Les Misérables

do you have the one that speaks English?

Les Misérables_360P

English please

I feel like something might have been lost in translation when it came to this movie and me. I'm not French, and admittedly am not very knowledgeable about any real life cases this movie is surely based on, or at least inspired by. I went into this looking for a compelling cop/crime movie, and appreciated it for some of its visuals, performances, and its overall message. Because yes, the topics it deals with- crime, inequality, police brutality, systemic violence and cycles of oppression etc.- are all very important. The only problem is that I don't think the film is saying anything new or particularly eye opening. The Wire has dealt with this stuff amazingly well and in much greater detail, throughout many of its episodes. Most importantly, The Wire also managed to do all this while telling fascinating stories and giving us dozens of well developed, flawed, yet interesting and frequently sympathetic characters. More than anything else, I think this is the biggest problem with Les misérables. The writing was weak to me. Like I said, it's well shot, the acting is all pretty good, the themes are relevant, and its message an important and more than agreeable one. But I just felt it did so little to involve me as a viewer. If you compare this to something like City Of God, which has a fantastic, relentless sense of pacing and a high number of hugely emotional scenes, this movie just falls apart. The main incident that gets the plot going takes too long to happen, and then doesn't really cause the plot to build or progress. The story then comes in fits and bursts. Some scenes feel like they go on forever. The characters are incredibly one-dimensional, and none really change or grow throughout the film. The dialogue is fairly basic, and there's little in the way of humour, sadness, or tension. There feels like there's about three different endings before a more exciting climax suddenly appears... only for it to be cut short by a hugely pretentious and eye-rollingly sudden ending. Like, I get what they were saying by ending it the way they did. But it felt so cheap and unearned, especially because it had already felt like the movie had ended multiple times before that. It's barely over 100 minutes in total, but it felt more like two and a half hours. Oh also, more of a nitpick- and certainly not a problem for those who speak French- but the subtitles weren't very well done in my opinion. They weren't bold enough, and so often when the white lettering appeared on a white or mostly white background, I couldn't read them too well. Giving them a black outline, making them bolder, or putting them on the black border at the bottom of the screen (which happens given this film is shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio) could have solved this. I think there was potential here for a more compelling movie, and if you're more after a film with a powerful message that reflects and touches upon current issues, this could be worth a watch. It'll likely start conversations, and open eyes, and maybe that's enough. I just thought it largely failed as a story; as an actual film. It highlights the importance of pacing and well-developed characters more than anything else, because everything else was done quite well. It fell apart with the writing for me, but I know I'm in an extreme minority here, so if this looks interesting to you, please don't let the ignorant, random non-French guy on the Internet put you off this too badly. I just had some thoughts I had to get out I suppose, and overall, it's far from terrible, even with what I perceived to be a fairly weak screenplay.

In Paris the fragile peace between gangs and police is threatened when a lion cub from the circus goes astray. Depicting the harsh and violent culture of the authorities and those the authorities universally neglect and forget (the world over): you reap what you sow and cultivate, if it has sharp fangs it will bite you where it hurts the most.

This is a vivid depiction of a terrible "bainlieu"--a ghetto located in a Paris suburb. It's filled with poor immigrants, random criminals, juvenile delinquents, aimless kids, and all sorts of riff raff whose behavior ranges from viciousness to general mischief. With ineffective or no parenting or schooling, it's just chaos. There are fundemenalist Muslim preachers (some former convicts) and local gang leaders trying to impose their version of order. Into this add three cops--one a macho idiot, one well-meaning but weak, and one who is genuinely decent. The film does a pretty good job of showing how an abusive cop behaves, and it also captures the unreasonableness of the mobs of lawless teenagers who make life impossible. Where it ultimately fails is creating the implication that these things are somehow morally equivalent or that the corruption of a rogue cop is a significant part of the reason for this chaotic, dysfunctional ghetto. Bad cops may thrive in an environment like this, but ghettos are not created by police. A fair depiction would emphasize other problems, many in the home, and a few good and bad cops would be minor factors. But movie makers can't resist humanizing criminals and demonizing cops, and the result is a 50/50 mix that is basically nonsense. I found the film incomplete and, in essence, an empty platitude.

The film was showed at the VIFF in October. The Director is Ladj Ly. It's an insight into a rough Paris suburb, Montfermeil. The same district used by Victor Hugo as backdrop for his novels. While the motive is to increase social consciousness of the conditions in this concrete jungle, the director has also crafted an excellent thriller. The film opens with scenes of Montfermei boys celebrating France's soccer victory, with waving of French flags. Then, we follow them around Montfermei which is not a nice place. On a parallel track, we are introduced to unassuming policeman (Corporal Ruis) who joins a plainclothes detail in Montfermei. Ruis is part of a roving patrol, demonstrating police 'presence' to the pimps, drug dealers and petty criminals. Ruis is told that a * here costs 2 euros. It gets complicated because of the presence of a Muslim Brotherhood chapter that is trying to provide moral leadership. And, a black mayor trying to be a player. Then, there's the kid who uses a drone for peeping. Ruis' sergeant believes that he is the Law in the area. Using violence and coercion to get his way. Abusing teenage girls for illegally smoking. In general, believing like a pig. The two narratives collide. The minor incident of a lion cub stolen from a circus, rapidly escalates into what Ruis calls 'the worst day of my life..." Underlying the dangerous political and social instability in districts like this. After a very tense and violent afternoon, the men return home where they are just sons and fathers. Unfortunately, the next day, the neighborhood kids exact revenge with an insurrection. Ambushing the cops. The film ends on a cliff hanger. All of the actors, young and old were excellent. Pacing was just right for a 100 minute show. Many background shots between the action scenes. IMO, this is as good as it can be without the length of a mini-series.

The movie is very good but left me a bit unsatisfied. It is well shot with good acting from all the actors. But it seems like the story was mixed with La Haine, Banlieue 13 Ultimatum and City of God. The bad cop/good cop story line along with the outsider point of view of one of the policemen felt cliché (as some parts of the dialogue). It has a good message and I could clearly see the intentions of the director in making this movie. But, as someone familiar with French cinema that shows Paris suburbs, police brutality and racism in France in general, I haven't seen anything new here. And I know there's still a lot in those issues that hasn't been shown in movies yet. As this movie is nominated for an oscar I was expecting something more.

The first 90 minutes of this film is a quite impressive multiple viewpoint drama showing the difficult interactions in a rundown Paris immigrant neighborhood between an ethically challenged three member police unit, the impoverished immigrant residents (largely Moslem and African), and assorted adolescents. The presentation is quite realistic. I was moved. If the movie had ended there, I might rate it a 9. Unfortunately it did not. Instead the film is marred by its violent not credible ending. Hence my rating of 7. On one day, while investigating a case concerning the theft of a lion cub, the three policemen are set upon by the adolescent thief's teen age friends. The children threaten the police. They throw rocks. The police overreact, seriously injuring the thief as he tries to escape. Various consequences ensue, but in the end a level of calm is apparently restored. Alas, in revenge the next day the three police and several other adults are ambushed by a highly organized gang of young men wearing black hoodies. Garbage cans and shopping carts are thrown at the police down flights of stairs. Flares and fireworks are shot at the police. The police behave stupidly. Rather than wait for back-up, they put themselves into a situation of extreme life-threatening danger. The adolescents, instead of behaving as a disorganized gang of delinquents, suddenly show an almost military level of tactics and organization and a lethal rage. Frightening and as disturbing as this violence is, intellectually I simply could not buy into it. Sorry, but a group of socially marginalized boys cannot be transformed in a single day into an almost military level combat unit.

Some people acknowledge that this movie is well shot, but complain that it doesn't get the roots of the problem, doesn't point out the culprits, probably the capitalist society and France's colonial past. Neither does it offer much in the way of easy solutions, which would have been completely off the mark. Any of that would have led to a militant movie that would have satisfied a few militants but that would have had much less impact on the rest of the viewers. People compare this movie to La Haine, which was a landmark in its time; but Les Miserables takes a much wider view, where each participant - even the shadiest - has his own logic (few women in this movie, btw) and reasons for doing what they are doing. It is this humanist outlook that tags it to Victor Hugo, rather than the story that has little to do with the novel of the same name. The suspense is riveting to the end, all the more that we don't know exactly where the movie is going. There are loads of short appearances by little-known actors that leave you wondering whether they are are actually acting a part or playing their own role. The action scenes are realistic and original.