Los miserables

Fantine's assault by a rejected customer is based on an actual incident from Victor Hugo's life that resulted in Fantine's creation: he was on his way to his editor's office when he encountered a young man harassing a prostitute. When she rejected his advances, he shoved a handful of snow down her dress and shoved her to the ground. When she defended herself with her fists, he immediately called the police to arrest his "assailant". Hugo was a minor celebrity at the time, and spoke up on the woman's behalf when the police arrived, and was able to have her set free. Hugo said he was horrified by the unfairness of the woman's situation, and began to imagine that she might have children depending on her, and thus Fantine appeared in his mind.

When Javert gets the letter from Paris informing him that "Valjean" has been caught, the tricolor French republican flag is seen hanging in the street. But this scene takes place in 1823, during the Bourbon restoration. During this time (1815-30) the tricolor was not in use.

The film opens without any opening credits. The title of the film is stated just before the closing credits.

On the 2023 4K Blu-ray release of the film, the centennial version of the 2012 Universal Pictures logo is replaced with the regular 2013 version of it without the "100th anniversary" tagline.

Featured in Chelsea Lately: Episodio #6.189 (2012)