History Film / LesMiserables1998

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Jean Valjean is still alive at the end of the movie, though this could just be due to the fact that the film ends long before the book did.

''Les Misérables'' is a 1998 film based on [[Literature/LesMiserables the novel by Victor Hugo]]. Directed by Bille August, it stars Creator/LiamNeeson as Jean Valjean, Creator/GeoffreyRush as Inspector Javert, Creator/UmaThurman as Fantine, and Creator/ClaireDanes as Cosette.

[[caption-width-right:310:Not the musical.]]

''Les Misérables'' is a 1998 film based on [[Literature/LesMiserables the novel by Victor Hugo]]. Directed by Bille August, it stars Creator/LiamNeeson as Jean Valjean and Creator/GeoffreyRush as Inspector Javert.

* AllStarCast: Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/GeoffreyRush , Creator/UmaThurman , Creator/ClaireDanes ...

* TheMole: One of the Friends of the ABC is an infiltrator, feeding Javert info. [[spoiler:Javert himself also tries to pull this off, but gets caught when Gavroche identifies him.]]

* ToBeLawfulorGood: Javert. [[spoiler:This question leads to his demise, as he can’t reconcile the two to each other]].

* AllStarCast: LiamNeeson, GeoffreyRush , UmaThurman , ClaireDanes ...

''Les Misérables'' is a 1998 film based on [[Literature/LesMiserables the novel by Victor Hugo]]. Directed by Bille August, it stars LiamNeeson as Jean Valjean and GeoffreyRush as Inspector Javert.

* TheMole: One of the Friends of the ABC is an infiltrator, feeding Javert info.

* ShownTheirWork: Valjean's stuttering housekeeper is retained, a detail often cut.

** [[spoiler:The change to Javert's suicide. Valjean is ''right there'', does nothing to stop him, and just walks away, relieved. This, after he'd already saved his life once.]]

** [[spoiler:The change to Javert's suicide. Valjean is ''right there'' and does nothing to stop him, and walks away, relieved. This, after he'd already saved his life once.]]

* TheMole: One of the Friends of the ABC is an infiltrator, feeding Javert info. It's how he finds about Valjean again after many years.

* KicktheDog: Javert is a fan of this trope, and in an especially cruel way, [[spoiler:terrorizes Fantine on her death bed]].

* CompositeCharacter: Marius takes on Enjrolras' place as the leader of the Friends of the ABC (although there is still a character named Enjolras in the film).

* LawfulGood: Jean Valjean. He is a type 2, and would rather turn himself in than let an innocent man suffer for his parole violation. In so doing, he would bring the law down upon his town, as he is the mayor; and abandon any hope he had of saving Vigau from corruption. It is worth noting, that he liquidates the ownership of his factory and distributes the shares to his workers by seniority, in order to give them the same chance he had.
* LawfulNeutral: Javert. For him, there is only the law. If he finds himself slandering a public official, he believes he should be punished with dismissal rather than be allowed to resign (which would be honorable). He doesn’t care what the ABC society wants; he just wants to know who they are in order to bury them.

''Les Misérables'' is a 1998 film based on [[Literature/LesMiserables the novel by Victor Hugo]]. Directed by Bille August, it stars LiamNeeson as Jean Valjean and GeoffreyRush as Inspector Javert.

!!This film provides examples of:

* AdaptationalVillainy: Javert, so much. Also Valjean punches out the Bishop during the robbery.
* AbusiveParents: Averted. The scene where Valjean slaps Cosette is clearly the only time he’s done so, to the shock and dismay of the two. Cosette calls him out on it.
* AllStarCast: LiamNeeson, GeoffreyRush , UmaThurman , ClaireDanes ...
* CaliforniaDoubling: Much of the film was shot in the Czech Republic, mainly for the period architecture; due to the march of time, parts of Prague now look more like 19th-century Paris than Paris does.
* CompositeCharacter: Marius takes on Enjrolras' place as the leader of the Friends of the ABC (although there is still a character named Enjolras in the film).
* CompressedAdaptation: The emphasis is on Jean Valjean and Javert, with other plot threads reduced or cut entirely. Even the romance of Marius and Cosette is reduced (and is not a love triangle with Eponine, who like all the Thénardiers is barely in it).
* FreudianExcuse: Played with. Javert cooly explains to Valjean that his father was a thief and his mother a prostitute, which he notes is a parentage he is ashamed of, but will not hide. His dedication to the law is clearly a polarized response to his parents, but he clearly has a particular hatred for prostitutes. This is demonstrated when he allows Fantine to be brutalized, and kicks the dog.
* InspectorJavert: Javert, obviously. He’s also a KnightTemplar to his superior.
* KicktheDog: Javert is a fan of this trope, and in an especially cruel way, [[spoiler:terrorizes Fantine on her death bed]].
LawfulGood: Jean Valjean. He is a type 2, and would rather turn himself in than let an innocent man suffer for his parole violation. In so doing, he would bring the law down upon his town, as he is the mayor; and abandon any hope he had of saving Vigau from corruption. It is worth noting, that he liquidates the ownership of his factory and distributes the shares to his workers by seniority, in order to give them the same chance he had.
LawfulNeutral: Javert. For him, there is only the law. If he finds himself slandering a public official, he believes he should be punished with dismissal rather than be allowed to resign (which would be honorable). He doesn’t care what the ABC society wants; he just wants to know who they are in order to bury them.
* TheQueensLatin: Despite being set in France, English accents are to go, with those actors who hail from beyond the British Isles assuming suitable accents for the occasion.
* RaceLift: Enjolras is black.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Jean Valjean is still alive at the end of the movie, though this could just be due to the fact that the film ends long before the book did.
* ToBeLawfulorGood: Javert. [[spoiler:This question leads to his demise, as he can’t reconcile the two to each other]].
----

* KicktheDog: Javert is a fan of this trope, and in an especially cruel way, terrorizes Fantine on her death bed.
* LawfulGood: Jean Valjean. He is a type 2, and would rather turn himself in than let an innocent man suffer for his parole violation. In so doing, he would bring the law down upon his town, as he is the mayor; and abandon any hope he had of saving Vigau from corruption. It is worth noting, that he liquidates the ownership of his factory and distributes the shares to his workers by seniority, in order to give them the same chance he had.
* LawfulNeutral: Javert. For him, there is only the law. If he finds himself slandering a public official, he believes he should be punished with dismissal rather than be allowed to resign (which would be honorable). He doesn’t care what the ABC society wants; he just wants to know who they are in order to bury them.

* ToBeLawfulorGood: Javert. This question leads to his demise, as he can’t reconcile the two to each other.

* OneSceneWonder: Peter Vaughan as the Bishop.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Jean Valjean is still alive at the end of the movie.

* CompressedAdaptation: The emphasis is on Jean Valjean and Javert, with other plot threads reduced or cut entirely. Even the romance of Marius and Cosette is reduced (and is not a love triangle with Eponine, who is barely in it).