Les Misérables (1934)

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Les Misérables (1934)
Topic Started: Aug 6 2007, 06:19 AM (244 Views)
Laughing Gravy	Aug 6 2007, 06:19 AM Post #1
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,062 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Criterion continues to release a series of memorable films without the usual bells & whistles under its Eclipse imprint. A recent acquisition here in the Balcony is a Raymond Bernard boxed set that features the French director’s 1932 anti-war film Wooden Crosses and his sprawling, amazing 1934 version of Les Misérables. Bernard decided not to truncate Victor Hugo’s epic novel, but instead to divide it into three sections and create three separate films, to be screened separately. The three parts are Tempest in a Skull, The Thénardiers, and Liberty, Sweet Liberty, and their combined running time stretches to more than four and a half hours. Yesterday, we watched the first part. Harry Baur is Jean Valjean, paroled after 19 years of hard labor (he’d stolen a loaf of bread, and then resisted arrest) in early 19th century France. As an ex-convict, he’s unable to find lodging or work, and even the children throw stones at him. He steals silver from a bishop, the only man who shows him kindness, but when he’s captured and the bishop tells the police that the silver was a gift, Valjean is on the road to redemption. He changes his identity and eventually builds a successful factory, employing most of the town and growing quite wealthy. He becomes as good a man as there is, and is revered by those who know him. He’s named Mayor, but the Chief of Police, Inspector Javert (Charles Vanel) begins to suspect his true identity. One of the seamstresses in Valjean’s employ is discharged when it’s revealed she has had a child, Cosette, out of wedlock; events dictate that Valjean will eventually become the child’s guardian and protector. First, he’s got to avoid the dogged Javert, which becomes impossible when an innocent man is arrested and erroneously identified as the “notorious” escapee, Valjean. Only the real Valjean can save him from life in prison, but at the cost of his own freedom. Bernard keeps the show moving and accessible; we get a dazzling array of camera angles from which to watch the story develop (the cinematography is by Jules Kruger, who had shot Abel Gance’s 1927 epic Napoleon). At first, I thought Baur miscast as Valjean, but I grew to love him, and Vanel is letter-perfect as the tenacious Javert. The film itself tells a timeless story about the struggle between man and forces beyond his control (“The state counted the money,” the warder tells Valjean, who is complaining that he did not receive his full stipend after his release on parole, “and the state never makes a mistake”). The film had a checkered history; apparently successful as a three-parter in its initial run, a year later it was edited down to a single feature, and when it debuted in New York in 1935, its running time was 162 min. The film was re-released in France as a 2-parter in 1944, with all references to revolution and political uprising sheared away. It wasn’t until the 1970s when a near-blind, aged Bernard was commissioned to restore the film, that Les Misérables was restored to an approximation of its original intent and nearly five hours’ running time. It’s a remarkable film, with an unforgettable score by Arthur Honegger, and this is one of the DVD releases of the year.



Laughing Gravy	Aug 9 2007, 09:09 PM Post #2
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,062 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Tonight, I watched part two of the wonderful 1934 version of Les Misérables. This episode was called The Thénardiers. In this part, Valjean rescues the little girl, Cosette, from the hideous innkeeper and his even more hideous wife, and raises her as her own. Moving forward 8 years, the girl is 16 and in love, but her beloved's political leanings and the return of the Thénardiers, the family that raised Cosette as a child, threaten Valjean and his adopted daughter and bring the tenacious Inspector Javert back onto the trail. More talk than action this time, although there is a bodacious fight between Valjean and seven thugs hired to rob him by Thénardier (after the massive Valjean mops up the floor with all of them, all the young Thénardier urchin son can say is to deadpan, "That was embarrassing"). Josselyne Gaël is lovely and charming in the so-far thankless role of Cosette; Jean Servais, her lover, Marius, is even better. This is one of the greatest films I've ever seen, and I continue to be impressed -- closer to "blown away" -- by the camera work.



Laughing Gravy	Aug 17 2007, 05:44 AM Post #3
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,062 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	And last night, this sprawling epic concluded with the third episode, "Liberty, Sweet Liberty". This time, we get pretty much non-stop suspense and action as the Revolution breaks out. As the students barracade themselves in a plaza and await the battle, Valjean promises Cosette that he'll find Marius and bring him safely home. Along the way, he also finds the dogged Javert, who has been captured by the republicans. The fate of both men lies in their notion of duty and honor. Wow. I hope I've inspired some of you to check this film out; it's wonderful. The scenes of the funeral procession attacked by the republicans, and the ensuing preparations for the Revolution, are filmed so leisurely here that the suspense becomes nearly unbearable. And the death of the street girl, Eponine, is so powerful that I could scarcely recover from it and get back into the other characters. One of the greatest films I've ever seen.



Frank Hale	Feb 8 2009, 10:14 AM Post #4
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	Haven’t made it to Les Misérables yet, but watched Wooden Crosses. Interesting French take on life in the trenches, nicely produced if a bit set-bound, and according to the liner notes, a bit hit in France. Unfortunately it traverses exactly the same ground as Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet On The Western Front and it in no way compares with that earlier film. The characters are simply not as interesting or well-defined. The print is excellent despite an opening disclaimer, and the Eclipse series continues to be an absorbing treasure-trove of obscure (to me) films.



Frank Hale	Jul 19 2009, 01:02 PM Post #5
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	Saw the first part of Les Misérables trilogy. Definitely the best filming I’ve seen of this oft-told tale, although I feel rather overexposed to the whole saga. In pacing and in mood, very close to the Orson Welles radio broadcast. Definitely agree with Gravy about Harry Baur. During the first half hour when he’s in rags he seems totally out of place, yet when he dons the Mayor’s clothes he seems irreplaceable.


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