Les Misérables (2019)

(Author's Note: This review was originally written before the 2020 Oscars aired so, in this review, the discussion of the nominees in the Best International Feature Film category is not a retrospection.)

With the Oscars getting closer and closer, the anticipation for the night usually leads to second viewings of the big nominees. This leads to films like Jojo Rabbit, Parasite, and even Joker coming back to theaters in order to build up their reputation and get people excited to see who will take home gold this upcoming Sunday. On the flip side, this is also the time where lesser known nominations get some of their first exposure in the states. One of those films is Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables, the French nominee going up against Korea’s Parasite and Spain’s Pain and Glory for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. While the film lost the Palme d’Or to Parasite as the Cannes Film Festival, its Jury Prize win shows that Ly’s film is certainly one to pay attention to.

First off, let me get this out of the way: Les Misérables is not another adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic French novel. The film actually follows police officer Stéphane Ruiz (Damien Bonnard) as the newest recruit to the Anti-Crime Brigade of Montfermeil. Montfermeil is famous for not only being a major location to Hugo’s novel but, according to the film, is also where Hugo wrote said novel. It has also become a tense commune that is barely kept together by a strained relationship between the locals and the police. While Ruiz is dealing with the hazing from his new squad members (Alexis Manenti and Djebril Zonga), a local disappearance leads the squad to attempt to solve the issue in order to keep two factions from killing each other. When it seems like the issue is almost resolved, a terrifying accident leads the squad to focus on a new objective: try their best to keep the accident from becoming public in order to dodge a controversy that could bring violent riots to Montfermeil.

While the film spends the most time with Ruiz, there are two other characters the film prioritizes over the rest of the cast: Issa Perica’s Issa and Al-Hassan Ly’s Buzz. Both characters are impoverished children that play major factors in the story, especially when it comes to the accident. The film does a phenomenal job of giving the audience enough information at just the right time, answering questions almost immediately after they pop up. It starts with showing Ruiz, Issa, and Buzz’s different lifestyles: Ruiz as a rural police officer now working in the city, Issa as an athletic, mischievous kid, and Buzz as a tech-savvy introvert that prefers to be by himself. Seeing these three come together in the story so fluidly is very impressive. Thankfully, the fluidity is seen throughout the film which truly makes the world authentic and engaging.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have a strong director as well. Despite Les Misérables being his first film, Ladj Ly comes in confidently with an approach that feels very Training Day-esque, going so far as to make the film feel like a documentary skeleton crew has been dropped into this Parisian suburb to follow a day in the life of its inhabitants. The film is mainly a handheld ordeal that perfectly fits the action, tension, and grittiness the film is invoking through its material, keeping the audience’s attention even when the most mundane things are happening. The cinematography is grounded and well done, the score melds very well, and the performances work very well. While not every actor is great, the ensemble itself is sturdy enough to build on the authenticity in the script and directing.

Speaking of the performances, it definitely helps that the anti-crime police squad in the film are all actors that were in Ly’s original 2017 short of the same name, going from sixteen minutes to a near two-hour expansion in this feature. While I believe Alexis Manenti’s Chris leaves more to be desired, Djebril Zonga does a great job as the complacent Gwada and Damien Bonnard’s Ruiz has his time to shine throughout. His internal conflict with his squad’s questionable tactics leads him to initially be quiet, figuring his new life in the squad could be worse than restraining Chris’ abuse of power if he spoke his mind. However, when the day gets worse and Gwada’s complacency becomes more and more frustrating, Bonnard turns Ruiz into a believably annoyed, bolder officer that does what he can to minimize the casualties in hope that it comes off as an urge for peace. Even the child/teenage actors do a great job with Issa Perica and Al-Hassan Ly leading the pack as two children becoming pulled into a situation more dire than they could’ve ever imagined.

Even with all those good graces, Les Misérables has an issue that leaves the emotional moments feeling lacking, especially during the film’s finale. Despite a well-written script that builds all of the major players, it does feel like most of the development given to the characters are surface-level when retrospectively looking at where they end up. This film almost feels like it gives up on building the characters anymore when it reaches the finale, feeling like an enjoyable end but also one that blocks any potential for the climactic emotional moment to be something that could rock the audience for weeks to come. It feels emotionally stunted and even a tad short, forgoing growth that could’ve gone another half hour for a surprise finale that, to its credit, is very well done but not profound enough to shake me to my core like other films that were in a similar, climactic position. For a film that revels in the frustratingly grey areas of the real world, its ending is way too black-and-white to be a proper resolution for a film teeming with powerful themes.

In the end, 2019’s Les Misérables is a really good film that has the story and talent to keep any audience engaged. While the ending is lacking, it still ends the film on a solid note that doesn’t leave a bad taste in your mouth. The lingering feeling of missed potential mainly gets subsided by an admiration for the script, the performances, and a directorial debut that is great enough for anyone to be curious about Ladj Ly’s follow-up. It’s a well done film that deserves its Oscar nomination. Had the emotions been more developed and profound, I would’ve had more faith in the possibility of it winning the category.