Out on the streets and increasingly unwell, Fantine sells her hair, teeth, and eventually her sexual favors to support Cosette. Meanwhile, one of Valjean's workers, Fantine, is fired by the foreman when she is revealed to have an illegitimate daughter, Cosette, living with the greedy Thénardier family, to whom Fantine sends her earnings. Witnessing Valjean rescuing a worker trapped under a cart makes Javert suspect the former's true identity. He is startled when Javert, formerly a Toulon prison guard, arrives as his new chief of police. Moved, Valjean breaks his parole and assumes a new identity, intending to redeem others.Įight years later, Valjean is a respected factory owner and mayor of Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais. Valjean attempts to steal his silverware and is captured by police, but the bishop claims he gave him the silver, and tells him to use it to begin an honest life. His paroled status prevents him from finding work or accommodation, but he is sheltered by the kindly Bishop of Digne. In 1815, French prisoner Jean Valjean is released from the Bagne of Toulon after a nineteen-year sentence for stealing bread for his nephew. Additionally, it received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture (the first musical nominated since 2002's winner Chicago) and Best Actor for Jackman, and won three, for Best Sound Mixing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Supporting Actress for Hathaway. It also won four British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), including for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Hathaway. The film won three Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Jackman, and Best Supporting Actress for Hathaway. However, Crowe's performance as Javert was heavily criticized his singing, in particular, was almost universally panned. It received generally positive reviews: many critics praised the direction, production values, musical numbers, and the ensemble cast, with Jackman, Hathaway, Redmayne, Seyfried, and Samantha Barks being the most often singled out for praise. Les Misérables premiered at Leicester Square in London on 5 December 2012, and was theatrically released on 25 December 2012 in the United States and on 11 January 2013 in the United Kingdom. Filming took place on locations in Greenwich, London, Chatham, Winchester, Bath, and Portsmouth, England in Gourdon, France and on soundstages in Pinewood Studios. Principal photography began in March 2012, with a budget of $61 million. In June 2011, production of the film officially began, with Hooper and Mackintosh serving as director and producer, and the main characters were cast later that year. In 2011, producer Cameron Mackintosh sold the film rights to Eric Fellner, who financed the film through Working Title Films. The story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion of 1832.įollowing the release of the 1980 musical, a film adaptation was mired in "development hell" for over ten years, as the rights were passed on to several major studios, and various directors and actors considered. Set in France during the early nineteenth century, the film tells the story of Jean Valjean who, while being hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen.
The film is a British-American venture distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is based on the 1985 West End English translation of the 1980 French musical by Boublil and Schönberg, which itself is adapted from the 1862 French novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. Les Misérables is a 2012 epic period musical film directed by Tom Hooper from a screenplay by William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, who wrote the original French lyrics, Claude-Michel Schönberg, who wrote the music, and Herbert Kretzmer, who wrote the English lyrics.