A brief summary of the Boublil and Shonberg adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, illustrated using images from the new Tom Hooper film.

1. Les Misérables
The Dream Lives This Christmas
Images from Les Misérables courtesy
of Universial Pictures, Inc.
Les Misérables: Highlights from the
Motion Picture Soundtrack available
wherever books are sold

2. A Whiz Through Mis
• World‟s longest-running musical
– Premiered in Paris, 1980
– Opened in London on 8 October, 1985
• Based on 1862 novel by Victor Hugo
• Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg
– Famous French record producer
• Lyrics by Alain Boublil
– French poet laureate and librettist
• Translated to English and brought to London by Sir Cameron Mackintosh
– “The Wizard of the London Stage”
• 13,000 performances in London alone
• Translated to 21 languages
• Played in 43 countries – including China
• Won 96 major theater awards (including multiple Tony and Olivier awards)
• Command performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and His Eminence the
President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac, in 2004 at Windsor Castle

3. 49 musical numbers
• From the World Famous:
– “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Do you Hear the People
Sing,” “One Day More,” “On My Own,” and many
more
• To the unknown:
– “Beggars at the Feast,” “Red, Black,” “The
Robbery,” “Little People,” and more

4. “Look down, look down, don‟t look
„em in the eye!”
• Story begins in 1815
– Napoléon has just been
defeated at Waterloo
• Bagnue of Toulon
– French Military Prison
• Jean Valjean is paroled
after 19 years
– Stole a loaf of bread to
Hugh Jackman (Center) as Valjean feed starving nieces and
nephews

5. “Do not forget me, 24601!”
• Prison guard at Toulon
• Paroles Valjean
– Swears that he will be
watching
• Becomes Inspector in
the national police
• Tirelessly hunts
Valjean after he breaks
parole
Russell Crowe as Javert

6. “Freedom is mine…”
• Former convict
• Imprisoned from 1796
to 1815
– For breaking a
window and stealing a
single loaf of bread
• 5 years for theft, 14 for
numerous escape
attempts
• Disenchanted and
hateful when released Hugh Jackman as Valjean

7. “Come in, sir, for you are weary…”
• Valjean is welcomed into
the home of Monsigneur
Myriel, Bishop of Digne
• Bishop implores Valjean to
rest and eat
• During the night, Valjean
steals the Bishop‟s silver
and runs
– Gets recaptured by police
• Lies, tells police the Bishop
gave him the silver
• Police return Valjean to the
Bishop, who says yes, he Colm Wilkinson as the Bishop
did give Valjean the silver

8. “At the end of the day, she‟ll be
nothing but trouble!”
• Eight years have passed
(1823)
• Valjean is now mayor
of a town on the
English Channel
– Under an assumed name
– “Monsieur Madeline”
• He owns a wealthy
factory

9. “I dreamed a dream in time gone
by…”
• Fantine returned to M-sur-M after
her lover, Theodule, abandoned
her when she was pregnant
• Daughter, Cosette, is living with
an innkeeper in Montfermeil
• Returned home to work in
Valjean‟s factory
– Is fired when it comes to light she
has an illegitimate child
• Is forced to sell locket with
Cosette‟s hair, her teeth, and her
own hair, when she believes
Cosette is ill
• She is then forced to turn to
prostitution Anne Hathaway as Fantine

10. “Make your excuse to the police!”
• When Fantine, working as a
prostitute, refuses a
customer, and he taunts her, she
attacks him
• Furious, he drags her to the
police – Javert
• Just as she is about to be
arrested, Valjean
intervenes, recognizing that
Fantine is ill
• Furious at being prevented
Anne Hathaway as Fantine, and Hugh from making the arrest, Javert
Jackman as Valjean reports to Paris that he suspects
the mayor may be a former
convict

11. “And he‟s just been re-arrested, and he
comes to court to-day!”
• Javert insists Valjean must press charges against
him for making a false report to Paris
• Curious, Valjean asks why
• Javert tells him that he denounced the mayor to
Paris as a convict, and was told he was crazy, as
the convict, Jean Valjean, had just been re-
arrested
• Torn, the real Valjean, weighs whether or not he
should reveal himself

12. “Who am I? I‟m Jean Valjean!”
• Valjean reveals himself to
the court, stunning them
all to silence
• He flees Paris back to
Fantine‟s
bedside, knowing the
order for his arrest will be
close behind
• Fantine dies in his arms as
he promises to protect her
daughter

13. “Valjean, at last, we see each other plain. M‟sieur
L‟Mayor, you wear a different chain!”
• As Fantine lays dead
in Valjean‟s
arms, Javert enters to
arrest him
• The two fight
• Valjean escapes

14. “There is a castle on a cloud…”
• Cosette, Fantine‟s
daughter, is being used as
a servant by the
innkeeper Thénardier and
his wife
• They frequently lied to
Fantine for her to send
them more money
Isabelle Allen as Young Cosette
– Use money to pamper
their daughter Éponine

15. “Welcome, M‟sieur, sit yourself down, and
meet the best innkeeper in town!”
• Thénardier is a swindler
and crook
• Owner of “The Sergeant
of Waterloo” inn
– Montfermeil
• Claims to have been
soldier under Napoléon
– Actually just a grave
robber who followed
the army
Sacha Baron Cohen as Monsieur Thénardier

16. “I used to dream that I would meet a prince… but God
almighty, have you seen what‟s happened since!?”
• Madame Thénardier
dislikes her husband
– Considers him
bawdy, insulting, idiotic,
drunken, slovenly, and
uncouth
• Yet that doesn‟t stop her
from being just as
conniving as he is
• She is also a crook and a
swindler
– Steals without remorse
Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier

17. “One thing more, one small doubt…”
• Valjean arrives in Montfermeil
• Meets Cosette alone and scared
in the woods
– Walks her back to the Inn
• Haggles with the Thénardiers
for them to release Cosette to
his care
– Gives then 1,500 Francs for
Cosette
• Shortly after Valjean
leaves, Javert arrives looking
for Cosette, hoping to ambush
Valjean when he comes for her

18. “Look down and see the beggars at
your feet!”
• Nine years have passed (1832)
• Valjean and Cosette live in Paris
– She addresses him as “father”
• Thénardier‟s Inn has failed
– They have relocated to Paris
• Javert is a high-ranking official of
the Paris Prefecture of Police
• King Louis Phillippe tenuously
holds power
• The lower classes are fermented
with a longing for revolution
Aaron Tveit (left) as Enjolras, and Eddie
• Student revolutionaries led by Redmayne (right) as Marius
Enjolras and Marius
Pontmercy, ferment the longing for
violent uprising

19. “There, out in the darkness…. A
fugitive running…”
• Thénardier, now a
street con, attacks
Valjean with his gang
• Javert comes to the
rescue of Valjean
– Valjean and Cosette run
• Javert realizes too late
that Valjean was there
• Swears himself to
capture Valjean

20. “Éponine… who was that girl?”
• Marius, who is good
friends with
Éponine, saw Cosette
while Thénardier
attacked Valjean
– He is horribly smitten
Eddie Redmayne as Marius

21. “Red!” “I feel my soul on fire!” “Black!”
“My world if she‟s not there!”
• Marius meets with his
friends, the student
revolutionaries
• They tease him for falling
in love
– Enjolras, the
leader, chides them for
wasting time
• They begin frantically
planning their revolt
– To be launched from the
funeral of General
Lamarque

22. “Lamarque… the people‟s man!”
• General Jean Maximilien
Lamarque
• 1770-1832
• French Army General
• Napoléonic Baron
• Member of the French
Parliament
– Fierce anti-Royalist
– Supporter and champion
of the poor and
Portrait of General J.M. Lamarque
downtrodden

23. “Do you hear the people sing?!”
• News arrives of Lamarque‟s death
• Enjolras reaffirms their plans to launch the
revolution on the day of his funeral
• Éponine arrives, telling Marius that she has
found Cosette

24. “A heart full of love…”
• Marius arrives at
Cosette and Valjean‟s
home, professing his
love to her
• The two meet for the
first time
– Éponine, who is in
love with
Marius, watches sadly
Amanda Seyfried as
Cosette, Eddie Redmayne as
Marius

25. “I‟m gonna scream, I‟m gonna warn
them here!”
• While Marius and Cosette
chat, Thénardier and his gang
arrive to rob the house and kill
Valjean
• Éponine, standing watch
outside, spots them
• Afraid for Marius, she tries to
discourage them
– She fails
• When her father threatens her, she
alerts Valjean and Cosette and
Marius to their presence by
Samantha Barks as Éponine
screaming loudly

26. “One Day More… Another
day, another destiny…”
• Assuming the figures he saw running were Javert and his men, Valjean
panics
– He tells Cosette they leave for England in the morning
• Filled with despair, Cosette and Marius ponder the possibility of a future
without each other
• Éponine mourns Marius never seeing that she loves him
• Enjolras and his revolutionaries prepare for the revolt – happening
tomorrow
– Marius agrees to fight with them, intending to die rather than live without
Cosette
• Javert briefs his police and National Guard officers on his plan
– He will infiltrate the revolutionaries and sabotage their efforts
• The Thénardiers amuse themselves by pick-pocketing the
revolutionaries, noting that “most of them are goners, so they won‟t miss
much!”
• END OF ACT 1

27. “Here upon these stones, we‟ll build
our barricade!”
• Enjolras and the
Revolutionaries begin
building their fortress
• They are joined by
the destitute of Paris
• Enjolras dispatches
Éponine with a letter
to Cosette

28. “On my own, pretending he‟s beside
me…”
• After delivering
Marius‟ note to Valjean
(who accepted on
Cosette‟s behalf)
Éponine wanders the
Samantha Barks as Éponine
streets
• She laments that
Marius will never love
her as she loves him

29. “Here we pledge ourselves to hold this
barricade, in the heart of the city we claim as our
own!”
• Back at the barricade, Javert – who
has posed as a revolutionary –
returns from „spying‟ on the army
troops that has surrounded them
• He claims they will not attack
• Javert is then exposed as a spy by
Gavroche the street urchin
• As he is hauled away and tied
up, the French Army attacks
• Éponine takes a bullet for
Marius, and falls – mortally
wounded
• Marius drives off the army troops
by threatening to blow up the
barricade
Aaron Tveit as Enjolras

30. “Don‟t you fret, M‟sieur Marius. I
don‟t feel any pain…”
• As the soldiers
retreat, Marius rushes to
the side of the dying
Éponine
• She admits her love for
him, and asks him to stay
until she dies
Éponine (Samantha Barks) dies in the arms • Enjolras pledges that the
of Marius (Eddie Redmayne) Barricade will hold out as
a tribute to the dead –
including Éponine

31. “I come here as a volunteer!”
• Valjean arrives at the barricade
in the uniform of a French
soldier
• He volunteers to help man the
barricade
• Before he can be questioned, he
shoots a sharpshooter that had
been about to kill Enjolras
• In gratitude, they welcome him
to take any reward he wishes Javert (Russell Crowe) and Valjean (Hugh Jackman)
• He requests to deal with the spy
Javert

32. “Take your revenge! How right you
should kill with a knife!”
• Javert goads Valjean to kill him
(“You‟ve hungered for this all
your life!”)
• Valjean shows mercy, and
unties Javert
– He tells him to run
• As Javert warns Valjean that
releasing him means that he
will return to arrest the ex-
convict, Valjean gives him his
home address to find him after
the battle
• Javert flees, and Valjean fires
his pistol into the air

33. “Drink with me to days gone by…”
• The revolutionaries pass the night
remembering days gone by, and
pondering their fate
• Grantaire, the pessimistic
alcoholic, warns “will the world
remember you when you
fall, could it be your death means
nothing at all!?”
• Marius continues working to build
the barricade higher, lamenting
“Do I care if I should die? Now
she goes across the sea! Life
without Cosette means nothing at Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, and George
all!” Blagden (Grantaire)
– Valjean, watching him, is moved
by his devotion

34. “God on High… hear my prayer!”
• Valjean watches as
Marius sleeps, and
gives a passionate
prayer to God:
• „Let Marius Live, and
let Valjean die if
someone must die‟

35. “Let us die facing our foes, make them bleed while we
can, make them pay through the nose, make them pay
for every man!”
• As dawn breaks, the
army launches a furious
assault – aided by heavy
artillery
• The barricade crashes
down under the
barrage, and the
revolutionaries flee into
the buildings as they are
systematically
slaughtered
• Valjean and Marius
escape through the Aaron Tveit as Enjolras
sewers, though Marius is
gravely injured

36. “Here‟s a hint of gold, stuck into a tooth!
Pardon me, M‟sieur, you won‟t be needing
it no more!”
• While escaping through the sewers, Valjean –
carrying the unconscious Marius on his back – comes
across Thénardier looting the corpses of the dead
soldiers and revolutionaries
• They escape him, and make for the exit from the
sewers

37. “Who is this man, what sort of devil is he
to have me caught in a trap, and CHOOSE
to let me go free!?”
• As Marius and Valjean emerge from
the sewers, they bump into Javert
• Javert attempts to arrest Valjean on
the spot – as he warned he would
• Valjean dissuades him, begging for
mercy until he can get Marius to the
boy‟s home
• Javert assents, and lets them leave
• Lost in a torrent of emotion and
conflict, Javert walks the streets of
Paris
• At a loss for how to proceed, he
commits suicide by jumping into the
Seine River

38. “They were schoolboys, never held a
gun…”
• The families of the
fallen search among
the bodies for their
relatives, lamenting
the loss of the “New
world” that their
brothers, sons, and
In an earlier scene, Russell Crowe (Javert)
among the bodies after the fall of the
fathers died for
barricade

39. “There‟s a grief that can‟t be spoken.
There‟s a pain goes on and on…”
• Recovering from his
injuries, Marius visits
the café where the
students met to plan
revolution
• He is haunted by the
tortured knowledge Hugh Jackman (Valjean), Eddie Redmayne
(Marius), and Amanda Seyfried (Cosette)
that he alone survived

40. “Don‟t think about it, Marius, will all the years
ahead of us, I will never go away, and we will be
together every day.”
• Cosette and Valjean find
Marius, and begin
comforting and reassuring
him, saying his
recuperation is going well
• Marius is obsessed with
finding out the identity of
his mysterious savior from
the barricade
Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried
• The two – Marius and
Cosette – are due to be wed
in a few days

41. “Once there was a man whose name
was Jean Valjean…”
• On the day of the
wedding, Valjean
tells Marius who he
really is
• He leaves, so that if
he is caught, it will
not disgrace Cosette Eddie Redmayne as Marius

42. “Beggars at the feast, master of the dance, life is
easy pickings if you take your chance!”
• Marius and Cosette are wed
• The reception is crashed by the
Thénardiers
• They attempt to blackmail
Marius with knowledge of
Valjean’s past
• In doing so, they
inadvertently reveal to
Marius that Valjean saved
him
• They also reveal where
Valjean is, and Marius and
Cosette rush to him
Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne

43. “I Dreamed a Dream Cosette stood
by, it made her weep to know I die!”
• Valjean lays dying in a convent hospital
• Marius and Cosette arrive in time to behold his
last moments
• In his last glimpses of life, Valjean sees
Fantine and Éponine have come to take him to
God

44. “They will live again in freedom in the garden
of the Lord. They will walk behind the
plowshare, they will put away the sword. The
chain shall be broken, and all men will have
their reward!
“Will you join in our crusade, who will be
strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond
the barricade, is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing, say do you hear the
distant drums? It is the future that we bring
when Tomorrow comes.”

45. The End