Les Misérables is an epic tale of love, honor and obsession played out against the dramatic backdrop of early 19th century France. It tells the story of Jean Valjean, whose theft of a loaf of bread condemns him to an unjust prison sentence and a life on the run. An act of forgiveness, however, changes the course of his life forever. He becomes the respected mayor of the poor town of Vigau and transforms it into a thriving community. He also falls in love with one of Vigau's most pitiful, poverty-stricken residents, the beautiful Fantine, and devotes himself to her care. Fantine's untimely death signals a new chapter in Valjean's life, during which he raises her daughter Cosette, whom he desperately attempts to shield from the dangers of the world. As she matures, she falls passionately in love with Marius, a charismatic young Parisian revolutionary. All the while, Valjean is hunted by Javert, a policeman whose lifelong search for Valjean has turned into an obsession.

In Rafael Yglesias' adaptation for Mandalay Entertainment, the film culminates in a final, fated confrontation between Valjean and Javert on the banks of the Seine at the explosive height of the July Revolution in 1832.

The DVD picture is matted at 2.35:1 and exhibits excellent composition. Besides some minor shimmering, the picture contains no other artifacts. The color scheme consists of muted palettes from the surrounding grey structures to the formal black attires. The atmosphere reinforces the gloominess with constant overcast skies and drab lighting. Colors are well saturated and look great on the red and blue uniform of the guards. The interiors are low-lit by candles that reveal appropriate shadow details and deep blacks.

My interest in this film grew after listening to Basil Poledouris' dramatic score on the CD soundtrack a few months back. There are a handful of composers that would automatically garner my interest in the movie and Poledouris is one of them. In a last minute decision, Poledouris was called in to compose a new score to replace the one already finished by Gabriel Yared (The English Patient). That decision worked out commendably as Poledouris' score is powerfully driven and flooded with emotions in an otherwise straightforward adaptation. On the DVD, the score is the dominant source of the sounding environment. Yet, I feel that the Dolby Digital recording sounds restrained comparing to the CD recording which has a richer fidelity. Other sound effects are limited in spatiality with an occassional discrete effects from the rear channels. Only toward the revolution stage in the end does the sound mix becomes more aggressive. Dialogue is too focused on the center channel and sounds ADR-produced.

Fans of the Broadway musical might find this movie adaptation to be less than inspiring as a lot of the sentimental subplots in the play are missing. But then again, if you just can't get enough of Les Misérables or don't necessarily want to read the entire novel, the performances and the script are engaging enough to merit a night rental.