Valjean, a former criminal, has atoned for his past and now finds himself in the midst of the French Revolution, avoiding a law-obsessed policeman hell-bent on capturing him.Valjean, a former criminal, has atoned for his past and now finds himself in the midst of the French Revolution, avoiding a law-obsessed policeman hell-bent on capturing him.Valjean, a former criminal, has atoned for his past and now finds himself in the midst of the French Revolution, avoiding a law-obsessed policeman hell-bent on capturing him.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Peasant
- (as Zdenék David)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe town in which Jean Valjean becomes mayor is named Montreuil-sur-Mer in the book. This is a real port town in the region of Calais, across the waters from England. English readers of the book often missed this fact, as most past translations transcribed the town's name "blanked out" as "M____-sur-M__". In the movie the town is called Vigau, a name made up of the first and last syllables of Victor Hugo, the author of Les Misérables.
- GoofsWhen Inspector Javert is at the home of Cosette and Jean ValJean, he writes a letter and asks Cosette for an envelope which she produces for him. The type of pre folded, flap envelope that Cosette gives him would not have been invented or for commercial use in 1832, the time period of Les Miserables. Rather, correspondence would have been folded inside another sheet of paper and sealed with a wax seal and brass sealing ring or tied with a string or ribbon.
- Quotes
Bishop: Now don't forget, don't ever forget, you've promised to become a new man.
Jean Valjean: Promise? Wha, why are you doing this?
Bishop: Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil. With this silver, I have bought your soul. I've ransomed you from fear and hatred, and now I give you back to God.
- Crazy creditsSpecial thanks to the people of Kutná Hora and Mairie De Paris.
- ConnectionsAlternate-language version of Kundan (1955)
It's got a nice star-studded cast. Geoffrey Rush is magnificent as Inspector Javert. If I am to stress one aspect of his totally excellent acting it would be his accent. I just loved it. Rush brought that vintage English accent instead of the expected French accent, that's I think became more suitable. Liam Neeson is an acting genius and I would place this one perhaps as his third best, behind "Schindler's List" and "Michael Collins" of course. He is definitely the obvious choice for such type of lead roles. The two main young characters of the film are played nicely by Claire Danes and Hans Matheson. Danes acted up to the standard of this film's allover acting level, which is quite good. Although somehow I feel Uma Thurman is a poor choice for Fantine. Her acting was not up to that level.
There are around 15-odd screen versions of Les Misérables including TV movies etc. The French production of 1982 by Robert Hossein was good and was definitely longer and more detailed than this. Many would disagree but I think this one by Bille August is better than that. Call it vulgar Hollywoodisation of old classics but still it's a worthy film on its own right, perhaps due to superb casting.
- shanfloyd
- Mar 14, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Những Người Khốn Khổ
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $14,096,321
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,011,840
- May 3, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $14,096,321
- Runtime2 hours 14 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1