Les Misérables

I just finished the first episode and the excitement I feel is like no other. For the first time, I feel like the novel of Les Misérables has finally caught the eyes of some brilliant director who can bring out the full potentials of the story to light . Now right from the beginning when you watch, you can sense that there is something special about this show. The cinematography, the acting, and the outstanding story are all mixed together to exhibit a work that I might personally claim to be far better than the previous versions of Liam Neeson and Hugh Jackman.

Reading the promotional interviews make it clear the writer was very unsuited for this project and has poor literary comprehension. On the continuing relevance of Les Misérables: "People are asking themselves 'how is it possible to live a good life in a world like this?'. You know, 'can we marry the ones we love, or are we going to have to settle for second best?'" Another charming quote: "I toyed with the idea of Javert having loveless sex with a 50-year old prostitute to 'clean the pipes out.'"

He seems very preoccupied with the musical and doesn't appear to realise Les Misérables is one of the most adapted works of all time, with many non-musical versions.

He gave Marius a "wet dream" not about Cosette but his neighbour the Jondrette girl, a teenage girl forced into prostitution by her father. Heartthrob material? Actor John O'Connor seems to be thinking of the dreaded musical when he says that Marius loves her as a sister.

Amusingly the more Hugo describes you as quiet and introverted, the more likely you are to begin roaring in Les Misérables (2018).

Critics have a history of getting it wrong with Les Misérables and that trend continues here. 1/10 for competent directing and some lovely shots.

Episode 1 complete, and I will definitely keep watching. Having previously been put off the story by the musical versions I was happy to see a drama available which I hope will give me a sense of the original story with which I am unfamiliar. So far the cast seems excellent and the whole thing has a big budget feel. The story is just unfolding and I hope they can keep up the quality.

Let me start to say that I have really enjoyed the current adaptation of les miserables by the BBC. Beautiful colours, scenery, script, a classic social story and of course good actors. What I do not enjoy are the contributions by what I have to describe as the race police. Les miserables is a story, written in a time when racial diversity was less then it is now. But to portray this story in this time with the actors we now have it would be strange to cast actors on basis of racial attributes dating back two centuries. It would be equally strange to defend the choice of actors for certain characters by explaining Javert could have been Haitian as there were some Haitians in France at that time, but then you would have to argue why Javert could be from Haiti, but not Valjean, which discussion to me seems even more nonsensical. Reading some of the contributions some people seem to think that a cast must not only mention actors skills but also race, but I do not agree. I think the public is well informed enough to look past these casting choices as long as the acting is top notch. In opera we see German women play Chinese princesses in Turandot, I even saw an Afro-American Brunhilde and why not, as long as the performance does not suffer. Coming back to Les Miserables, I like how Valjean and Fantine are played, I have some trouble with Javert though, maybe more because of the character than the way he is portrayed. His motivation is explained, but his actions are not always so clear cut to me, but maybe I'm missing something as it is only the second episode.

Let's be honest - this is one of the best tv series for the last years may be decades. I am expecting serious awards for the show and lead actors especially Dominic West. I am giving it 9 because of some little inconsistencies but otherwise outstanding acting and directing.