Les Miserables Review
by Bob Bloom (cbloom AT iquest DOT net)January 31st, 1999
Les Miserables (1998) 3 stars out of 4
The newest screen version of Les Miserables is like its hero, Jean Valjean, strong and solid.
This adaptation of the Victor Hugo classic about social injustice and redemption is a well-acted, moving movie.
But looming over this production, like a giant elm keeping it always in shadow, is the very popular musical stage version of the book. For more than 10 years people around the world have become familiar with Hugo's story through this extravaganza. They know the words and they hum the music.
However, that should not stop anyone from enjoying director Bille August's newest incarnation. Only don't expect any surprises.
Jean Valjean (Liam Neeson) is paroled after 19 years in prison for stealing food. He finds a night's sanctuary at the house of an archbishop, whom he repays for his kindness by stealing his silver.
When the archbishop refuses to send Valjean back to jail, telling his captors that he made a gift of the silver to the ex-con, Valjean is freed and his life transformed. The archbishop tells the confused Valjean that he has ransomed his soul for God, and that he must now walk the path of righteousness.
Neeson is a wonderful Valjean. His bulk conveys the weight of a man who is striving to do good, to compensate, not only for the injustice in the world, but for his own past.
Neeson's Valjean is a man always looking over his shoulder. He is striving for a bright, peaceful future for himself and adopted daughter, Cosette, while continually running from his past.
That past is represented by Javert (Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush), the police inspector who ferrets out Valjean's secret and vows to bring him to justice.
Rush's interpretation of Javert is the movie's only drawback. Rush's Javert is too implacable, too grim. The tragedy of Javert is that he is a man for whom the law is everything. He is so blinded by adhering to the letter of the law that he forgets that law is tempered by justice.
The audience should feel pity, even a bit of compassion, for Javert and his merciless obsession with Valjean. But Rush refuses to allow that. His inspector never reveals the chink in his armor, thus when his end comes, the audience feels relief instead of loss.
Javert is a character to be pitied not scorned.
Clare Danes is wholesome as the grown-up Cosette, who while loving her adopted parent, fights the restraints he imposes on her to protect their lives.
Uma Thurman's Fantine is another figure who is trampled under the weight of society's injustices. Dismissed from her job because she has an illegitimate daugther, she is forced into prostitution to earn money for her daughter's upkeep.
A haunting score by the usually bombastic Basil Poledouris adds a touch of yearning to Les Miserables.
Les Miserables has been filmed many times both in the United States and France. Thus, because of its various screen incarnations and the worldwide popularity of its musical cousin, it is a story that offers no surprises.
August, wisely, sticks to the basic text. Les Miserables is nothing more than a very good adaptation of a classic novel. It is literate, well-crafted entertainment.
And until that day that the film version of the musical arrives, this production should serve nicely.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at
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Carol Bloom of Bloom Ink Publishing Professionals
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