‘Les Misérables’ – Is the Story Worth Telling?
Our local arts cinema reopened this weekend and a small group of us went to a ‘covid-secure’ screening of Les Misérables. Les Misérables is a 2019 French film set in the suburbs of Paris by director Ladj Ly. It’s (very much) not a musical and it isn’t a retelling of the famous story, though “Why do you think it was called ‘Les Misérables?’ was one of the interesting questions we discussed afterwards – as we stood shivering on the front steps of the cinema, glad to remove our masks and for the chilly evening air.
We didn’t know much about what we were going to see other than it was well reviewed whilst anticipating that it wasn’t going to be ‘feel good’. Talking about ‘difficult films’ before going in, someone commented that films which require effort are fine as long as “the story is worth telling”.
Les Misérables is very much a story that is worth telling.
In other Nexus articles Rinus has enthused about film having the power to take us to new worlds – to enter into situations that we would normally not be able to. From a cinematic perspective, I thought that the camera work was exceptional in creating in us the experience of being there.
This is a film that carries you into the lives of the young boys in their concrete high-rise world and of the three policemen whose job it is to patrol the district. We are introduced to the unofficial ‘mayor’ who seeks to maintain some kind of stability, the organised criminal element, the visiting circus travelers and the devout Muslims who seek to bring peace through disciplined religion. The police aren’t the only ‘law’ in town as each group wields its influence in a kind of fragile cold war standoff.
We were utterly gripped as we watched the unfolding events. The film ends in an interesting way – maybe one that not everyone would find satisfactory – but as someone commented, “the director had said everything he had to say and didn’t need to say anymore”.
It was then on us the viewers to pick up where the film left off. “What do you think happens next?” was the obvious question to address.
In particular, I was left wondering, how on earth might change happen in a place that appears locked into an inescapable cycle of poverty, injustice and lack of opportunity?!
Ju, Sept 2020
*image posted for non commercial purposes under ‘fair use’ of copyright material in recommendation of the film
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What a clear and important question you conclude with. To my mind, I can’t think of many questions as important to the well being of our societies, and when has any society ever found an effective answer? And just as importantly when have our leaders had the moral courage to ask this question seriously?
Thanks for a great review! I saw the film in April this year and was equally gripped by it. We hear about these realities in our own suburbs virtually every day. An impressive debut film!
What an inviting review. I only hope I can find the film. One of the paradoxes of injustice is that it is so violent when it happens close to a person and so easy to ignore when it happens to others. It sounds like this film brings the story of these boys close enough the view that we understand again the ugliness of injustice.