Les Misérables

Summary:
Prisoner 24601, known as Jean Valjean, is released from prison and breaks parole to create a new life for himself while evading the grip of the persistent Inspector Javert. Set post-revolutionary France, the story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion.

During the French Revolution, convict Jean Valjean is released on parole by prison guard Javert after serving a nineteen-year sentence. He is offered food and shelter by the Bishop of Digne, but later steals the Bishop's silver dishes after everyone is asleep. He is caught by the authorities, but the Bishop states that he gave the convict the silver and demands that Valjean be set free. Ashamed of his crimes against the generous holy man, Valjean breaks his parole and vows to start a new honest life under a new identity

Plot:

This was a very good story, a bit violent for my taste, but I get that it was necessary. It was heartfelt, and although it was quite long it didn’t bore me at all. The romance was great, although a little Romeo and Julietesque (not a word, I know...), and I loved Jean Valjean’s whole story. The music was fantastic, the acting superb.

Characters:

Wonderful! Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is a marvelous character, he is caring and humble, but not perfect. Fontine (Anne Hathaway, who totally deserved that Oscar!) is also a great character, you can feel her every emotion. Javert (Russel Crowe) is the ‘bad guy’, but he truly believes everything he does is right, his character fascinated me personally. Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) is a pretty, innocent girl who falls in love for the first time, a wonderful contrast to most of the others, she is like a ray of sunshine the darkness of the rest of the film. Also the child Cosette (Isabelle Allen) was incredibly cute, and what a wonderful little actress! Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) is Cosette’s love interest, as well as Éponine’s (Samantha Barks), he is a revolutionary, who sides with the poor people, although he comes from a wealthy family. I personally think Éponine was my favorite character, she was the most relatable for me. Then there is the Thénardiers (Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen) a pair of thieving innkeepers who were intended to provide some humor in this otherwise tragic tale. They were funny at times, although the humor was quite crude.

Cinematography:

Beautiful, stunning! This is a photographic masterpiece. The darkness that could be seen throughout the movie, and the lights at the end made the atmosphere in this movie so much more intense. The costumes and make-up were very well done as well. The singing were a little off-key at times, but considering the fact that the actors were singing live in many parts, this is completely understandable.

Who should watch this:

(PG13), there is quite a lot of mature content especially violence and crude humor. I’m not sure what I would compare this with, only know that it’s going to make you cry, so if you don’t like that you won’t like this.

My rating:

I really liked this movie, it was just a very well-made film, with wonderful acting and a good storyline. Like I said before, I’m not a huge fan of violent movies, but it was necessary. I’m also not a fan of crude humor, so that part bothered me a little…3/5

Quote:
I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I'm living!

Sorry this was such a long review, it seems that the length of my reviews depend on the length of the book/movie!