The first 100 or so pages of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables are the focus of Jean Valjean – The Story of an Honest Man. Source: Australian Catholics.
Most of us are familiar with the backstory of Jean Valjean and his 19-year imprisonment for stealing bread to feed his starving family.
Gadebois is terrific in the eponymous role. Jean is coarse and brutish upon his release from prison; any finer feelings having been beaten out of him over his years of hard labour.
He is a beast of a man, lumbering and heavy set and there is a distinct air of menace about him. He walks through unforgiving terrain and his misanthropy grows with every demeaning interaction with villagers.
Jean is directed to the local priest’s door to secure accommodation. Here he receives unexpected kindness and compassion from Monseigneur Bienvenu (Campan) and his sister (Lamy) while the housekeeper (Carré) treats him with suspicion.
During discussions over the dinner table the Monseigneur, a pious and humble man, reminds Jean that God is his host everywhere and that one was not to refuse what one might yet become. This conversation sets off one of the most famous tales of theft, forgiveness and redemption in literary history.
I found the scene where Valjean takes a sou (coin) off a chimney sweep and is immersed in his own thoughts most affecting. You can almost see him deciding that he will change his ways, a subtle shift in his demeanour and carriage indicates a turning point, a revelation that he will change his life to become a good man.
Here is a tale of moral redemption and a reminder that the actions of others can profoundly affect the trajectory of our lives.
Elsewhere, St John Henry Newman noted, “Who can account for the impressions made on him?” Such impressions can remake a life.
We see Jean Valjean shake the shackles of shame and sin to offer his life instead as one of goodness and service to others. A lovely soundtrack and evocative scenes of the countryside and local domestic life all add to the quality and a period authenticity of this film. Highly recommended.
Review by Ann Rennie, Jesuit Media
Jean Valjean – The Story of an Honest Man: Starring Grégory Gadebois, Bernard Campan, Alexandra Lamy, Isabelle Carré. Directed by Éric Besnard. 99 minutes. Rated M (Mature themes and violence)
FULL STORY
Jean Valjean – The Story of an Honest Man (Australian Catholics)
