Les Miserables (2019)

Where this impeccably produced edition of PBS' "Masterpiece" truly excels, though, is in the intricate backstories for the other players. That begins with the tragic Fantine (Lily Collins); her daughter Cosette (Ellie Bamber as a teenager), who becomes Val Jean's ward; and Marius (Josh O'Connor), the aristocrat who joins the ill-fated uprising, having grown up in privilege with his grandfather (David Bradley) while being kept apart from his veteran father.

Despite having more time to tell the story, the expanded iteration doesn't always allow for ample character development. Still stunning cinematography and powerful performances will have you asking for "one episode more" by the end of each. [17/24 May 2019, p.91]

Although it stumbled a bit in the third act, I zoomed through this PBS Masterpiece mini-series in one sitting. A riveting story still relevant today, this latest version of “Les Misérables” is a cinematically stunning and beautifully acted series you won’t want to miss.

The PBS version of “Les Misérables” needs no melodies to sell it, because the sorrow and the harsh lawful judgment demonstrated throughout the story, as well as the grace radiating through its performances — with Dominic West as Valjean, Lily Collins’ Fantine and David Oyelowo’s Javert — are its songs.

Les Misérables doesn’t mess with what works, and at six-plus hours, it has the space needed to do justice to its every incident and emotional upheaval. While a few minor elements are condensed or discarded, Davies’ script is true to Hugo’s tome in terms of basic plot particulars and rousing spirit.

We viewers do get the narrative through-line in this handsome, passionate, near-heroic adaptation of Hugo’s moral fable.

Davies's sprawling adaptation satisfies our desire for spectacle and romantic tragedy with socially relevant purpose. [15-28 Apr 2019, p.12]

It traces the many infuriating ways that bad circumstances and luck can destroy lives, as well as the transformative, miraculous relief a simple act of kindness can bring. Valjean’s journey of learned compassion is the starkest example of it, but most every character in “Les Misérables” experiences similar awakenings. How good, then, to have a version that has the room and wherewithal to let them.

Les Miserables represents a substantive commitment and yet still feels hours short of an ideal and full Hugo adaptation. It's still effective as melodrama and far more nourishing as a character-driven drama than any telling of the story in recent memory.