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Director: Ladj Ly, France 2019, 104 mins, 15
"Les Misérables is not merely named after Victor Hugo’s celebrated novel, it shares its setting and succeeds splendidly in a mutual goal" Los Angeles Times
Three police officers searching for a stolen lion cub set light to a tinderbox of tensions in the Paris suburb of Montfermeil. Director Ladj Ly grew up and still lives in Montfermeil, and he knows intimately its underclass of French society for which little has changed since Victor Hugo used the same location in 1862. Expect moments of brutality, racism, and humour, with very subtly nuanced characterisations. This insightful Oscar-nominated film grabs your attention from the start and builds to an unforgettable climax.
"Occasionally recalling the more urgent, ragged work of Spike Lee in its feverish, on-the-ground formal energy, Les Misérables is aptly galling as a study of everyday power structures tested and exploited to breaking point" Variety
