Diagonaldi Very well executed

Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

TheLittleSongbird Don't let the long length deter you, the story is such a big one that is very rich in detail and does need over 2 hours at least to tell it. This film is not just very faithful to it, the most faithful out of all the adaptations, but tells it absolutely thrillingly and with great emotion too. You are drawn into Hugo's world and in the time of the Revolution and along with the 1978 adaptation this is the version with the best characterisation(Valjean has never been this well-realised on film). While Javert is not as prominent as other adaptations his scenes do have tension and there is the feeling of he and Valjean being polar opposites as well as mirror images of one another, the sewer chase is thrilling, Valjean and Cosette's father-daughter relationship has never been more charming, the Revolution scenes have a real emotional intensity and immediacy that has been unparalleled on film and the romance is not shallow nor does it feature too much. In fact all the character relationships are explored beautifully and don't out-balance one another, one will argue that the rest of the characters pale next to Valjean here, I don't agree I think they are all convincing and it's mainly because Harry Baur's performance is so good that there may be that feeling. But it's not just how well it scores adaptation-wise that makes Les Miserables(1934) the best version of the book and one of the best of its decade but how it works so well as a film. There are more lavish and authentic adaptations of the book(1935, 1998) but that says very little because the costumes and sets are still beautifully rendered here and the Expressionistic style the photography and lighting adopt are equally striking. Arthur Honnegar's music score adds much to the atmosphere too, it is sweeping and grand yet emotional and subtly haunting too. The film is brilliantly written and treats the story and Hugo's prose like it knows that it's a classic(and Les Miserables is). The story doesn't run out of steam, allows time for things to develop and never feels too rushed or too structurally thin. And as said early on in the review what is so powerful in the book is translated every bit as powerfully here, and you can tell that everybody connected with their roles and what they're going through, kind of like it's affecting them in a personal way. Of the performances, the best by far is Harry Baur, that he is the only actor as Valjean to properly fit the role physically(Gerard Depardieu in the 2000 mini-series comes close but not close enough) is one part of the allure but every better is that he gives a towering and in this viewer's mind definitive performance in the role, noble, emotive, tragic, charismatic, initially immoral and later redemptive. Charles Vanel is a very icy and ruthless Javert, one person you wouldn't want to cross paths with and there is a tense dynamic between the two and that Javert is very strongly principled. The only thing that has been done slightly better in other adaptations is Javert having a more vulnerable side. All the performances are fine, Fantine is deeply affecting and Cosette and Marius are the least bland their characters have often been since, the only reservation is Eponine being too old(and we're not talking a bit here) but she still is written and portrayed very convincingly so it isn't too much of a hindrance. And of course Raymond Bernard's direction is superb. Overall, a magnificent film, both as an adaptation- the best film adaptation of Les Miserables by a mile- and as a film in general. 10/10 Bethany Cox

museumofdave Several of us spent most of one weekend centered around watching five different versions of Les Miserables, and the general consensus was that the earliest, this by Raymond Bernard, was the masterpiece, the most accurate reflection of the massive Hugo novel, the only one in which the relationship between Valjean and the infant Cosette is captured with understanding and charm, and the only one that doesn't count on a fiendish Javert to advance the plot. Inspector Javert, after all, is only a tool for an antiquated justice system, only one coil in a larger serpent that threatens human justice.Each of the other versions naturally has separate strengths and weaknesses, the best conventional overview version still being the 1935 Hollywood version with Fredric March and Charles Laughton, and one of the weaker entries featuring Tony Perkins as Javert (channeling Norman Bates).Bernard's version is a lasting experience! Count on an entire day to watch this, as it is separated as three different films, each with it's own visual rhythm, but all connected to the redemption of it's hero. This epic had never been released as a complete film in the United States, and thanks to Criterion, we now have the opportunity to engage with a dazzling, if sombre masterpiece.

pitsburghfuzz So far, I have not read the book, and have only listened to a few bits from the musical, and I am usually not too fond of foreign films. I saw that this was on TCM not too long ago and I decided to give a watch. It took me two days, because I was doing other things, and here is my overall impression: One of the Best Films Ever! The story is about convict, Jean Valjean(played by Harry Baur, who gives an incredible performance), has a changed experience because of a bishop who took him in(Henry Krauss), and saved him from going into forced labor for life. Valjean uses silver the bishop gives him, so he could have a new start in life. Along the way, Inspector Javert(Charles Vanel) tracks him down throughout the years, and while Valjean escapes and changes his identity. The story's main themes in my opinion, are redemption, humanity, and the revaluation of good and evil. Valjean is an escaped convict, but he shows love and compassion for his fellow man, and even takes in a dying woman's child as his own. He even offers Javert to arrest him after he has found Cosette(the dying woman, Fantine's child). While Javert, a police inspector, is at the wrong side of ethics, as he lacks the compassion Valjean has. The film runs over four hours, the longest film I have ever seen, and its worth it. You need the running time to be long so you can discover the full depth of the story. The film also contains themes of revolution which are present, but it does not begin until much later on in the film. Overall, one of my 10 favorite films, and is one you should get your hands on.

Benoît A. Racine (benoit-3) TFO (la Télévision Française en Ontario), the French Ontario TV channel has started showing the complete version of this 5 hours and 15 minutes piece (3 x 1 hour and 47 minutes) in three parts, on three consecutive Sundays, starting yesterday. This is a major event as this film is almost never shown, is not available on DVD and is usually cut down, when shown at all, to three hours. It is an amazing accomplishment for 1934 because of the following elements: the mobility of the camera, the sound effects, the music by Arthur Honegger, the witty, almost literary, visual ellipses, the interpretation of Baur and Vanel, the editing and eerie expressionistic camera angles, and the production values in general (sets and costumes cannot be topped). The only drawback of the TV showing is that the film is cropped vertically (the old "tops of the heads are missing" syndrome), which comes from cropping a 1.30:1 narrow ratio early-talkie film onto a 1.37:1 TV screen without pillar-boxing. It's still worth the watch. Needless to say: This is long overdue on DVD!Historical note: The creepy night scene where Cosette is sent, despite her fears, to fetch water a long way from home at the request of her heartless keepers, is a direct inspiration for Walt Disney's Snow White's panicky flight through the forest scene of three years later (1937).May 2008 update: As most of you probably know, the whole film is now available on DVD from Criterion's Eclipse series in Region 1.