Les Misérables
Ladj Ly attempts something real with his feature length debut: a barely-there-but-there-enough interpretation of the Victor Hugo classic in a modern setting. Channelling the ghettos of Paris, Les Misérables observes the effects of police brutality and criminal inner workings clashing together, as if it’s the people of France rebelling against their authorities in their revolution. Not many individuals here are morally just. Some people are misguided. Others are complete monsters. An exception comes in the form of Stéphane: a relocated officer starting his first day in the SCU squad. This day-in-the-life of an anti-crime unit is super ugly, but the thrills keep on coming. Unfortunately, this can be at the expense of logical narrative gestation. Some continuations are completely based on luck. Others just don’t make any sense (including the withholding of an object after a vital scene, only for that item to finally be addressed two sequences later. Why?).
The primary agenda is to follow Hugo’s claim that evil is not a trait from birth, but instilled from nurturing. Bad person attacks bad person, time and time again. The scarier Les Misérables gets, the stronger the film feels at its core. Moral compasses are such a tricky concept, because ethical behaviour has a massive grey area. There is nothing but horror for over an hour, until day one concludes; when the players go home or wait for the final hours to come, you see a different side that you knew was there, but needed a confirmation about. I’m glad the film didn’t try to fix particular statements, because behaviour is so finicky, and placing a single label on anyone is just too difficult and inaccurate.
The Anti-Crime Brigade patrolling various neighbourhoods in search of answers.
This is why the ending is so frustrating. An ambiguous free frame that is meant to create a moral dilemma within you just feels like the one particular time Les Misérables gives up. I don’t suspect an answer to be made, but having a film that is entirely based on cause-and-effect right until the final seconds feels like it deserves a different type of conclusion. Had the film been much more thought provoking like A Separation, this series of outcomes would work better. Instead, Les Misérables is fuelled by the catalysts of hate that refuse to stop the harsh chemical reaction that damages all in its path. Ah well. Aside from the occasional plot shortcut, and this misled conclusion, Les Misérables is a constant barrage of tension, that depicts a universal chaos. It’s one hell of a ride for the most part, if you can excuse its flaws.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.