I had never seen the play, the musical, nor read the book before seeing the film, yet my exposure level was already high. My girlfriend loves the musical and loves the story, so I've picked up a lot over the past couple years on the general story (most of my exposure has come from frequent listenings to the full cast cd of the musical... listened to, but not paid attention to).
With all this exposure, however, I didn't know what to expect. I hadn't pieced together all the intricacies and plotlines of the story, nor really put them in order. I knew the story spanned three time periods, but I didn't know which events happened when. Well, with the new movie based on Victor Hugo's novel, and filled with an all star cast, it was all spelt out clearly for me, and I must say I was surprised at how involved I became and at how quickly I was so.
The film starts off following Jean ValJean, just released from 19 years of prison (for stealing food to feed himself). Weary and in need of rest, ValJean searches a small village for a place to stay, eventually finding a priest and his housekeeper who take him in, give him food, and allow him to sleep for the night. ValJean can't find work, but knows he must make some kind of living without resorting to crime. To get himself started he steals the priest's silverwear. He is caught, however, but the priest allows him to keep the goods as long as he vows to change himself and live an honest and charitable life.
Just over a decade later, we find ValJean as the mayor of a small town, the owner of it's major factory, and having the reputation of a fair and generous (as well as strange and reclusive) man. He is content with his life, living it honestly and charitably, but all is shaken up when Inspector Javert walks into his life as the new head of local police. Javert, you see, was one of ValJean's penetentary guards in a former life, and ValJean, having successfully hidden his criminal past from his loyal townspeople, fears that Javert will unleash his secret (in those days, criminals always remained gutter trash and the only way to get anywhere in life was to lie, which ValJean had).
Entering into the mix is Fantine, a worker in ValJean's factory, who had many years before gave birth to a bastard girl. The rumour mill what it was, Fantine was fired for having questionable morals which could rub off on the workers, unbeknownst to ValJean. To support her little girl who was being cared for by another family, Fantine began to prostitute herself, eventually becoming rather ill with pneumonia. Javert encounters Fantine when he arrests her after she was assaulted. ValJean catches wind of this and comes to Fantine's rescue, caring for her in his own home and trying to bring Cosette, her daughter, back to her mother.
Eventually Javert finds evidence he needs to expose ValJean, and does so as Fantine lays on her deathbed. Escaping and retrieving Cosette (fulfilling Fantine's last wish that her daughter be cared for by him), ValJean, now a hunted man, and the girl find way into Paris, where they spend the next ten years squalored away in a Nunnery school.
Ten years later, Cosette decides she wants to explore the outside world, and to the chagrin of Jean ValJean they leave the Nunnery and find a rather nice place. Cosette meets a young university student and leader of the current revolution, Marius, who is being watched closely by now Paris Inspector Javert (who has not forgotten about ValJean). Cosette's relationship with Marious blows ValJean's cover and the whole story comes to a head when the revolution begins and the final confrontation between Javert and ValJean is at hand.
The performances in the film are absolutely fabulous. Liam Neeson as ValJean, and Geoffry Rush as Javert couldn't be better matched as nemesis' in their cat-and-mouse game. Uma Thurman also provides a stellar performance as the ill and desparate Fantine. Even the minor actors in this film provide excellent performances. The only weak link, I must say, is Claire Danes' performance. Doubtlessly she a talented young actress, but the British accent was terribly forced and appeared to distract her from her performance. I thought maybe a young British (or Australian) actress would have worked better.
The movie itself fell short once the focus shifted from the ValJean and Javert to Cosette and Marious and his revolution, which is probably true of the novel and musical as well. The shift in attention is really jolting, and not as involving.
The music, costuming and sets were all spectacular and quite Oscar noteworthy. The ending of the film was also a great treat, as were all the "alone" moments between Rush and Neeson. It's not the best film ever made, but it certainly is a good one.