

GILLENORMAND Rest, Marius. No more harsh words between us. I just thank God you're alive.

Timidly the old man comes closer to the bed. Tears form in     Marius's eyes. Encouraged, the old man takes Marius's hand in his.

GILLENORMAND You've come home. To all of us.

The distant voices of the mourning women -

WOMEN (O.S.) Round and round And back where you began...

108  INT. CAFÉ MUSAIN - DAY                                       108

Marius makes his way slowly up the stairs to the upper room. He's still weak from his wounds. He enters the room where his friends died, and looks round. He sinks into a     chair.

MARIUS There's a grief that can't be               spoken There's a pain goes on and on               Empty chairs at empty tables Now my friends are dead and gone.

He sees the bloodstain on the wall beneath the window sill. The blood of Enjolras.

MARIUS Here they talked of revolution Here it was they lit the flame Here they sang about tomorrow (more) 115.

MARIUS (cont'd)               And tomorrow never came...

From the table in the corner They could see a world reborn And they rose with voices ringing And I can hear them now! The very words that they had sung Became their last communion On the lonely barricade at dawn.

He looks out of the window at what's left of the barricade. He seems to see again the brave doomed defence, the smoke and the gunfire, the young men falling.

MARIUS Oh my friends, my friends, forgive me               That I live and you are gone There's a grief that can't be               spoken There's a pain goes on and on...

Phantom faces at the window Phantom shadows on the floor Empty chairs at empty tables Where my friends will meet no               more.

Oh my friends, my friends, don't               ask me                What your sacrifice was for Empty chairs at empty tables Where my friends will sing no               more.

Slowly he rises from the chair and turns to the doorway. There stands Cosette, waiting for him.

109  INT. MARIUS'S FAMILY HOUSE, PARIS - DAY                   109

Cosette holds Marius, supporting him, as he enters the house.

COSETTE Every day You walk with stronger step, You walk with longer step. The worst is over.

MARIUS Every day I wonder every day Who it was brought me here From the barricade.

Cosette leads him into the room where Valjean and Gillenormand wait. 116.

COSETTE Don't think about it, Marius! With all the years ahead of us! I will never go away And we will be together Every day. Every day We'll remember that night And the vow that we made.

As Valjean and Gillenormand look on, Marius and Cosette sing their love to each other.

COSETTE A heart full of love A night full of you The words are old But always true.

VALJEAN She was never mine to keep She is youthful, she is free...

MARIUS Cosette, Cosette!

COSETTE I saw you waiting and I knew -

GILLENORMAND Thank God, thank God you are here! Thank God, thank God you are home!

MARIUS Waiting for you! At your feet!

COSETTE At your call!

VALJEAN/GILLENORMAND Love is the garden of the young Let it be               Let it be! A heart full of love This I give you this day.

MARIUS/COSETTE And it wasn't a dream Not a dream after all.

110  INT. PARLOUR, MARIUS'S FAMILY HOUSE - DAY                 110

Marius stands before Valjean, alone in this more private room. 117.

MARIUS M'sieur, this is a day I never can forget. Is gratitude enough For giving me Cosette? Your home shall be with us         And not a day shall pass But we will prove our love To you, whom we shall call A father to us both, A father to us all.

VALJEAN Not another word, my son. There's something now that must be done...

He's prepared himself to make this confession, but it's still hard.

VALJEAN There lived a man whose name was Jean Valjean. He stole some bread to save his sister's son For nineteen winters served his time In sweat he washed away his crime.

Marius hears this with shock.

VALJEAN Years ago, He broke parole and lived a life apart... How could he tell Cosette and break her heart? It's for Cosette this must be         faced: If he is caught, she is         disgraced... The time has come to journey on, And from this day he must be         gone! Who am I?         Who am I?

MARIUS You're Jean Valjean!

Marius can't conceal that he's disturbed by this revelation. 118.

MARIUS Monsieur, you cannot leave! Whatever I tell my beloved Cosette She will never believe me.

VALJEAN Make her believe I have gone on a journey A long way away. Tell her my heart was too full for farewells - It is better this way. Promise me, Monsieur, Cosette will never know...

MARIUS I give my word.

VALJEAN ...What I have spoken, why I must go.

MARIUS For the sake of Cosette, it must be so.

111  EXT. MARIUS'S FAMILY HOUSE, PARIS - DAY                      111

A waiting cab. Valjean comes out of the modest lodging house and gets in. The cab rattles away down the street.

IN THE CAB - Valjean sits gazing far away at nothing. Then his weary eyes close.

112  INT. MARIUS'S FAMILY HOUSE, PARIS - DAY                      112

Cosette gazes at Marius, bewildered by what she has just learned.

COSETTE Where's he gone without a word That wouldn't be his way to go

MARIUS All he asked for me to  say He's on a journey, far  away. Dear Cosette, he loves  you so                Perhaps he will return   some day.

Cosette comes into Marius's arms, tears in her eyes.

COSETTE He can't leave us now What's our wedding day Without him giving me away? "LES MISERABLES" BLUE REVISIONS 20.5.2012         119.

112A    EXT. MARIUS'S FAMILY HOUSE, PARIS - DAY                112A

Marius and Cosette, newly married, are walking towards Marius' house through an aisle created by wedding guests. Carriages line the street.

WEDDING GUESTS Ring out the bells Upon this day of days! May all the angels Of the Lord above In jubilation Sing their songs of praise! And crown this blessed time With peace and love!

113     SCENE OMITTED                                               113

114     INT. MARIUS'S FAMILY HOUSE, PARIS - DAY                    114

Waltz music plays as Marius and Cosette lead the dancing at        the wedding reception.

As the dance proceeds, two extraordinary figures enter, and start helping themselves to the drink and the food. They are Thenardier and his wife, dressed up for high society.

MAJORDOMO The Baron and Baroness du Thenard

They look round as the dance continues, highly satisfied with themselves and see Marius.

Thenardier makes a mock-formal bow.

THENARDIER I forget where we met...                                                    Was it not at the Chateau Lafarge Where the Duke did that Puke Down the Duchess's decolletage?

MARIUS No, `Baron du Thenard', The circles I move in are humbler by far...                                                                   Go away, Thenardier! Do you think I don't know who you are?

MADAME THENARDIER He's not fooled! Told you so! Show M'Sieur what you've come here to show. Tell the boy what you know! "LES MISERABLES" BLUE REVISIONS 20.5.2012         119A.

THENARDIER Pity to disturb you at a feast like this But 500 francs surely wouldn't           come amiss.

MARIUS In God's name say what you have to say.

MADAME THENARDIER (to Thenardier) He speaks. (to Marius) You pay!

THENARDIER What I saw, clear as light, Jean Valjean in the sewers that night, Had this corpse on his back Some boy he'd killed in a viscious attack. I was there, never fear! Even found me this fine souvenir!

He shows off his ring. Marius stares in astonishment.

MARIUS I know this! This was mine! This is surely some heavenly sign!

Thenardier steals the ring back.

THENARDIER And there's more! Mark this well - It was the night that the barricades fell.

MARIUS Then it's true! Then I'm right! Jean Valjean was my saviour that night!

Thenardier looks past Marius to where Cosette stands among their friends. He lowers his voice.

THENARDIER Jean Valjean - the old con. You pay up and I'll say where he's                                gone.

He takes out money and reluctantly presses it into Thenardier's hands. Madame Thenardier takes the money before Thenardier has safely pocketed it. "LES MISERABLES" BLUE REVISIONS 20.5.2012         120.

MARIUS Not so loud! Here's for you. God forgive us the things that we           do.

MADAME THENARDIER How's about some extra On a day so glad Our little orphan girl She hasn't done so bad. Raised in a convent Cash to spare - We want our share.

Marius hands over yet more money to Madame Thenardier.

THENARDIER Quite the little nun, ain't she!

CRACK! Thenardier sinks to the ground, felled by a powerful blow from an angered Marius. The band stops playing.

MARIUS Where is he?

THENARDIER (cowardly voice) The convent.

Marius rushes to Cosette and we see him telling her where Valjean is. They hurry away.

Thenardier clambers to his feet, helped by his wife. He          gestures to the band to continue. They stand by the tiered wedding cake. As Thenardier recovers his composure, Madame Thenardier steals one then two pillars from the cake so it       collapses on the floor. She then pushes it under the table with her foot. "LES MISERABLES" BLUE REVISIONS 20.5.2012           121.

THENARDIER Ain't it a laugh? Ain't it a treat? Hob-nobbin' here Among the elite? Here comes a prince There goes a Jew This one's a queer But what can you do? (pulling Madame Thenardier                                         onto the dance floor) Paris at my feet! Paris in the dust! And here's me breaking bread With the upper crust -

As he pivots Madame Thenardier, stolen silver drops out from Madame Thenardier's dress. The music stops dead in the clatter. The Thenardiers look up, as if implying that the silver dropped from the ceiling. The dance continues. Monsieur Gillenormand motions to the Majordomo to remove these unwanted guests.

THENARDIER Beggar at the feast! Master of the dance! Life is easy pickings If you grab your chance!

MADAME THENARDIER Everywhere you go                                                 Law-abiding folk Doing what is decent

THENARDIER But they're mostly broke!

MADAME THENARDIER Singing to the Lord on Sundays

THENARDIER Praying for the gifts he'll send -

THENARDIER/MADAME THENARDIER But we're the ones who take it - We're the ones who make it in the end!

The Thenardiers are carried off, singing as they go.

THENARDIER Watch the buggers dance

MADAME THENARDIER Watch'em till they drop! "LES MISERABLES" BLUE REVISIONS 20.5.2012           121A.

THENARDIER/MADAME THENARDIER Keep your wits about you And you stand on top!

THENARDIER Masters of the land

MADAME THENARDIER Always get our share

THENARDIER/MADAME THENARDIER Clear away the barricades And we're still there! We know where the wind is blowing Money is the stuff we smell - And when we're rich as Croesus, Jesus! Won't we see you all in                                   hell!

As they are thrown out, the Thenardiers steal a tiara and a      candlestick. "LES MISERABLES" BLUE REVISIONS 20.5.2012         122.

115    EXT. CONVENT, PARIS - NIGHT                             115

IN ON A WINDOW - Where two candle burn.

116    INT. CONVENT CHAPEL, PARIS - NIGHT                      116

Valjean prays in the chapel, on his knees. He's very weak.

Next to the crucifix on the altar are Valjean's two silver candlesticks, in which two candles burn.

VALJEAN Alone I wait in the shadows I count the hours till I can sleep. I dreamed a dream Cosette stood by                 It made her weep To know I die... Alone at the end of the day Upon this wedding night I pray Take these children, my Lord, to                 thy embrace And show them grace... God on high Hear my prayer Take me now To thy care Where you are Let me be                 Take me now Take me there Bring me home Bring me home!

VALJEAN is joined by the ghost of Fantine. She takes his hand as he prays.

FANTINE M'sieur I bless your name...

VALJEAN I am ready, Fantine...

FANTINE M'sieur lay down your burden...                                                          123.

VALJEAN At the end of my days...

FANTINE You raised my child in love,

VALJEAN She's the best of my life...

FANTINE And you will be with God.

116A  EXT. CONVENT CLOISTERS - NIGHT                            116A

Cosette and Marius rush round the cloisters and enter the chapel in the middle of the cloisters.

116B  INT. CONVENT CHAPEL - NIGHT                               116B

The sound of the door opening. Valjean looks round. It's      Cosette entering, followed by Marius.

VALJEAN Cosette?

Tears form in his eyes. Cosette goes to him, kneels before him, takes him in her arms.

COSETTE Papa, papa, I do not understand - Are you all right? Why did you go                away?

VALJEAN Cosette, my child! Am I forgiven now? Thank God, thank God, I've lived to see this day!

Marius comes to him.

MARIUS It's you who must forgive a                thoughtless fool! It's you who must forgive a                thankless man! It's thanks to you that I am                living, And again I lay down my life at                your feet. Cosette, your father is a saint! When they wounded me                He took me from the barricade, Carried like a babe, And brought me home to you! 124.

VALJEAN Now you are here Again beside me         Now I can die in peace For now my life is blessed...

COSETTE You will live, papa You're going to live It's too soon Too soon to say goodbye.

VALJEAN Yes, Cosette, forbid me now to         die! I'll obey I will try...

He holds out a letter for her.

VALJEAN On this page I write my last confession. Read it well When I at last am sleeping. It's the story Of one who turned from hating A man who only learned to love When you were in his keeping.

Cosette takes the letter and kisses it.

COSETTE I know it, papa.

Valjean turns back, face shining, towards the table where the candles burn in the silver candlesticks. There he sees three ghosts waiting for him. The ghost of the Bishop. The ghost of Fantine. And beyond her, watching Marius with love, the ghost of Eponine.

Fantine comes towards him, reaching out her hands.

VALJEAN I'm ready now, Fantine.

FANTINE Come with me         Where chains will never bind you All your grief At last, at last behind you Lord in heaven Look down on him in mercy -

VALJEAN Forgive me all my trespasses And take me to your glory! 125.

Cosette embraces Valjean, weeping.

Valjean reaches up his hands, and lets the ghost of Fantine take them.

FANTINE/EPONINE Take my hand I'll lead you to salvation Take my love For love is everlasting...

VALJEAN/FANTINE/EPONINE/BISHOP And remember The truth that once was spoken: To love another person Is to see the face of God...

Led by Fantine, Valjean walks out of the Chapel towards the cloister.

What remains is Cosette, her head cradled in the lap of the man who has just died.

The walls of the cloisters are covered in votive candles. The Bishop of Digne waits in front of the candles. Now Valjean's strong and young again. Before they reach the wall of candles, all three are gone.

As they disappear we CRANE UP, high over the cloister, high over the walls of the Convent and we see the Paris streets outside. Fires are burning and debris is scattered in the streets. Dawn is breaking.

From far away, the sound of an approaching crowd -

117  EXT. PLACE DE LA BASTILLE - DAY                            117

THE CAMERA MOVES over the cobbles as the light of the rising sun reveals the devastation left by a bitter street battle. Past the remains of a barricade.

The distant sound of an approaching march.

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION:

Sixteen years later Paris, 1848.

From far off, the swelling sounds of the approaching march become the words of a song.

MARCHERS Do you hear the people sing Lost in the valley of the night? It is the music of a people Who are climbing to the light For the wretched of the earth (more) 126.

MARCHERS (cont'd)         There is a flame that never dies Even the darkest night will end And the sun will rise.

As THE CAMERA RISES we see we're in the Place de la Bastille. The triumphal column has long been completed, but the great elephant is sadly dilapidated and has become incorporated into an immense barricade - three stories high, seven hundred feet long. Down all the streets that converge on the square we now see the multiple victory marches approaching. They cheer and beat drums as they climb up to the top of the barricade.

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTIONS:

The people of Paris have risen in         their tens of thousands.

The King has fled. A new Republic is born.

There in the forefront of one column march Marius and Cosette.

MARCHERS They will live again in freedom In the garden of the Lord They will walk behind the plough- share They will put away the sword The chain will be broken And all men will have their reward!

As the marchers come nearer we begin to realise how many there are: thousand upon thousand. And there marching among them we see ghosts from the past - Enjolras and the students who died - and Fantine - and Eponine -

And out of the crumbling elephant peers another ghost: the grinning face of Gavroche. He climbs out to dance on the elephant, as the crowd fill the square.

MARCHERS Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see?

As the marchers converge, there watching them are Thenardier and his wife. Thenardier gives the marchers a wave of greeting. Survivors to the last.

MARCHERS Do you hear the people sing? Say, do you hear the distant drums? (more) 127.

MARCHERS (cont'd)         It is the future that they bring When tomorrow comes!

Now among the marchers we see the ghost of Valjean, singing with the rest atop the barricade, amongst the waving red flags.

MARCHERS Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see? Do you hear the people sing? Say, do you hear the distant drums? It is the future that they bring When tomorrow comes...         Tomorrow comes!

END CREDITS