Les Misérables: a solid but wise adaptation (review)

Fred Cavayé tackles Victor Hugo’s epic novel with an assumed classicism that robs it of breath but with a major advantage: his casting, Tahar Rahim and Vincent Lindon in the lead.

The Count of Monte Cristo And The Three Musketeers continue to make waves. In the category of rereading French classics, this time it is the turn of Fred Cavayé to tackle Victor Hugo. Here, the river novel is adapted with assumed classicism: it is ample, illustrative, and all the star episodes are present. Hence sometimes the impression that the film ticks boxes (the cart, the stolen money, Fantine sacrificed, the barricade, etc.) with the seriousness of a diligent student. Where the Monte Cristo of the duo La Patellière-Delaporte dared to display panache, Les Miserables stay a little wise. Fred Cavayéwhich dreamed of a Hugo “like The Fugitive”, depicts the hunt for a man on the run and in fact, he succeeds better in the chase scenes than in the great pieces of revolutionary bravery.