LES MISERABLES
Starring Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes
Written by Rafael Yglesias
Directed by Bille August
If you go into LES MISERABLES with the expectation that the Valjean or Fantine or any of your other favorite characters are going to burst into song, you're in the wrong place. This umpteenth version of Victor Hugo's classic morality tale is not, I'm sorry to say, the long-awaited screen version of the famous Broadway musical. It is rather a well-intentioned, if bloodless, dramatic version: a top drawer production, made by an internationally-renowned director, populated by A-list Hollywood stars who know their way around a period drama. It is full of acts of heroism, grand ironies, tragic falls and stunning acts of repentance- all the elements which have made the novel such a gripping read to each successive generation. So why does it ultimately leave such a dusty taste in the mouth? For all the artistry that went into its making, this LES MISERABLES is missing something. Passion? Spice? A little of the old Grand Guignol? It's hard to say. This version flirts with greatness, but as any high school lothario can tell you, flirting is not the same as scoring.
Just in case you missed out on reading the Cliffs Notes for your Sophomore English report, here's the short version of the story. Liam Neeson stars as Jean Valjean, a convicted thief who is released into 19th Century France after spending 19 years at hard labor. After an encounter with a kindly Bishop whom he tries to rob, Valjean becomes a changed man, and nine years later he has become a prosperous businessman and the mayor of the city of Vigau. The fruits of success turn bitter upon the arrival of the new Prefect of Police, Javert (Geoffrey Rush), a fanatically moral man who was a prison guard during Valjean's incarceration. Javert knows Valjean's origin, and becomes obsessed with denouncing him as a convict. Meanwhile, Valjean becomes caretaker to a dying woman named Fantine (Uma Thurman), who was forced into prostitution after Valjean unwittingly had her fired from her job at his factory. Valjean, now a kindly soul, promises Fantine that he will care for her daughter Cosette, whom she was forced to leave in the care of cruel foster parents.
Soon Javert's unrelenting pursuit of Valjean forces he and Closette into hiding in Paris. Another decade passes, Cosette grows up to become Claire Danes, Valjean has taken on another new identity, and Javert has become the Chief Inspector of the Parisian police. Cosette's love affair with the fiery revolutionary Marius (Hans Matheson), brings Javert back to Valjean's trail, and the hunt begins anew.
Literary purists will no doubt chafe at the liberties taken with the novel, the absence of key characters and the reduction of Hugo's deeply complex leads into their lightweight Classics Comics doppelgangers. But let's face it, as literary adaptations go, we've all seen worse. Anybody recall the hatchet job Demi Moore wrought upon THE SCARLET LETTER? Critics have called this story a 19th Century version of THE FUGITIVE, which is unfair- after all, Hugo came first. Sure, the book is a lot more complicated, but you can hardly fault screenwriter Rafael Yglesias for focusing on Javert's obsession with Valjean. As depicted here, Javert is a 19th century Terminator, programmed by law and damnable pride to bring Valjean to justice no matter who is destroyed in the process. This central conflict is as good a place as any for a filmmaker to hang his hat, and there is ample opportunity to forge great cinema from this rich source material.
Yet Bille August's film misses the mark. Why so? You can't blame Liam Neeson; his Valjean is yet another variation of the character he has played for most of his career: the mythical, larger-than-life hero whose most valuable possession is his honor. Oskar Schindler, Rob Roy, Michael Collins, even Briar Gates from that old Patrick Swayze dog NEXT OF KIN- they're all the cut from the same cloth, really, and Jean Valjean is part of the same heroic tapestry. I still say Neeson would have made a better William Wallace than Mel Gibson, but I suppose I'm in the minority.
No, if I have to pin it down, I'll blame the film's failure on a singular lack of an emotional arc to go along with the story line. I can't blame it solely on the script or on the direction, so let's just say both are at fault. Valjean is simply kind and brave, when he should be a tragic figure haunted by the demons of his past. Javert should personify those demons. This leads us to a serious misstep on the part of August and Geoffrey Rush. Fresh from his showy performance in SHINE, Rush seems determined to underplay Javert. Where madness and fiery passion are called for, Rush gives us quiet restraint; instead of functioning as Valjean's tormentor, he comes across as that one guy in your circle of friends who nobody likes but who nobody can seem to get rid of. This wrong decision is carried clear through to the final confrontation between the two men on the banks of the Seine, which is an utter failure. Hugo knew better than to end his story there, and the filmmakers should have know better, too.
But I'll still recommend the film, because it provides an easy introduction to Hugo for those who have never read him, and who might like to after seeing the film. Besides, I'm a big Liam Neeson fan- he was the right choice for the lead, and he more than carries his weight. My only other complaint is that, like all Hollywood costume dramas, this one suffers from a smorgasbord of accents: everything from Neeson's Irish brogue to the cockney-sounding peasants to Claire Dane's affected English boarding school accent. I suppose this solution is better than having everyone speak like Inspector Clouseau. The brave choice, of course, would have been to film it in French with subtitles. But in Hollywood, that has about as much chance of happening as a comet striking the Earth. Oh, I forgot- that movie opens in a couple of weeks.
GRADE: B
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