No, it's lethargic and - despite being shot on authentic locations - devoid of atmosphere. Typical sterile 50s film not unlike the Milestone version from 1952. Slaughtered both more or less in a sentence when writing an article on Les Miserables adaptations, go with Bernard, Hossein and August, these are the three best films. Bernard is the stylistically most daring, Hossein the most touching and bitter, while August made the best "short" version interspersing some very thoughtful and modern bits and pieces.Jeff wrote:Can anyone recommend the Jean-Paul Le Chanois version with Jean Gabin and Bernard Blier as Valjean and Javert? Olive has got a Blu-ray coming out in a couple of months.
My criticism goes however with a caveat that I only saw a 1.85 ratio version which is missing roughly 20 minutes and dubbed in German (though this was a GDR co-production, so it's not that bad). Nice to see that all 8 major sound adaptations will be available then. Great pity that the two silents didn't made it yet.