Les misérables

Jean-Paul Le Chanois,as anyone past infancy knows ,at least in France ,was the "Bête Noire" of the Nouvelle Vague .More than any other director,Godard and his clique were ruthless when they used to speak of him.Unlike Carné ,Duvivier,Clouzot and Grémillon- other victims of the Young Turks who were better than their persecutors anyway- ,he was never restored to favor even by the contemporary critics.Jean Tulard writes in the "Dictionnaire des Réalisateurs" ::" He represents the mediocrity of the fifties cinema (...)He made the worst of all "les Miserables" versions(..) " Objections to Le Chanois's version remained: the pictures are too clean,the characters (particularly Danielle Delorme's Fantine) seem well-fed .Bourvil is miscast as Thenardier:he is too gentle ,too nice to portray him successfully.Cosette is forgettable as a girlie,she is totally bland as Marius's love.How can a director be wrong with the famous scene of the doll,which every French schoolboy and every schoolgirl in my country know by heart? Such is the case here.Waterloo battle and the scenes on the barricades are not really exciting .(But Hossein's slow motions in the 1982 version starring Lino Ventura were not really an improvement on it.

On the plus side,Gabin is a good Valjean -he does not equal Harry Baur in the Raymond Bernard version though- and Bernard Blier is the best Javert I've ever seen.The Valjean/Javert relationship would inspire lots and lots of screenplays,"the fugitive" for instance.Also worthwhile is Silvia Montfort's portrayal of Thenardier's daughter:she easily outclasses Beatrice Altariba's Cosette.

People complain because there are scenes in the novel that were not filmed.Let's not forget that it's a mammoth novel:only a miniseries could do Hugo justice.And anyway it's better than the Liam Neeson version and its happy end.

NB:When the movie was released in France it was divided into two parts (called "epoques" (=eras)) which was the word they used at the time and the audience was invited to come back and thus pay twice to see the whole.

This version of the famous novel of Victor Hugo I found very suitable in general, with good acting and a narration, which give a real idea of the book. As I said several times several films never coincide with their original written versions, but this time the director Jean-Paul Le Chanois made a good effort in having a material as much similar to the book. Jean Gabin, for me the best all-time French actor, plays a good role as Jean Valjean seconded efficiently by Bernard Blier as Javert and several other French and Italian actors/actresses. I am sure that not all should agree with the opinion given here by me, but it depends how you feel about Hugo wrote. Misery is shown not only materially but spiritually as a sign of decaying society.

Classic French rendition with atmospheric production design, evocative cinematography in Technicolor Techniscope and awesome cast giving nice acting throughout. Set in 19th Century during Revolution of the Thirties , throwing over King Louis XVIII and taking over power Louis Felipe Orleans in 1830 and subsequent revolutionary fights for the French Republic . After facing poverty and a long time in prison for stealing bread for his starving relatives , convict Jean Valjean : Jean Gavin is freed . Later on , paroled Jean robs precious objects, and is detained but is reedemed for the kindness a bishop. After that , he carries out a prosperous life and is eventually appointed as a Mayor . But Police Inspector Javert : Bernard Blier finds out his true identity as he recognizes him and wants to bring him down . Along the way Valjean cares for an unfortunate prostitute named Fantine and adopts her daughter Cosette : Beatrice Altarriba taking her to París as his own child , and she subsequently falling for a student called Marius : Exposito, who has revolutionary ideas and joins the Revolution led by obstinate leader Enjoiras : Serge Reggiani . The pursuit consumes both men's lives and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolution of June 1832 bursting after General Lamarque's death. The legend comes to life .

This known story Is nicely detailed , well paced , with a lot of incidents fitting to Victor Hugo's novel. As the plot follows faithfully the ordinary canon , as the ex-criminal relentlessly chased by the stubborn Javert , playing a cat and mouse game. Main and support cast deliver top-drawer performances . Jean Gavin is extraordinary as an ex-convicted who was imprisioned of a minor crime and spends the rest of his life mercilessly chased. While Bernard Blier is magnificent as the unrelenting and implacable policeman who pursues Valjean here and there . The ordinary comedian Bourvil here plays the extremely nasty and ambicious Thenardier . Beatriz Altarriba and Exposito perform the two lovers Cosette and Marius who are usually cared by Jean Valjean.

Other versions are the following ones : the classic Hollywood rendition Les Miserables 1935 by Richard Boleslawski with Fredric March, Charles Laughton , Rochelle Hudson, Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Les Miserables 1952 by Lewis Milestone with Michael Rennie , Robert Newton, Debra Paget. Italian version Les Miserables 1952 by Riccardo Freda with Gino Cervi, Valentine Cortese . Les Miserables 1982 by Robert Hossein with Lino Ventura, Jean Carmet, Michael Bouquet . Les Miserables 1995 by Claude Lelouch with Jean Paul Belmondo , Alexandra Martínez, Annie Girardot , Rufus, Jean Marais , Philippe Leotard . Les Miserables 2008 by Billie August with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush , Uma Thurman, Claire Danes, Hans Matheson , Peter Vaughn . The lavish musical 2012 Les Miserables by Tom Hooper with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried , Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen. And TV series Les Miserables 1978 by Glenn Jordan with Richard Jordan, Anthony Perkins , John Gielgud , Cryl Cusack, Flora Robson . And Les Miserables TV series 2018 with Dominic West, David Oyelowe, David Bradley, Olivia Colman , Lynn Collins , among others.

I have seen numerous film adaptations of Les Miserables. This 1957 French version (directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois) is the best one I have ever seen. I watched the version that was produced by The Bridgestone Group in 1992 with English audio (ISBN# 1-56371-044-7). It aligns closely with the plot of the novel, and the cinematography is outstanding.

Being a diehard Les Miserables fan, I first learned the musical and then read the book. The musical, though wonderful, was nothing in comparison to the book; there was just so much material in the book that it couldn't all be put in the musical. In this movie adaptation, however, much effort is made in accuracy to not only the plot of Victor Hugo's novel, but the atmosphere and characters. Scenes are filmed as near to where they actually took place in the book as possible, and characters reflect the Hugo's original intentions. The plot is concise enough to be understandable, but full enough to give the viewer a true sense of Hugo's message. Overall, it is a wonderful adaptation and an excellent film.