member of the 'internet movie critics association' <a href= " http : //www . geocities . com/hollywood/studio/5713/index . html " >http : //www . geocities . com/hollywood/studio/5713/index . html</a> >from the first film version of victor hugo's classic novel 'les miserables' in 1935 with fredric march and charles laughton , to the latest ( not counting this one ) in 1995 with jean-paul belmondo and michel boujenah , there have been four other notable versions sandwiched in between . two in 1952 , one in 1957 and a television version in 1978 . hugo's fascinating novel of forgiveness and redemption is a timeless and literary classic message to be passed down for all generations to come . i've read the book twice but the last time was some 15 years ago or so and i must confess that i've never seen any of the staged versions but so what ? motion pictures capture the true essence of eternal human expression better than any other medium . just my opinion , of course , but seeing visuals spring from the pages of artful writing is truly one of life's greatest pleasures . the latest version is a pleasing , but is at times a muted adaptation that might disappoint the hard core fans of the story but will satisfy most others . i'm somewhere in between and i recommend the picture either way . set in early 19th century france , liam neeson is jean valjean , a man convicted of stealing bread from a merchant's window display and is forced to spend 19 years in prison , suffering the harsh labour of a punishment that doesn't fit the crime . the hypocrisy of 19th justice comes to complete fruition as people are judged in the workplace on their morals , but a completely immoral punishment such as this comes to pass . upon his release on parole , he examines his future through the kind actions of a monsignor who spares him from a return to prison and valjean rises above the social cellar to become a man of political influence and considerable wealth . neeson is towering in the role of valjean , uncompromising in his righteous path of redemption while retaining the strength of character he learned the hard way in prison . geoffrey rush ( 'shine' ) is javert , a man who served as an official who supervised , abused and humiliated valjean in prison and now recognizes valjean twenty years later , determined to see valjean arrested for circumstances that he considers to be a violation of valjean's parole . his intention is to expose valjean for who he once was . in this time and place , you don't have the chance to reform as society always judges you by what you've done in your past life . javert is a man so rigid in his moral high ground , that he fails to see the errors of his way . rush is completely different from the role he played in 'shine' . he proves he can make a villain just as memorable as a hero and he is truly a gifted performer . valjean now owns a factory and is the local mayor and takes pity upon a former worker , fantine ( uma thurman ) who was dismissed for having a child out of wedlock and is now forced to work as a prostitute to support her daughter that she sent away to live with others . as he is forced to leave his business behind because of the relentless pursuit by javert , valjean adopts fantine's daughter cosette ( mimi newman as a little girl and and later claire danes as a young woman ) after fantine's death and as the years pass , they try an make a life for themselves around the time of an uprising against the french monarchy . cosette's semi-romantic involvement with a young revolutionary ( hans matheson ) is the film's weak spot , an underwritten sub plot that detracts for the overall impact of the film's climax . as a richly textured and deeply felt part of literary history , les miserables transforms well into a motion picture but it is impossible to portray all of the book's elements in a 2 hour and 13 minute film but director bille august and screenwriter rafael yglesias have fashioned a version of the story that moves well , is easy to understand , and despite the lack of french accents among the cast , it's a story of redemption on many levels , most notably that of souls tormented by their past . 
