A surprisingly effective updating of Victor Hugo's novel.
Les Miserables (1995)
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Reviews Counted:19
Fresh:15
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7.2/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 55 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: A unique adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel. During WWII, a middle-aged man named Henri Fortin is helping the Ziman family flee from the Nazis. During their trek through France, the clan... A unique adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel. During WWII, a middle-aged man named Henri Fortin is helping the Ziman family flee from the Nazis. During their trek through France, the clan reads passages of "Les Miserables" to the illiterate Fortin, since their situation resembles that of the tome's protagonist, Jean Valjean. This sets the stage for a recreation of Hugo's novel, which mirrors the situations encountered by Fortin and the Zimans. [More]
Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Boujenah, Alessandra Martines, Annie Girardot
Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Boujenah, Alessandra Martines, Annie Girardot, Clementine Celarie, Philippe Leotard, Rufus, Jean Marais, Micheline Presle, Philippe Khorsand
Director: Claude Lelouch
Director: Claude Lelouch
Reviews for Les Miserables
It's part of the magic Lelouch has worked that his story-of-all-stories theme matches the catch-all inclusiveness of his old-fashioned celluloid showmanship.
The family reads the Hugo novel aloud to him while they travel together, and apparently they all come to realize how much their lives are like great literature.
Arresting images, the timeless battle of good and evil and triumph over insurmountable odds combine to lend a worldly veneer to this three-hour epic. In terms of human destiny, it speaks volumes.
Aspectacular-looking film with those great settings and costumes that are a hallmark of French period films.
Lelouch overworks this narrative scheme terribly: By reiterating his point and leaving nothing to our imagination, his cross-referencing shtick turns dull and belabored.
Whether Hugo's, Lelouch's, or both, you will rarely find a more powerful, cathartic, and ultimately satisfying narrative to immerse yourself in.
The film is a wealth of incident: boxing matches, prison escapes, overland chases, a train robbery, high society, low crimes.
What is most remarkable about the picture is Belmondo's work in three roles.
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