Miserables

Victor Hugo’s magnificent tale of the triumph of good over evil is a powerful story of pursuer and pursued. Set in France at the turn of the 18th Century, it follows a handsome young woodcutter, Jean Valjean (Richard Jordan), who is savagely sentenced for stealing a loaf and bears the burden of his guilt throughout his life. Befriended by a Bishop, he vows to lead a life of kindness and morality which he does but he is pursued by the obsessed Police Inspector Javert (Anthony Perkins), over a period of 20 tortured years until Javert commits suicide. Interwoven is a tale of the love between Cossette (Caroline Langrishe), the adopted daughter of Valjean, and Marius (Christopher Guard), who leads a group of insurrectionists against the Republic. The film’s climatic sequence is Government troops assaulting the rebel barricades and the subsequent uniting of the young couple.