Les Misérables, written by Victor Hugo and adapted into a major musical film by Tom Hooper, who won an Academy Award for directing The King’s Speech, also stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway. Sacha Baron-Cohen, Amanda Seyfried, and Helena Bonham-Carter also appear in the film. Les Misérables is considered to be one of the greatest works of western literature. In Victor Hugo’s story about injustice, heroism, and love, the protagonist, Jean Valjean (played by Hugh Jackman), is an escaped convict who is determined to put his criminal past in the past. Hugo’s novel is set in nineteenth-century France. But his efforts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: first, by his own conscience, when, as a result of a case of mistaken identity, another man is arrested in his place; and second, by the persistent investigations of the tenacious Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Valjean must remain free, but it is not just for himself that he must do so. He has made a solemn vow to protect the young daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), who was forced into prostitution due to financial difficulties. Victor Hugo (1802–1855) is best known for his novels, particularly Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), also known as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and Les Misérables (1862), which was adapted into one of the most successful musicals in the history of the genre. Hugo wrote volumes of criticism, Romantic costume dramas, satirical verse, and political journalism during his lifetime, but he is best known for his novels. “Every human life is here,” he said. The producer of the musical Les Misérables, Cameron Mackintosh, is “One of the top six books ever written in the history of the world.” Upton Sinclair referred to him as “a great writer” and called him “inventive, witty, sneaky, and innovative.” Author of the book “Possession,” A. S. Byatt
