Les misérables

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.

One could make the snobbish mistake and try to evaluate this movie in comparison to the book, play, or musical. If one were to see the movie as it is, a well acted and directed tale of love, betrayal and passion, then one would NEVER be dissapointed. Liam Neeson IS Jean Valjean, Geoffrey Rush IS the maniacal Javer. Paris IS the city for lovers and broken dreams. This is a movie that sweeps the cobwebs out of your heart and MAKES you feel empathy and warmth for the characters. You want to see them happy and experience some sort of peace in their world. This is a movie that one thinks about for years. A true gem.

Let me save you all from a horrible Blockbuster night. I don't know how Hollywood can bungle up a story that was the inspiration to France and now the rest of this world. Victor Hugo didn't write this story to have his work ruined by Hollywood simpletons. The story is notaccurate in the matter that Fantine did not show amourous feelings toward Valjean (played by Uma Thurman and Liam Neeson). Valjean depicted in this movie showed no progress in being a better man as the book clearly explained. Thus, leading us to the third flaw in the remake of Les Miserables. Valjean never, Never, NEVER...laid his hands on Cosette. She was his savior from doing any more wrong. All the director did in this movie was wasting the actors, studio and the publics time. If you own this movie, please take the time to burn it. Also ask yourselves this... How can anybody ruin a story that's already written? For the director... Please don't do anymore remakes, simply write your own scripts and bite the bullet on your own bad stories.

I thought the film was well acted, Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush were superb, but the film missed a lot of the plot lines and characters from the book, most importantly Eponine who is integral to the story. Maybe 2 hours was not long enough to be true to the book.

If you love the book, then you won't like the movie. You may notice that other people have noted this film as awful and stupid. All of their judgment is based on the fact that the film is not like the book. However, if you will watch the movie for what it is, NOT what the book is, you may find it is a WONDERFUL movie. The soundtrack is beautiful, the acting is great, and the message is heart-warming. I don't remember seeing such a fine drama in all my life. Not to be biased or discriminating, but if you are of the Christian faith, this movie is 10 times better. It is VERY good, even if it's different from the book. It is one of my favorite films.