LES MISERABLES Review
In the United States, the centuries old institution of law enforcement has been placed in a chaotic limbo: one side seeks to reform (or straight up demolish) an institution that seemingly thrives on unnecessary brutality towards the people it's supposed to protect while the other side lashes back for the institution to stand firm in the midst of a wave of cries calling for monumental change. Even so, the United States is not the only country coming to terms with what “serving and protecting” actually means for those allegedly being “protected” by an organization of law enforcers; around the world, institutions of law face continuous calls for change that are seemingly met with only disdain and brute force, especially in France. French cinema has always been one to find the artistry in the everyday workings of life, brutality and all and true, French filmmakers have been more than happy to detail the injustices that many blue-collar citizens face in their day-to-day lives, especially in regards to interactions with the police.
Like its forebears, LES MISERABLES (not to be confused with the stage musical from Victor Hugo) falls in line with its detailings of the gritty, eventful lives of those on one end of the law and their interactions with the other side. Directed by first time feature filmmaker Ladj Ly (with writing help from Giordano Gederlini and star Alexis Manenti), LES MISERABLES first seems intent on being an exact copy of every other “day-in-the-life-of-a-cop” film such as TRAINING DAY or END OF WATCH as we follow a new recruit (Damien Bonnard) on his first day as a cop on Paris’ Anti-Crime Brigade in the working class district of low end Montfermeil. Like TRAINING DAY, the new recruit Ruiz, who came to the City of Lights by way of the country with an unyielding sense of unironic duty to the citizens, gets paired up with a duo of cops, Chris and Gwada (Manenti and Djebril Zonga), who spend their days pushing the line between “good” cop and “bad” cop with the local citizens of their watch. And like END OF WATCH, Ly films these first 40 minutes or so with a gritty and realistic lense as Julien Poupard’s cinematography utilizes a Paul Greengrass style of breathless shaky camera movements and zooms that convey the crisp colored and frantic world of the director’s film.
However, just as I was beginning to settle in for a redundant if well-acted and produced cop film, LES MISERABLES takes a turn, then another turn, and then another turn as the numerous other characters of Montfermeil, such as the rambunctious child Issa (Issa Perica) and the district’s local “mayor” (Steve Tientcheu) cross paths with the boundary pushing cops. Soon, seemingly random characters and B-plots begin to converge on one another ultimately crashing into a sudden scene all too familiar these days with law enforcement and young black men. From there, Ly begins to add a dash of the fantastic as the story once more shifts its focus on the three cops facing the consequences of their actions, one way or another.
In these final few sequences, LES MISERABLES coalesces into something that is equally transfixing and frustrating. Nevertheless, what Ly and his crew concoct is nothing short of impressive as they imbue a tale of rogue cops and trod upon common folks with an unrelenting sense of humanity to it. Despite its fable-like feel by the end, LES MISERABLES presents its characters and world in a way that feels almost documentary-like with the constant trembling of the camera unsubtly putting the audiences on the ground with its three flawed protagonists. While these three characters never go beyond their designations of the “conflicted, good-intentioned cop”, the “asshole cop”, or even “the asshole cop who resents being an asshole cop”, the three performances imbue these placeholders with enough hints of human folly that make even the cliches wring out a few emotions. Indeed, every performance all around, especially from a handful of child performers including the impressive Mr. Perica, gravitates towards compelling authenticity.
Despite an influx of compelling performances, LES MISERABLES’ story shifts don’t always mesh cleanly. This is a film that has a lot to say about the current political climate of Paris, touching on intra-cultural relations in the community to the seeming disdain that the government has for its lower class citizens but even then the film’s script never seems to fully trust its characters and world enough as characters will declare the film’s ideas and themes out loud. I don’t think LES MISERABLES tries to be subtle in its messaging but its decision to flip flop between the subtle and the theatrical at points makes for a film that sometimes edges close to those Saturday afternoon TV specials. Even so, while the jury is still out on whether the film’s conclusion sticks the landing or not (I feel on one end it may be the film’s “jump the shark” moment but on the other I can respect the film’s unapologetic descent into the theatrically dramatic, which Hugo would’ve loved I’m sure), one can respect Ly’s artistic decision to find some emotional catharsis for the much abused residents of Montfermeil. Like the rest of the film, it’s not exactly subtle, but I’d be damned if I didn’t say it didn’t make for entertaining filmmaking.
In the end, LES MISERABLES digs up uneasy observations about the duty of the police and the citizens they’re supposed to protect, of what is “right” and “wrong”, of respect and fear; it also unveils unnerving questions about all of these things. For Ly and his film, the answers may be found at the end of a burning molotov or in the tender discussions of reasoning between each other; whatever the case, in this real world of our own the answers are just as unclear and muddled.
3.5/5
