Les Misérables: Boyz n the French Hood

By José Alberto Hermosillo

COLCOA FILM REVIEW: Brilliant, compelling, and merciless masterwork, “Les Misérables” is a fresh new approach to Victor Hugo’s magnum opus, to today’s urban, conflicting suburbs in France.

The winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes 2019 endures universal themes of inequality, marginalization, greed, violence, and social injustice.

 

Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables at COLCOA. Photo José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

 

Director Lodj Ly, influenced by his experiences during the 2005 big-city project riots, adapted Les Misérables from his 2017 Award-Winning short film.

 

The timing of this astonishing film debut couldn’t be better. Lodj’s story begins with the eruption of collective euphoria on the streets of Paris, sparked by the victorious celebration of France’s 2018 FIFA World Cup win in Russia. The event unified the country and also highlighted its social differences.

 

The film moves from the iconic Parisian monuments to the not-so-charming projects of Montfermeil, 10 miles east of Paris. Inside those tiny apartments in the middle of the raucous construction site, people crowd in, surviving on limited resources and in difficult circumstances.

 

As the camera moves in, conspicuously, we start to learn more about the composition of the new French society, integrated by Africans, Muslims, and Middle Eastern immigrants. Their descendants: hundreds of young people out on the streets, as a chorus in this never-ending operatic composition, trying to tell us something more meaningful and substantial about people’s struggles.

From the very beginning, the antagonistic groups line up. Among them are the gypsies, owners of a colorful circus; the black immigrants; the mafia guys; the Muslim Brotherhood; and the shady cops.

 

The officers’ actions trigger out-of-control chaos, and the anarchy could jeopardize their well-being. The compromising situation can be overwhelmingly dangerous and explosive, like a Molotov cocktail.

In her more serious role as Le Commissaire, Jeanne Balibar (known for “Barbara” and “I Hate Love”) instructs her police officers about the concept of “solidarity” at the police station: “There is no solidarity without a team; we are alone; you only have each other.” She introduces a new member, Brigadier Stéphane Ruiz, played by Damien Bonnard (from “The Trouble with You” and “Dunkirk”), to the squad. The other two officers, Chris and Gwada (portrayed by Alexis Manetti and Djibril Zonga), are hesitant to accept the rookie.

 

In the patrol, Chris takes the lead, acting above the law and feeling like the new sheriff in a cowboy movie town. He thinks he can do whatever he wants.

 

The officers’ felonies begin with harassment of teenage girls at a bus stop. They must also deal with merchants and informants at the open market or mediate between gypsies and Muslims over a stolen lion cub.

 

As the story unfolds rapidly, only some trends become fully resolved. The audience wants to follow up on a video taken by a drone operated by a kid who witnessed police brutality. We want to know whether the video went viral and what viewers’ reactions are in the story - after all, things get out of control effervescently. 

Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables, and actors Damien Bonnard and Djibril Zonga at COLCOA. Photo José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

This new, more visceral adaptation of Les Misérables was inspired by director Lodj Ly’s witnessing of police brutality. 

 

He said his film was hard to finance because of its subject matter. It took him nearly ten years to make. Two hundred people participated in his epic production. The young actors were primarily children from the immigrant community with no experience, hope, or future. By participating in this film, they found new meaning in their lives. 

 

In Lodj Ly’s words, he compromises with the marginalized, underprivileged immigrant community. Therefore, he is creating a film school to introduce children to the visual arts and to let them tell their stories through powerful images of their surroundings. 

 

Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables at COLCOA. Photo José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

French society unifies when the World Cup is won. Soccer gives a feeling of belonging to a country. But when the game is over, everyone goes back to their differences. 

 

The reality presented in Les Misérables shakes the viewer by juxtaposing collective happiness with the anarchy caused by corrupt cops. The award-winning project vividly depicts young people struggling with a lack of future in an alienating society.

 

The French film is cathartic, offering a small window of hope and the possibility of constructing an inclusive society soon, in an idealistic sense. 

 Djibril Zonga, actor. Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables. Film critic José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA, ©2019

 

 

Les Misérables. Official trailer.

 

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