Masterpiece: Les Miserables DVD

The significance of this non-musical production is that its six-hour length and chronological presentation provide a relatively clear and complete rendering of Victor Hugo’s story. The film, like other screen versions of Les Miserables, makes various changes in Hugo’s story. Most are minor. Some are more significant, as when Cosette recognizes Thenardier, or when Eponine goes in person to deliver a warning to Valjean. It includes many situations and events omitted from other films, such as Thenardier’s encounter with George Pontmercy at Waterloo, Jean Valjean’s time as a prisoner and his robbery of Petit Gervais, the disabilities imposed on Valjean as an ex-convict, Fantine’s abortive romance with Tholomyes, and her entrusting of Cosette to the Thenardiers, Marius’ relationship with his father and grandfather, and Thenardier’s attempt to shake down Valjean at the Gorbeau tenement. Naturally, many episodes are shortened. This film also inserts some events that do not occur in Hugo’s book. The most problematic of these is the portrayal of Eponine as a prostitute. This section might have been written by Harold Robbins. It was most assuredly not written by Hugo.The novel follows Jean Valjean on a journey from his brutalizing prison experience to redemption. Released from prison, he faces discrimination as an ex-convict. After establishing a respectable existence for himself under an assumed name, his conscience compels him to sacrifice it all to save a man falsely mistaken for Valjean. Cosette, the daughter of a woman Valjean fired unjustly, is the inspiration for much of his life; but eventually he must give her up. Having escaped from prison, Valjean is relentlessly pursued by police inspector Javert. Although Hugo never quite says this, the conflict between Javert and Valjean is one between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law (see Second Corinthians, chapter 3).In the novel, Hugo applies the term, “Les Miserables,” only to the Thenardier family. M. Thenardier in this film (and in Hugo’s book) is far from the comical buffoon presented in the musical; his face is “a mixture of vulture and shyster.” His daughter Eponine is one of the most fascinating characters in the story. Hugo first describes Eponine as absolutely repulsive. But this is not the whole story. He tells us, in her childhood, she must have been pretty; in other circumstances, her manner might have been “sweet and charming.” “The grace of her youth was still struggling against the hideous old age brought on by debauchery and poverty.” Eponine resents Cosette for her expensive clothes. Eponine offers to help Marius, but her eyes darken when she learns that Marius wants what Eponine calls “the beautiful young lady’s” address. She now sees Cosette as a rival for Marius’ affections. But, strangely, and perhaps reluctantly, Eponine works to protect Cosette and to bring Marius and Cosette together. Why? To please Marius? Or because, at some level, the street smart Eponine realizes that Marius can be happy only with Cosette?The film shows the “ambush” in which Thenardier and his henchmen attempt to kidnap Cosette and hold her in a secret location until Valjean pays them 200,000 francs, but the plan falls through. In the film, Valjean is able to overcome the thugs; in the novel, only the sudden arrival of the police prevents them from killing Valjean. After the gang members are incarcerated, one of them asks Eponine about the prospects of a new ambush at the house on Rue Plumet. In an important episode left out of the film, Eponine goes to the house and sees Cosette in the garden. This gives Eponine a chance to get Cosette out of her life, either by advising the gang to attack, or by telling Valjean to relocate. But Eponine does neither. She diverts the gang from the attack, and she leaves Valjean and Cosette in the Rue Plumet house.Having thus discovered Cosette’s address, Eponine begins a lengthy search to find Marius. The film gives a somewhat misleading impression of their ensuing conversation. In Hugo’s account, Eponine is transformed, but not because she is trying to look nice. In fact, physically, she may look worse—she has been living on the street and sleeping rough. But, Hugo tells us, “strangely, she had become more impoverished and more beautiful . . . She had accomplished a double progress, toward the light and toward distress.” Unfortunately, this is all Hugo has to say about her transformation. He describes how Eponine pauses, before giving Marius Cosette’s address, keenly aware of the likely consequences of this step. “She seemed to hesitate, as if going through a kind of internal struggle. At last, she appeared to decide on her course.” And she offers to guide Marius to Cosette’s house, telling him, “You look sad, I want you to be glad. . . . I want to see you laugh and hear you say, Ah, well! That’s good.” While they are walking, she tells him (in an important comment omitted from the film), “You’re following me too closely, . . . It won’t do for a fine young man like you to be seen with a woman like me.” Apparently, she knows that she can never have a romantic relationship with Marius. Perhaps this is why she acts to protect Cosette and facilitate Cosette’s relationship with Marius. When she reminds Marius that he promised her anything she wants, we wonder what she expects. Perhaps even she does not know.One night, Thenardier and five members of his gang again attempt to ambush Valjean and Cosette. Despite the imposing threat posed by six armed men (in the film there are only three), Eponine emerges from the shadows and physically challenges the gang. She knows she is risking her life. “What is it to me whether somebody picks me up tomorrow on the pavement of the Rue Plumet, beaten to death with a club by my own father?” In the film and the musical, Eponine screams a warning. In the book, she does not; her sheer audacity intimidates the gang members, who suspect witchcraft and move off. In the film, this scene is followed by one in which Eponine watches Marius and Cosette necking in the garden. This scene is not in the novel. Hugo tells us that Marius and Cosette, “composed of every chastity and every innocence,” actually kissed only once in all their garden meetings.The film differs significantly from Hugo’s account of Marius’ arrival at the barricade. Hugo’s narrative tends to contradict much of what he has previously told us about Eponine. He says that she is seeking to protect Valjean and Cosette from Thenardier and his gang; but, motivated by jealousy, she wants to separate Marius and Cosette, and lure Marius to the barricade and die with him there. And when she takes the bullet intended for Marius, it is not to save him, but so that she can die first. (Alas, poor Eponine. She is the victim of her creator.)But many details in Hugo’s narrative cause us to question his description of these events. It is doubtful whether Eponine wants to join Marius in death at the barricade. Previously, although jealous of Cosettte, Eponine has worked to protect Cosette and Marius, and facilitate their romance. Why should she now wish to separate them and lead Marius to his death? When they first go to the barricade, the rebels do not expect to die; they expect military units to come over to their side, and the people of Paris to rise up and support them. In any case, death by musket or cannon fire could be slow and painful—and wounds might result in lifetime disfigurement rather than death. Is this what Eponine wants for Marius? She tells him that she wants him to think well of her in the afterlife. But if, in the next world, he learns that she has worked to break up his relationship with Cosette, and lure him to death at the barricade, he will hardly think well of Eponine.Andrew Davies was evidently dissatisfied with Hugo’s version. In the BBC film, Eponine urges Marius not to go to the barricade. And after he goes there, she follows him, possibly hoping to protect him, certainly not seeking his death. Viewers might infer that, by withholding Cosette’s letter to him, Eponine causes Marius to go to the barricade. But her actions affect only the timing of events, and not their outcome. From the letter he writes after Eponine gives him Cosette’s note, we have an idea of what Marius would have told her. But Hugo and the film give conflicting versions of this letter. In Hugo’s version, Marius explains that his grandfather’s opposition makes their marriage impossible and thus leaves Marius no choice but to die at the barricade.The film version, however, does not mention the grandfather at all. It emphasizes Cosette’s disappearance—“you were no longer there. . . . But if I live, I will find you, and we’ll be together for eternity.” This implies that it is Eponine’s withholding of Cosette’s note to Marius that drives him to the barricade. In fact (as the film suggests), even if Marius had received Cosette’s letter and gone to the new address, Valjean probably would have prevented him from seeing Cosette. After all, Valjean had avoided the Luxembourg Garden in order to keep Cosette away from Marius; and when he suspects Marius’ affection for Cosette, his feelings toward him are “savage and ferocious.”Various motives drive Marius to the barricade. He wants to assist his friends, fight for his principles, and emulate his father’s heroism in the Napoleonic wars. But his main concern is that he cannot marry without his grandfather’s financial support. His fundamental problem is that, finding legal work boring and the prospect of a regular job appalling, he chose to be poor so as to have more time for contemplation. After five years of self-imposed poverty, he lacks funds to marry, or to follow Cosette to England, and therefore he believes he must die. Thus, Marius himself, and not Eponine or his grandfather, is the source of his predicament.The handling of Cosette’s letter to Marius (in the novel she actually trusts Eponine to deliver it) is significant in another respect. Hugo tells us that Eponine does not intend to deliver it. Perhaps he meant that she does not plan to deliver it immediately. If her purpose is, as he says, to separate Marius and Cosette, Eponine should destroy the letter. She doesn’t. What is she going to do with the letter? Keep it for herself? Deliver it to someone other than Marius? She must plan to give it to Marius at some point. And the act of showing him the letter would serve to reconnect Marius and Cosette. The fact that Eponine does not destroy the letter is pretty convincing evidence that she is not trying to separate Marius and Cosette. Hugo gives a clear description of how Eponine dies by grabbing the muzzle of a musket aimed at Marius and pointing it at herself so she takes the shot that was intended for Marius. The 2012 film follows Hugo’s script. Unfortunately, the 2018 film does not—in it, Eponine leaps to block the shot, but it happens so quickly that viewers can scarcely see what is happening, and the impact of this scene is lost.Hugo says that misfortune, isolation, and poverty “are battlefields that have their heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes.” He is writing about Marius. Eponine endures more pressing poverty and displays greater heroism. She guides Marius to Cosette, acts repeatedly to protect Valjean and Cosette, once risking her own life. But Hugo pens no encomium about her. With Eponine, Hugo creates in his male-dominated narrative, a liberated woman, a female superhero. But he does not like her, or at least he is not interested in her. He generally fails to explain her motives and evolution. If romance is impossible, what does she want from Marius?The film captures much of the gunfire and bloodshed at the barricade. This action plays a central role in the story, and involves most of the characters in the book. The film does not clearly reveal what led Valjean to go to the barricade. The novel describes how his reading of Cosette’s note to Marius caused him to fear losing her, and to experience feelings of selfishness and hatred of Marius. Then his reading of Marius’ farewell letter to Cosette at first evokes satisfaction that Marius is about to die. But Valjean is overcome by guilt and rushes to the barricade, presumably to save Marius. In the film, Valjean tells Marius that he went to the barricade with half a mind to kill Marius. But this does not ring true, since Marius’ last message indicates that he is about to die at the barricade without Valjean’s intervention. When it becomes clear that the troops will overwhelm those at the barricade, Enjolras, their philosophical and tactical leader, delivers a secular homily. In the novel, he tells his listeners that their deaths will bring a new era—in the twentieth century there will be no war, no crime, nor any other problems. But the film, based on knowledge of actual twentieth-century events, gives Enjolras more general lines: “Brothers, whoever dies here, dies in the radiance of the future.”In his final moments, Javert recommends revisions to eliminate abusive police procedures. He tells a fellow officer that he has released Valjean—he can’t explain why. Valjean had undermined “everything I lived my life by.” He was compelled to resign, having brought the police force into disgrace. He pauses for a long time, then leaps into the river.In one significant deviation from the book, Cosette takes part in Marius’ final conversation with Thernardier; and it is she who figures out that it was Valjean who saved Marius.In the film, as he is recovering, Marius asks his grandfather about the confrontation at the barricade, “Was it all for nothing?” His grandfather responds that it had brought Marius home to him. Neither the book nor the film comment on the irony of Marius’ situation—an advocate of equality and democracy now luxuriating in inheritances from his grandfather, his aunt, and Valjean, and highly pleased with his title as baron.In the film’s final scene we see two boys begging on the Paris streets; presumably they are the youngest children of Thenardier. Briefly mentored by Gavroche, they are now among the city’s abandoned street urchins. In the novel, they last appear in the Luxembourg Garden where they are observed by a bourgeois gentleman and his son. Reflecting his priorities, the gentleman urges his son to throw bread to the swans rather than the hungry little boys. In this context, Hugo denounces those who focus on infinite things they cannot change, and overlook the finite things they can improve. “He who does not weep does not see.” For those familiar with the novel, this is a curious ending for the story, since it could be viewed as a critique of Marius’ new lifestyle. Perhaps this is the point that Davies is trying to make.This BBC production was filmed on location (for example, Sedan, France, provided the settings for the barricade [Rue de L’Horloge], and Rue Plumet [Rue de Bayle]), and this enhances its verisimilitude. The casting is impressive. Dominic West is convincing as Valjean. David Oyelowo effectively brings out Inspector Javert’s morbid obsession with Valjean. Some reviewers have criticized the selection of Oyelowo, a black man, for this role as an effort to be politically correct. It might be noted that La Esmeralda, a principal character in Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame, is identified as a gypsy and described as a "dusky beauty" with "brown skin." Since Javert apparently had gypsy ancestry, he might also have had dusky brown skin--in which case, a white actor in this role might be as inappropriate as a black actor. One wonders if these critics were equally bothered by the political correctness of an earlier era that cast white actors as Asians (for instance, Warner Oland as Charlie Chan, Jennifer Jones as a Chinese doctor in Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, or Shirley MacLaine as an Indian princess in Around the World in 80 Days). Political correctness was evidently set aside when casting Adeel Akhtar (son of a Pakistani father and a Kenyan mother) as the story’s principal villain. Akhtar’s portrayal of the deviously malevolent Thenardier is chilling; and Olivia Colman as Mme Thenardier is almost equally unpleasant. Derek Jacobi puts in a cameo appearance as the bishop.The work of these established and highly regarded actors is complemented by younger members of the cast. Lily Collins gives a powerful portrayal of the full range of Fantine’s emotions, from extreme happiness to extreme sorrow. As Marius, Josh O’Connor is a rootless young man trying to discover who he is and what he wants. Ellie Bamber’s interpretation, which captures Cosette’s effervescent exuberance, is the best this reviewer has seen. Of the hundreds of actors who have been cast in this role, none come closer to Hugo’s description of Eponine than Erin Kellyman, a tall actress with freckles and unkempt red hair, whose appearance was somewhat darkened for this production with dirty bare feet, unwashed hands and ill-fitting threadbare clothes. Curiously, she was originally asked to read for the role of Cosette; but the producers noticed their error and cast her as Eponine, the part she really wanted. It perhaps turned out to be more challenging than she expected, as, in addition to the events in the novel, Eponine in this film appears as a prostitute, and as the subject of Marius’ erotic dream. Kellyman handles these diverse scenes well; and from her and from Bamber, viewers get a feeling for what Eponine and Cosette were really like. The same can be said for Joseph Quinn’s portrayal of Enjolras and Turlough Convery’s performance as Grantaire.This DVD provides English subtitles, and includes four bonus features, each lasting about three minutes: (1) “Les Miserables: An Introduction,” in which actors describe the characters they play and the themes of the story; (2) “The Battle of Waterloo,” which describes how the Waterloo scenes were filmed; (3) “The Look of Les Miserables,” describing work on the sets, costumes, and make-up for the film; and (4) “Behind the Barricade,” which shows where the barricade scenes were staged in Sedan, France.It is difficult to bring Les Miserables to the screen, even in a six-hour production. Although it is not without problems, this film does this about as well as it can be done. It fills in many of the details to which the popular musical only alludes. Of course, the whole story could not be told; and many scenes had to be condensed or eliminated. But viewers cannot get a better grasp of Hugo’s story without reading the book.

Sooo glad this was not a musical! It is straight-up the BEST version of this movie.

Absolutely a five star production with amazing scene settings, costuming, and I already mentioned the cast even with some superstars like Derek Jacobi in a small Bishop's role. Romance, action, history, it has it all, just like the classic book. With Andrew Davies (a giant among novel classic TV adaptations) writing TV drama from Victor Hugo's masterpiece, and with Masterpiece involved, it has to be good, very good.But...Les Mis of 2012 with Huge Jackman, Russell Crowe, Ann Hathaway, and so many more causing it to rise to 3 Oscars, 84 more awards, 117 added nominations...well...Les Mis of 2019 will never surpass that amazing 6-star rendition. It was performed as a musical adding a new dimension that seemed so missing while viewing this latest adaptation. The earlier version had such an amazing Thenardier couple, as well as a heart-grabbing street-smart Gavroache, and a breathtaking Eponine (Samantha Barks).Both the older and this new version provides the awesome experience of the classic tale, and I'm glad I purchased, but will I review over and over many times this newer version? Nay, I shall prefer the other, and bask in the musical numbers. Those who do not care for musical productions will likely disagree with me. They now have this well done newer production. To each his own, as the cliche states.Still, you are looking at a five-star DVD series.

If your only exposure to Les Mis is that musical thingie, then the alterations in cast won't seem like much, but if you've enjoyed the book, the optics of this production with altered casting may insert a mental subplot that ol' Victor didn't envision -- otherwise this was a very good production. Unless it runs for a couple of seasons, no Hollywood extravaganza of Les Mis is ever going to duplicate the book, there is just too many sub-plats, misdirects and other events there for a few hours of screen time -- still, I did enjoy this variation far more than the musical miscarriage that has gotten much more press... The acting is universally top-drawer, the sets are extravagantly real-life and the general form follows the book solidly enough that very little seems missing (until your look back ).Enjoyable...

Très bell production et réalisation.

今まで購入した中で最悪の欠陥商品です。3/14国内輸入業者、3/16ドイツの業者（輸入）、4/4国内輸入業者から購入しましたが、いずもDISK 1のPart 1, Part 2, Part 3のEpisodeが全てEpisode 2になっており、Part 1とPart 3にあるべきEpisode 1とEpisode 3が欠落しているため返品を余儀なくされました。このような欠陥商品が世界中で販売されているにも関わらずなぜすべて回収して正常な商品と入れ替えをしないのか販売元であるPublic Broadcasting Serviceの無責任な態度に怒りを感じます。正常な商品が出荷されれば購入したいと思っています。

Entertaining movie , all the French men and women, boys and girls had very pronounced English accents. LOL.

このDISKは　日本語字幕が付いていますか。

I love the DVD of Les Miserables. It was a beautiful telling of the story.