Where is the liberte, egalite and fraternite? Les Misérables
If you’re looking for an uplifting musical where the poor triumph over the wealthy, try another movie. The latest Les Misérables captures the mood of the 2020 world – combative, divided and disheartened. It truly is a movie for the Year of the Pandemic. (Of course, it was premiered in 2019).
Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables is set in contemporary Montfermeil – Victor Hugo’s neighbourhood and partial setting of Les Misérables. Into this dirty, graffitied, housing-projects banlieue comes veteran cop Ruiz (Damien Bonnard). He’s allocated to the anti-crime squad of Chris (Alexis Manenti) and Gwanda (Djebril Zonga). The three cruise the streets, banter with the locals and generally try and keep order, if not peace.
Despite Ruiz’s best efforts trouble breaks out, largely due to Chris’ aggressive policing and Gwanda’s somewhat benign assistance and the mounting ethnic tensions. A silly act evolves into a monolithic issue and the youth, angry and frustrated by the world in which they live, seek vengeance but their methods are brutal for theirs is a brutal world. They remember 2005 urban riots.
One scene continues to haunt me: one boy recounts a story from a visit to his family’s African village – someone stole a scooter and the locals burned him alive. The others are shocked at this story. What is Ly implying? Is France “better”? Is French law enforcement, despite its issues, essentially safer? It is one of many scenes that demonstrate the ambivalence of Ly and, by extension, the disenfranchised 4.4 million who live in the banlieues.
The film ends ambiguously – the screen goes black and a Victor Hugo quote summarises the morality. “Remember this, my friends: there are no such things as bad plants or bad men. There are only bad cultivators.”
The film is tightly directed by Ly who lived in these areas and remembers the riots; he wanted to capture the “daily misery shared by everyone in Montfermeil”. The acting is great, as is the cinematography – a worthy recipient of so many awards. In all, see the movie because it’s not just a French story, it’s an international story.
Les Misérables: Running Time: 103 minutes, Rating: MA 15+, In cinemas from 27 August.
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