Jean Paul Belmondo plays a dual role that should have garnered him awards for his performance as both Valjean and as Henri Fortin who takes in a Jewish girl during World War II. Her parents have been taken by the German Nazis. The girl reads to Henri from Victor Hugo's classic novel, Les Miserables, since I believe Henri himself can't read. Well, he imagines himself in the role as Valjean. The film is dually impressive relating the past to the present day life of France during the French Revolution and World War II during the German occupation of France. The girl is safe in a French convent. Her parents including her French non-Jewish mother who married a French Jew succumbs to becoming prisoner. Her husband survives a shooting and is taken in by French farmers who have their own agenda. Regardless, the ending is not to be missed. It's both about the joy of living during the worst of times and how fortunate we are.
Review of Les Misérables
