France’s Oscar® Entry for Best International Feature ‘Les Miserables’ 2019

Les Miserables directed by Ladj Ly is not based on Victor Hugo’s classic story, but it’s set in the same region in France and has the spirit of the original. Ly originally directed an acclaimed short in 2017 of the same name that set the stage for this larger feature focused on police brutality and crime. This is a powerful, powerful film coming from the inner city of Paris.

Les Misérables, French director Ladj Ly’s debut film, was inspired by his original short. It was the joint winner of the Jury Prize at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival

Les Misérables depicts life in the gritty Paris suburb of La Cité des Bosquets. It is a powder keg ready to ignite, with tensions running high between the immigrant community and the authorities.

Director Ly, who grew up in La Cité, states:

Les Misérables is about social misery in the first instance, but also the universe of the French banlieue, touching on police violence, education, and the place of children in these neighborhoods. It is a very political film.

Speaking about the choice of title, Ly said that he wanted to make the point that extreme social injustice persists despite the hundred years that have passed since the writing of Victor Hugo’s famous novel.

The action begins slowly as a new cop, Stéphane “the Greaser,” joins the two-man crime unit of the crooked, rough-talking Putin look-alike Chris, and the more sympathetic Gwada, who grew up in La Cité. The team makes a few stops, harasses some teenage girls, and checks out the marketplace where the mayor holds court, trying to keep the peace among his stressed-out and unruly subjects. When Issa, a young teenage troublemaker- thief, steals a baby lion from the circus of a band of gypsies, the pace of the film explodes in a chaotic downward spiral of violence.

Les Misérables presents the situation of the immigrant banlieues with sympathy and subtlety. If the film has a moral, it is that the actions of the few cannot change the perverse dynamic of a society abandoned by the authorities. (written by Nicole Guillemet)

The relationship between the cops and the youth deteriorates beyond repair. Opening with a new cop being introduced to the neighborhood where the high school is called Victor Hugo, the parallel story of Les Miserables unfolds today. Its closing line, also a quote from Victor Hugo, “There are no bad plants or people, only bad cultivators” aptly rounds out the story. The structural bookending of this masterpiece urgently speaks of the horrible state of the poor in all our cities — who are of other ethnicities from the ruling class.

This film is this era’s Battle of Algiers. How well I remember the huge impact that film had on us back when. But will it get the eyes it deserves without a proper theatrical release? Unfortunately, it may receive an otherwise bland theatrical release through Amazon (without Bob Berney as their lead dog). It will rely on getting into the right inner city and westside theaters in NY and LA to generate the word of mouth it can generate if given the chance. Unifrance’s Adeline Monzier in New York runs a film showcase in Harlem and I am so curious about the reception of Les Miserables..

International sales by Wild Bunch. U.S: Amazon

During Cannes 2019, Amazon Studios acquired U.S. rights to Ladj Ly’s French-language drama Les Misérables in a $1.5 million deal (a high-water mark at Cannes for a first-time director).

It played an unusually large number of film festivals, presumably to create buzz ahead of its theatrical release in those territories…Cannes International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, Milan, Munich International Film Festival, Durban International Film Festival, Jerusalem Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Atlantic Film Festival, Montpellier, El Gouna Film Festival, Athens Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, Ghent Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Twin Cities Film Festival, Carthage Film Festival, Camerimage International Film Festiva

Ladj Ly was born in 1978 in Mali. He began his career as an actor and member of Kourtrajmé, a collective created by directors Kim Chapiron and Romain Gavras. In 1997, he directed his short film Montfermeil Les Bosquets with the Kourtrajmé collective. He went on to work on 28 Millimeters (2004), 365 Days in Clichy-Montfermeil (2007), and 365 Days in Mali (2014). In 2017, he directed his short film Les Misérables (The Pitiful), which won the Canal+ Award at the 2018 Clermont- Ferrand Short Film Festival. Les Misérables is Ly’s first feature film, inspired by his original short. It was the joint winner of the Jury Prize at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

France | 2019 | 102 min
French, with English and Arabic Subtitles

PRODUCERS: Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral, Alexis Manenti

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: SRAB Films, Rectangle Productions, Lyly Films

SCREENPLAY: Ladj Ly, Giordano Gederlini

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Julien Poupard

EDITING: Flora Volpelière

MUSIC: Pink Noise

SOUND: Arnaud Lavaleix, Matthieu Autin, Jérôme Gonthier, Marco Casanova

CAST: Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga

Les Miserables . Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables isn’t based on Victor Hugo’s classic story, but it’s set in the same region in France and has the spirit of the original. Ly originally directed an acclaimed short in 2017 of the same name that set the stage for this larger feature focused on police brutality and crime. This is a powerful, powerful film coming from the inner city of Paris. The relationship between the cops and the youth deteriorates beyond repair…Opening with a new cop being introduced to the neighborhood where the high school is called Victor Hugo, the parallel story of Les Miserables unfolds today. Its closing line, also a quote from Victor Hugo, “There are no bad plants or people, only bad cultivators” aptly rounds out the story. The sophisticated structural bookending of this masterpiece urgently speaks of the horrible state of the poor who — in all our cities — are of other ethnicities from the ruling class.

Unifrance’s Adeline Monzier in New York runs a film showcase in Harlem and I am so curious about the reception of Les Miserables. Unfortunately, it will receive an otherwise bland theatrical release through Amazon (without Bob Berney as their lead dog). It will rely on getting into the right inner city and westside theaters in NY and LA to generate the word of mouth it can generate if given the chance. Once again, Silicon Valley shows it doesn’t care about theatrical marketing. Pity. This film is this era’s Battle of Algiers. How well I remember the huge impact that film had on us back when. But it get the eyes it deserves without a proper theatrical release?