Les misérables (2000)
I haven’t read the book, and most of my knowledge about Victor Hugo’s classic stems from the musical, so I’m not an authority on which film adaptation is closest to the original story. I have heard that the six-hour French miniseries released in 2000 is the most thorough version. I wasn’t able to get my hands on a subtitled version, unfortunately, so this review will be of the three-hour English version with the same cast, released on Fox Family in the same year.
Since I do know the musical like the back of my hand, I didn’t find the scenes confusing. I could tell that there were chunks cut down or out, but it didn’t bother me because I understood the reason for it. For those of you who don’t know the musical extremely well, you might want to start out with another version. Everyone except John Malkovich speaks with a heavy accent, and often they’re difficult to understand, so you might get lost if you don’t already know the plot. Also, if you’re particularly partial to Eponine’s character, you might be disappointed that her big scene—you know what I mean—is cut out entirely.
I enjoyed watching this version because I love Gérard Depardieu and love seeing him tackle the classics. I would have liked to see the French version, not only to see twice as many scenes and to give Gérard twice as much screen time, but also to hear John Malkovich speak French. How fun would that be? His interpretation of Javert wasn’t very menacing, but instead matter-of-fact mean, and Gérard’s take on Valjean is subtle rather than overly emotional, so this version might be different than the ones you’re used to. Charlotte Gainsbourg costars as Fantine, Virginie Ledoyen as Cosette, and Christian Clavier as Thenardier. You’ll get to see Jeanne Moreau as one of the nuns and Guillaume Depardieu as young Valjean. His part was only five seconds in the English version, but I’m assuming the French version gave him more screen time.
More Gérard Depardieu movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1935's Les Misérables here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1952's Les Misérables here!
Since I do know the musical like the back of my hand, I didn’t find the scenes confusing. I could tell that there were chunks cut down or out, but it didn’t bother me because I understood the reason for it. For those of you who don’t know the musical extremely well, you might want to start out with another version. Everyone except John Malkovich speaks with a heavy accent, and often they’re difficult to understand, so you might get lost if you don’t already know the plot. Also, if you’re particularly partial to Eponine’s character, you might be disappointed that her big scene—you know what I mean—is cut out entirely.
I enjoyed watching this version because I love Gérard Depardieu and love seeing him tackle the classics. I would have liked to see the French version, not only to see twice as many scenes and to give Gérard twice as much screen time, but also to hear John Malkovich speak French. How fun would that be? His interpretation of Javert wasn’t very menacing, but instead matter-of-fact mean, and Gérard’s take on Valjean is subtle rather than overly emotional, so this version might be different than the ones you’re used to. Charlotte Gainsbourg costars as Fantine, Virginie Ledoyen as Cosette, and Christian Clavier as Thenardier. You’ll get to see Jeanne Moreau as one of the nuns and Guillaume Depardieu as young Valjean. His part was only five seconds in the English version, but I’m assuming the French version gave him more screen time.
More Gérard Depardieu movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1935's Les Misérables here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1952's Les Misérables here!