LES MISERABLES (1998) (Columbia/Mandalay) Starring: Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes, Hans Matheson. Screenplay: Rafael Yglesias, based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Producers: Sarah Radcliffe and James Gorman. Director: Bille August. MPAA Rating: PG-13 (adult themes, profanity, violence) Running Time: 131 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
I've been hearing people refer to the new film adaptation of LES MISERABLES as "Lay Miz," which goes to show what the common frame of reference is going to be. That abbreviated moniker comes, of course, from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's immensely popular musical adaptation, which has been selling out theaters around the world for over a decade. Millions of people already know the story of a convict named Jean Valjean, whose twenty year struggle to build a new life after his release from prison is thwarted repeatedly by a monomaniacal police inspector named Javert. They already know of the romance between Valjean's adopted daughter Cosette and a rebel leader named Marius. They already know of a civil war in the Paris streets somewhere beyond the barricades. They know all this not so much because they are familiar with Victor Hugo's novel, but because of that musical with its signature waif-and-tricolor iconography.
Bille August's straightforward rendering of LES MISERABLES makes you realize exactly why the story works so well as grand opera. The screenplay by Rafael Yglesias (FEARLESS) efficiently streamlines the narrative, following Valjean (Liam Neeson) from his conversion at the hands of a kindly bishopto his life as a businessman and mayor to his decade hiding out in a Paris convent, all the while hounded by the relentless, unforgiving Javert (Geoffrey Rush). Along the way he cares for a destitute young woman named Fantine (Uma Thurman), and eventually becomes the guardian of Fantine's daughter Cosette (Claire Danes).
The film is certainly faithful to most basic events of the novel, though it cuts certain characters entirely and chops other encounters down to a bare minimum. It's not textual fidelity which is lacking in LES MISERABLES; it's emotional scope. Virtually every scene feels muted, the passions tamed to a state of dignified dissatisfaction. What LES MISERABLES really needed was for someone, anyone, to break into song. The stage production captured the sweeping melodrama of Hugo brilliantly -- the battles carried a tragic grandeur, the conflicts shook the foundations of society, and the deaths were moments to jerk tears from the driest eyes. There is no substitute for the kind of dramatic economy music or a well-constructed song can provide; three minutes of furtive conversation between Cosette and Marius (Hans Matheson) can't create nearly the convincing sense of love at first sight that three minutes of "In My Life" does. The film seems to have been crafted and edited strictly to make sure certain necessary plot details were included, with little interest in building momentum towards a cathartic release.
From a certain standpoint -- one with no musical preconceptions in the way -- LES MISERABLES is perfectly effective as period drama, and a fine introduction to the classic story. Technical credits are first rate, with costumes by the gifted Gabriella Pesucci (THE AGE OF INNOCENCE) and effective recreations of 19th century Paris. The exceptional cast does generally sharp work, particularly Rush in a more interesting and subtle performance than his Oscar-winning showcase of tics and flourishes in SHINE. Often, however, it feels as though August is keeping them all on a leash, eschewing musical theater in favor of "Masterpiece Theater." There's no real power to the film, nothing which suggest the popular response inspired by the musical. I suspect that the only viewers who will be genuinely satisfied with LES MISERABLES are those who don't come in with radically different expectations in mind...expectations most succinctly expressed by the two syllables "Lay Miz."
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 less MISERABLES: 5.
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