Film review of the movie Les Miserables
Les Miserables tells the story of Valjean, a proud and decent man imprisoned for stealing bread to save his sister’s family from starvation. Once released, he is viciously pursued by police officer Javert for violating the terms of his probation, but he takes a Hardyesque career leap towards respectability, becoming mayor and factory owner. His path crosses with that of his poor servant Fantine, whose adult daughter Cosette falls fatally in love with revolutionary agitator Marius just as Paris erupts in violence and Valjean must make his final reckoning with Javert.
He conquers his audience with his own weapons: not so much passion as passionate sincerity, not so much power as overwhelming force. Every line, every note, every scene is sung with strong conviction and a continuous, uninterrupted intensity. The physical strength of this film is impressive: it is inspiring and made with enormous effort, like Valjean’s when he raises the flagpole at the beginning of the film. You can almost see the muscles in the movie flexing and the veins sticking out like ropes on his forehead. At the end of the movie, you really have experienced something.
The most moving scene occurs in the opening act of his film, when Valjean is amazed and moved by the Christian charity of the bishop who takes him in and forgives him for trying to steal the cutlery, gives it to him and protects it. of arrest (“I have saved your soul for God”). Valjean sings a monologue directly to the camera (“Why did I allow this man to touch my soul and teach me to love?”), his eyes alight with new knowledge. There is no doubt about it, this scene grabs the attention of all viewers.
Other times they are less successful. Fantine’s sharp portrayal of Dreamed a Dream, in extreme close-up, has been greatly admired, but to me, her acting and her appearance are a bit over the top. Poor character of hers is supposed to have sadly sold her teeth to a street dentist.
The star is Jean Valjean. But Javert gives the most open human performance I’ve seen from him. His singing is so sweet and unaware that there’s something disconcertingly attractive about Javert, even when he’s being a cruel, uncompromising law enforcement officer and royalist spy. I’ll never love Les Miserables the way its fans love it, and I’m not sure about the movie, with its weird hidden messages. But as a big screen show, this is unique.