Les Miserables

Not to be confused with the Victor Hugo novel or the Schonberg musical, Les Miserables is a modern-day drama set in the Paris suburb of Montfermeil (where Hugo had written his novel), portraying the struggle of high-strung and power-drunk local police within the community they are meant to be protecting but with which they are at a total disconnect.

First-time drama Director Ladj Ly got to make the feature off the back of his award-winning short by the same title and closely-matching cast. Ly, of Malian descent, himself grew up in the very suburb he portrays, which he’s spent years filming as a documentarian. The sharp eye he has for the subject matter is evident, as we are escorted into this world unfamiliar to us, but very familiar to its makers. It is a privilege cinema allows us, to be invited into worlds and experiences we might have otherwise never known. Though the Director here is clearly working with his heart as well as his head, this world is one none of us would wish for.

We join Stephane on his first day on the job, having just moved to the area, as part of the anti-street crimes unit – driving around with two partners and scoping out for potential trouble. Most of the trouble however seems to come from one of his colleagues whose work ethic crosses the line into harassment. Eventually an attempted arrest goes wrong, a scuffle ensues, and over the next 24 hours things spin out of control.

The film’s title perfectly reflects its intention, to invoke the parallels of corrupt authority on the general population, in the same geographical location, in the 19th century and the 21st. The film comes out on the 25th anniversary of Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995). Even without this milestone, it’s inevitable that parallels to that modern cult classic are also being drawn – portraits of communities swept aside into poverty, treated with suspicion, and taken advantage of; and asking the question, how much longer can this pressure cooker carry on for? What is hugely different however is that Les Miserables is missing the hip-hop, soulful element that La Haine has, the Director instead opting for a darker, atmospheric synth soundtrack. There is no breakdancing here. But there is a kid with a drone. And we all know the powerful effect police brutality caught on video can have.

The cast of unknowns is absolutely brilliant, particularly the children who bring an uncanny, even worrying, authenticity to the story. Opening with the streets of Paris flooded with football fans celebrating France’s 2018 success in the World Cup, a country unified, and ending with a harrowing conclusion which stunned me. My body stiff, clogged with unresolved emotion, I struggled to get out of my seat and leave the cinema.