Les Misérables (1998)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Fresh and Exciting

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Les Miserables (1998): Dir: Bille August / Cast: Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes, Hans Matheson: Based on the French classic about life without forgiveness. Liam Neeson plays a convict who escapes custody but upon his attempt to rob an Inn he is surprised when the owner responds, "You were suppose to take the candlesticks too." He served a brutal prison sentence for stealing a loaf of bread. He becomes mayor under a different name and takes pity on a prostitute played by Uma Thurman. Her untimely death puts him in charge of her daughter. As she grows older he finds it difficult to shield her from the outside world especially when she finds romance with a guy leading a revolution. Compelling premise leading to the conclusion that some people cannot find forgiveness. Directed by Bille August who made Pelle the Conqueror. Strong performance by Neeson who lives to right wrongs particularly his own. Geoffrey Rush as a cop who will not accept failure is one note and cardboard with a foolish concluding decision. Thurman is appealing as a prostitute rescued by Neeson's need to prevail goodness but her dismiss is a tad sudden and awkward. Claire Danes as her daughter is effective and predictable, and so is Hans Matheson as her current suitor whom she actually likes. Theme indicates that an act of forgiveness goes a long way. Score: 8 / 10

This version is a classic example of movie makers who take a classic story and a classic film and turn their version into something that's "important." This always results in giving us a movie that is nothing like the original story. The narrative in this version jumps all over the place. This is a lot of real "serious" acting taking place (or so the actors would like to think so!). There's also a lot of real serious sounding music.And please, do we need so many ultra-extreme facial closeups of the actors?. Does the director think we are watching this movie on our smartphones? No we are watching this either on a huge movie screen or on our large widescreen HD TV's!

Bille August's adaptation of the classic tale of redemption, revenge and romance is not a faithful adaptation of the book. Characters are reduced to bit parts, or are eliminated entirely, whilst the ending is removed. But this does not stop it from being an excellent film. Dramatically shot and convincingly acted, this is one for the ages.The ever reliable Liam Neeson provides the film's soul as the repentant convict Jean Valjean, believable as both a former criminal and a saintly figure, touching with his female costars and smouldering when confronting his nemesis, the ever watchful Javert. The Javert of this film is colder and crueller than the professional of Hugo's book, but in the hands of Geoffrey Rush, he still garners sympathy as his duty -bound world falls apart. Uma Thurman provides pathos in her brief role as Fantine, as does Claire Danes, whose relationship with Valjean provides the true emotional heart of the film. Also notable is Peter Vaughan as the Bishop of Digne, the man who sets Valjean on the path to redemption.So if you are looking for a faithful adaptation, look elsewhere. But if you seek a moving, dramatic and entertaining film, you cant wrong with this version.

No, it doesn't have singing. What Billie August's Les Miserables does have, about the decades long 'chase' between ex-convict Jean Valjean and super-cop Javert,is really strong acting across the board, and what one might call 'handsomely mounted' production style, so it can be gritty, but it almost has the feel of a film from the 40's or 50's, only a little more modern. What I mean to say is I respect this on its own level, not quite like the 2012 film, though they each have their own merits and faults. But especially here, I loved Rush as Javert, a man who is so beholden to the ideal of the law that it buries him, ultimately. I could go on comparing the 2012 and 1998 films, and I want to try to avert it, except to say that I just preferred the story here, how it was told simply, no frills (and no romantic-love triangle just plain romantic interest between Marius and Cosette, the latter being more of a character than in the musical far as I could tell). For people like Valjean and Fantine, they each work their own ways in musical/dramatic film, so on that point it's not totally fair to compare. But I love Neeson as Valjean, and I love Thurman (albeit without a Dream to Dream) as Fatine. And I was blown away by the ending, with the closure coming for both characters within the same locale. While the film may ultimately be TOO handsomely mounted in a way, or maybe the music is not super imaginative here, the story shone through here, and I could see the actors doing so much, under August's direction (and this is a guy who's done Ingmar Bergman so the man knows his character one-on-one drama), to elevate the melodrama into something potent and, for me, true. When Valjean and Javert have their face-offs, across the board they are convincing, tension-filled, but illuminating the moral dilemmas that both characters come across in the course of events. And there's plenty of subtlety to go around too. So, to recommend it would depend: do you want to see a, yes, condensed adaptation of the big-epic Hugo book, with big Hollywood stars and lots of money poured into sets and extras and squalor and... Oh, that's out now in theaters as well? It's a tough call, and you'll have to come to both modern versions both your own way. For me, I'd be interested to see any version of this compelling tale, but at the end of the day, I go for August's professionally drawn, classically shot but deeply felt direction, because, overall, for the medium of film it works.