It’s thematically similar to the 2012 Tom Hooper musical, but shorter and has no Russel Crowe singing. Therefore, it is fully deserving of its perfect grade: [Grade: A+]

I like the idea that someone who hasn’t read my blog and assumes I summarise my thoughts at the beginning will think “What a waste of time” and click off the website and never read it again as it clearly has no substance. While that may be true, I like to think I’m not that bad and for believing this blog hasn’t totally gone to pot, I reward(?) you with a proper review of the 2019 version of Les Miserables, now out in cinemas, a film which was nominated for best international film at the Oscars.

Named after, and thematically similar to the Victor Hugo book/Tom Hooper musical with Hugh Jackman et al, the plot of Ladj Ly’s debut film is somewhat different to it. Inspired by the Paris riots. the film takes place just after France won the world cup (Why didn’t Kane square it to Sterling?), we are introduced to three policeman, team head Chris, Gwada and the new recruit Greaser. The first half of the film sees a tour of one of Paris’ poor predominantly black neighbourhoods, meeting all of the key characters and seeing increasingly suspect policing methods from Chris and a lion cub going missing. We get a feeling on increased tension, all leading to an arrest going wrong and the resulting fall out of it when the police realise a boy with a drone has been filming.

The film feels spiritually similar to La Haine (Which is un-coincidentally getting a UK re-release) and Do The Right Thing. It’s slightly different as it focuses on the policemen, although the community does influence what happens. Themes of corruption, self interest and anger run throughout. There is an unpredictability, yet no real shocks within the film as you hope things will end right, yet they often don’t.

The pacing of this film did feel quite slow at times, however it grew and sped up leading to exciting climaxes at multiple points. This goes hand in hand with a rather odd and effective soundtrack with quite an art to it. However, the atmosphere feels really colourful and more importantly, very authentic. Director Ladj Ly grew up in an area like this and you can see his passion and love for the area.

It wasn’t a perfect film by any means. The last 10/15 minutes felt a bit chaotic in the way they were shot (although in-keeping with the tone) and the Greaser white saviour narrative that almost plays out feels a bit forced as you don’t really like him that much. However, these were generally minor gripes.

The person who stole the show was Alex Manenti, who played Chris, the corrupt policeman. His performance was intense. The character came off as a loose cannon who would think irrationally and do any thing at any moment.

Summary

Intense and angry, Ladj Ly’s Les Miserables is not as musical as the one you know, but so much more passionate and authentic. With a burning energy, this is probably the best film on at the cinema right now. [Grade: A-]

I mean, I know this film was good, but was it really better than Portrait of a Lady on Fire?