Les Misérables

Les Misérables (1998) is Bille August's screen version of Victor Hugo's novel, available to watch online on iFILM. No songs here — this is the straight dramatic telling, with Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean and Geoffrey Rush as the inspector who hunts him.

Valjean has served nearly twenty years for stealing a loaf of bread. Out at last, he buries his past under a new name, builds a fortune and rises to mayor, until Inspector Javert turns up, a man who places the letter of the law above any mercy. Bound by a promise to the dying Fantine (Uma Thurman), Valjean raises her daughter Cosette (Claire Danes) as his own, while Paris drifts toward the barricades of a student uprising.

August strips the huge book down to a duel between two men: a fugitive who learned to forgive and a jailer who never could. Neeson plays it as quiet endurance, Rush as cold certainty, and their final standoff justifies the whole film. A solid pick for anyone who prefers a stern costume drama to the stage musical. Stream Les Misérables (1998) online on iFILM.