`Les Misérables' excellently retold with modern angle

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RATING: * * * * 1/2

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by Chris McKenzie

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Instead of taking place during the French Revolution, the story takes place during the first half of the twentieth century. And instead of Jean Valjean, Hugo's bread-stealing anti-hero, we have Henri Fortin, an ex-boxer whose fortune changes over the course of two world wars.

Through this change of period, director Claude Lelouch manages to maintain much of the scope and drama of Hugo's novel and avoid simply rehashing a story that's been told on-screen plenty of times already.

But if all you Les Mis fans are disgusted by such an idea, you should know that the movie in no way pretends to be a replacement for the book, nor does it try to present a watered-down version of Hugo's novel. In fact, the film implies an implicit knowledge of the original tale; it's best appreciated by those who have read the book or heard the story.

Fortin buys the Hugo novel, despite the fact that he can't read, about half way through the movie. As it's read to him by the Zimans, a Jewish family he is helping escape Nazi-occupied France, he begins to see parallels between its characters and himself, parallels that those familiar with the story see at the movie's beginning.

At the turn of the century, Fortin's father is put in prison for a crime he didn't commit; his mother is forced to prostitute herself to survive. After being orphaned at age six, he is raised by a sinister shopkeeper until the end of World War I allows him to buy his own freedom and become a professional boxer. He befriends the Ziman family toward the beginning of the German occupation, and after he tries to help them escape, he is targeted by vengeful policeman for the rest of his life.

Fortin (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) becomes fascinated by the parallels, and the book begins to play a major role in the movie. Even though the plot is aided by "flashbacks" -- vignettes from the Hugo novel -- there are references and nuances that only a person well-acquainted with the story could fully grasp.

The movie progresses through World War II as the plight of the Ziman family begins to mirror that of Fortin's. It corresponds to one of the movie's main contentions -- that "there are only two or three stories in the world, and we must all live them over and over." Much of the latter half of the movie is Fortin's attempt to prevent history from repeating itself yet again with the Zimans.

Throughout the movie, we're presented with many of the crucial events of the early twentieth century through the eyes of Henri Fortin; it's almost a French Forrest Gump in the way it spans over the decades.

Claude Lelouch is best known in the United States for his movie A Man and A Woman , but he's well-respected in France for over a dozen films. Jean-Paul Belmondo is sort of an unlikely choice for the role of Henri Fortin; in his earlier films, he's more of a grunt character actor. Seeing him in this movie is like seeing Sylvester Stallone in his late 50s playing Ebenezer Scrooge. Amazingly enough, he pulls it off successfully.

This movie is large in scope, scale and length (almost three hours). When it was released in France last year, it was hailed by some as a "masterpiece," and I, for one, will not disagree.

Film lovers will appreciate it for its sheer beauty as a film; Les Mis lovers will appreciate it as a complement to the original. It is not for everyone, as it is three hours long and in French with subtitles.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the December 1, 1995 issue.

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