Les misérables (1998)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Bille August

Writers (WGA):

Victor Hugo (novel)
Rafael Yglesias (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

The legend comes to life.

Plot:

Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives...

Plot Keywords:

Revolution | Police | France | Robbery | Foreign Language Adaptation

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Christopher Adamson	...	Bertin
Tim Barlow	...	Lafitte
Timothy Bateson	...	Banker
Veronika Bendová	...	Azelma
David Birkin	...	Courfeyrac
Reine Brynolfsson	...	Captain Beauvais
Patsy Byrne	...	Toussaint
Kathleen Byron	...	Mother Superior
Václav Chalupa	...	André
Ian Cregg	...	Feuilly
Ben Crompton	...	Grantier
Claire Danes	...	Cosette
Zdenek David	...	Peasant (as Zdenék David)
Paola Dionisotti	...	Forewoman
Edna Doré	...	Old Woman (as Edna Dore)

Also Known As:

Les misérables (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, and for some sexual content.

Runtime:

134 min | Argentina:132 min

Country:

UK | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:6 (w) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13 | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Mandalay Entertainment

Trivia:

The trailer and many photo galleries show a scene of Jean Valjean falling on his knees and tearing up his yellow passport, but this does not appear in the final film.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the very final scenes of the movie, Jean Valjean is seen walking along the riverbank. He walks past the same across-the-river background shrubbery twice.

Quotes:

Jean Valjean: I order you to forgive yourself.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kingdom of the Vampire (2007) (V)

Not true to the story... but entertaining for superb acting

It is not possible to make a movie out of this marathon Victor Hugo novel (the original version I borrowed from library got around thousand pages and I had to settle for an abridged one) without leaving out some good portions. It is only to see what portions are left out and what are stressed. That depends on the director's or screenwriter's judgement. See Dumas' "Count of Monte Cristo" and you'll know what I'm talking about. That movie seemed to be based upon an already abridged version at the first place... such incoherent it was. What audience would appreciate is about making a good film, not following every bits of novel little by little. And that is why "Les Misérables" is a good film. It showed excellently what it showed. What is left out is left out, be it some characters that has no major relation to what the director thought to be the main story or some solitary incidents however interesting they might be.

It's got a nice star-studded cast. Geoffrey Rush is magnificent as Inspector Javert. If I am to stress one aspect of his totally excellent acting it would be his accent. I just loved it. Rush brought that vintage English accent instead of the expected French accent, that's I think became more suitable. Liam Neeson is an acting genius and I would place this one perhaps as his third best, behind "Schindler's List" and "Michael Collins" of course. He is definitely the obvious choice for such type of lead roles. The two main young characters of the film are played nicely by Claire Danes and Hans Matheson. Danes acted up to the standard of this film's allover acting level, which is quite good. Although somehow I feel Uma Thurman is a poor choice for Fantine. Her acting was not up to that level.

There are around 15-odd screen versions of Les Misérables including TV movies etc. The French production of 1982 by Robert Hossein was good and was definitely longer and more detailed than this. Many would disagree but I think this one by Bille August is better than that. Call it vulgar Hollywoodisation of old classics but still it's a worthy film on its own right, perhaps due to superb casting.