DIRECTOR: Ladj Ly
PRODUCERS: Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral
PRODUCTION CO: Fabula, Komplizen Film
SCREENPLAY: Ladj Ly, Giordano Gederlini, Alexis Manenti
PHOTOGRAPHY: Julien Poupard
EDITOR: Flora Volpeliere
MUSIC: Pink Noise
WITH: Damien Bonnard (Brigadier Stéphane Ruiz), Alexis Manenti (Chris), Djebril Zonga (Gwada), Issa Perica (Issa), Al-Hassan Ly (Buzz), Steve Tientcheu (Mayor), Almamy Kanoute (Salah), Nazar Ben Fatma (La Pince), Raymond Lopez (Zorro), Jeanne Balibar (Commissioner) 

AWARDS: Jury Prize, Cannes 2019

REVIEW

“About as far from being a rousing stage musical as is possible, Les Misérables’ exhilarating, engrossing portrait of war on the streets between a swaggering Anti-Crime Squad and the myriad gangs they are trying to police shared the Jury Prize at Cannes.

In sharp contrast to the opening scenes of a unified France celebrating its 2018 World Cup win on the Champs-Élysées, the film takes place in a troubled Paris suburb over the course of a tightly-wrought couple of days, recalling Training Day with its portrayal of compromised cops, the crossing of ethical lines and the conscience of a newcomer. But director Ladj Ly’s rendition of the drug- and poverty-stricken banlieues of working-class France is less Hollywood and more naturalistic à la The Wire, with astonishing performances by everyone from his three lead thugs to the indignant crooks, beleaguered immigrant families and children caught in the crossfire.

Ly’s 15-year career in documentary, focusing on sociopolitical issues arising from events such as the 2005 Paris riots, clearly informs his approach to this fictional, but all-too-relevant, tale. Les Misérables is his first dramatic feature, but his realist fingerprints are all over it, notably in a key plot point which remarkably derives from autobiographical experience.

Complex in its morality, lacking judgement of its characters, Les Misérables is a high-energy, contemporary musing on the problems explored by Victor Hugo over 150 years ago.”

– Sarah Watt, NZIFF 2019

“When the police, through brutality, have lost the trust of their neighbourhood, it doesn’t matter who’s really in charge; violence is inevitable. The curtain between uneasy peace and outright war is gauzy indeed.”

– Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

“This… slice of realist French cinema… bursts out with the same vigour, passion and realism as Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine.”

– Richard Mowe, Eye For Film

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Dunedin   
Wednesday,, 9 March, ,7.30pm

​Palmerston North   
Wednesday, 30 March, 6:00pm

​Whanganui   
Monday, 9 May, 7:00pm

Wellington   
Monday, 11 July, 6:15pm

​Hamilton   
Monday, 25 July, 8.00pm

Auckland   
Monday, 7 November, 6:15pm

Celebrate CONTEMPORARY CINEMA >>