Based
on the 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo and the
musical of the same name, Tom Hooper's Les
Misérables is a moving experience that,
despite its flaws, reaches the heart in a big
way with its depiction of the wretched
conditions of the poor and its theme of
forgiveness, sacrifice, and redemption. The film
is notable for towering performances by Anne
Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie
Redmayne, Samantha Barks, and others plus great
songs written by Claude-Michel Schönberg
and Alain Boublil. There is no spoken dialogue
and everyone in the film sings. Some do it
effectively, others not so much, but the fact
that the songs are performed live rather than
pre-recorded, expands the emotional content,
enhancing rather than detracting from the
overall impact of the music. As well, repeated
close-ups create a feeling of intimacy with the
singers that can be missing on stage
The time period of Les Misérables spans
10-40 years after the end of the French
Revolution. Hugh Jackman is Jean Valjean, a
convict, imprisoned for nineteen years for
stealing a loaf of bread and repeated efforts to
escape. As the film opens, Valjean is paroled
but policeman Javert (Russell Crowe), a staunch
defender of the status quo, vows to follow him
and hunt him down. Impoverished and hungry,
Valjean takes refuge in a church where he is
welcomed by the Bishop of Digne (Colin
Wilkerson) and given food and a place to stay.
In the scene that follows, the film first
establishes one of its main themes, that of
forgiveness. Valjean, doing what he has always
done, steals silver from the church but is
caught by the police and returned to the church.
In a key moment of the film, instead of being
punished, the bishop pretends that the silver
was given freely to Valjean and even gives him
some candles that he allegedly forgot. This act
of kindness will stay with Valjean and transform
his life. Eight years later, Valjean, still
being pursued by Javert, has changed his name to
Monsieur Madeleine and has carved out a new life
for himself as a respected mayor and factory
owner in the small town of Vigau. Fantine (Anne
Hathaway), an employee in his factory is
harassed by fellow workers and fired by her
manager when he finds out that she has given
birth to a child out of wedlock.
The little girl, Cosette (Isabelle Allen), is
looked after by unsavory innkeepers Monsieur and
Madame Thenardier (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena
Bonham Carter) who provide some comic relief,
though their presence can seem extraneous and
jarring. To stay alive and care for her child
Fantine must sell her hair and teeth and turn to
prostitution, a demonstration, according to
Hooper, of the ideal of sacrifice. Fantine is
willing to lose everything, her body, her life,
to try to save her child. In one of the film's
highlights, Hathaway's magnificent performance
of the song, “I Dreamed a Dream,” is delivered
with searing emotion as she sings about how life
has killed her dreams.
Valjean visits Fantine on her death bed and
promises to rescue Cosette from the
Thénardiers and raise her as his
daughter. The film then moves ahead nine years.
Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), now a teenager, has
fallen in love with Marius (Eddie Redmayne), a
student revolutionary who is also being sought
after by Eponine (Samantha Barks), the young
daughter of the Thénardiers. In what has
become known as the June uprising of 1832,
Marius joins with his friend Enjolras (Aaron
Tveit) and his supporters in establishing the
Friends of the ABC, a group seeking to free the
oppressed lower class of France by rising
against the constitutional monarchy of
Louis-Phillipe and establishing a new French
Republic.
One of the inspirations behind the uprising is a
young boy, Gavroche (Daniel Huddlestone), who
becomes a symbol of the ideals of the rebellion.
Manning barricades in the streets, the
revolutionaries, vastly outnumbered by
government forces, are inspired by such songs as
“Red and Black,” and “Do You Hear the People
Sing?” The songs say that, “When the beating of
your heart echoes the beating of the drums,
there is a life about to start - when tomorrow
comes, and asks us to reflect on the question
has that relevance today “Have you asked of
yourselves - what's the price you might pay?”
Marius, who has paid a dear price in the
crushing of the revolt and the death of many of
his friends in the battle sings the soulful
"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” one of the most
moving anthems of the film.
Though there would not be another student revolt
until 1848, the stirring message of Les
Misérables touches our yearning for
freedom and justice. Hugo is a humanist and the
story is a joint examination of radical politics
and the need for forgiveness and kindness, of
whether the Red of Love is more important than
the Red of Revolution. Les Misérables is
more than a grand spectacle and musical
extravaganza. Its message of opposing social
injustice and the domination of the many by the
few also reminds us that charity and compassion
must be the unifying force in any attempt to
change the system.
