Great stories demand to be told and retold, generation after generation finding fresh relevance in stories of love and redemption. And certainly Les Mis茅rables, Victor Hugo鈥檚 epic novel of love, revolution, and crushing poverty, is among them.
And though you may think you know the story of Jean Valjean, Javert, Fantine, and the rest from the blockbuster stage musical and its film adaptation, there鈥檚 so much more to Hugo鈥檚 story. And much of it will be on display in PBS鈥� new six-part miniseries, premiering April 14 as part of MASTERPIECE.
Here are five reasons we can鈥檛 wait to see the sumptuous new version.
The Cast
The Wire star Dominic West (who has been seen on Broadway in Design for Living and in the West End in Les Liaisons Dangereuses) serves as executive producer and stars as Jean Valjean, whom he refers to as a superhero: 鈥淗e鈥檚 tougher than everybody, he鈥檚 kinder than everybody, he鈥檚 more generous than everybody and a bigger heart and a bigger hero in terms of what the personal demons he鈥檚 trying to overcome.鈥�
Joining him is David Oyelowo, who wowed New York audiences in 2016 with his Othello, and brings a fresh perspective to Javert, who mercilessly hunts Valjean over decades. Also an executive producer on the miniseries, Oyelowo was delighted to explore more the complexities with which Hugo imbued Javert in the original novel.
And that鈥檚 not to mention a stacked supporting cast, starting with Lily Collins as Fantine, newly minted Academy Award winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite) as Madame Th茅nardier, Ellie Bamber as Cosette, and Josh O鈥機onnor as Marius.
The Brand-New Adaptation
Freed from the constraints of staying within a classic two-act structure, screenwriter Andrew Davies was able to dig deeper into the characters and situations, bringing to life aspects and scenes from Hugo鈥檚 novel that even diehard fans of the musical won鈥檛 know.
As MASTERPIECE executive producer Rebecca Eaton puts it, there are moments in the miniseries that go even deeper into the characters audiences have long loved. She pointed to one specific moment, after Fantine is pregnant, where her lover and his friends take Fantine and hers out to lunch on a beautiful day. At the end of the meal, the men stand and simply abandon the women. 鈥淭he contrast of a beautiful day, beautiful young women and these guys leaving them, and leaving them to a tragic fate, to me is just a brilliant use of drama and lighting and production design to highlight an emotional moment,鈥� Eaton said.
A Fresh Look at Old Favorites
We all know and love Fantine, her daughter Cosette, and the Th茅nardiers鈥攂ut there鈥檚 so much more to their story than those unfamiliar with the novel might know.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 wonderful about the musical is the characters and the love stories that exist between the characters,鈥� West said, 鈥渁nd so we go into more depth into those love stories and those relationships. And I think you get to see鈥� where the Th茅nardiers are coming from. I particularly love the Th茅nardiers in our production.鈥�
Plus, as many involved with the miniseries point out, Fantine鈥檚 time in other versions is often quite short. Here, the grinding down of her spirit that leads her to sell her hair and teeth is a much more gradual process, making it even more painful to experience with her.
鈥淚'm taking a character that everyone seemingly knows and loves but at the same time showing a new side to her,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淪o that was an exciting twist on it for me.鈥�
Collins pointed out that audiences are used to encountering Fantine after she鈥檚 taken work at the factory, and so they鈥檙e unfamiliar with the carefree girl she was.
鈥淭o take a character further into their back story and show people that, I think it creates a bigger amount of empathy for them throughout their character arcs,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o for me, specifically, you really get to see Fantine at her youngest, most vibrant, which is a perfect comparison then to when she鈥檚 dying and at her worst, because you can only have empathy for someone to a certain extent if you haven鈥檛 experienced the higher notes with them.鈥�
The Scope
Les Mis茅rables the musical is certainly not a chamber piece, but it is fairly streamlined in terms of storytelling compared to Hugo鈥檚 novel. Davies, however, brings a whole new scope to the work with this adaptation, one that finds fresh emphasis on the lives of the poverty-stricken in the 19th century.
鈥淚 read the book [and] I just thought it would be great to put this on the screen,鈥� Davies says. 鈥淎nd what I initially thought was how much it spoke to us today, with London full of homeless beggars sitting in the rain while rich people step over them on their way to the opera. I was thinking, 鈥榊ou know, Hugo鈥檚 world is very similar to ours.鈥� I guess the difference is we don鈥檛 seem to be about to have any kind of revolution, even an unsuccessful one.鈥�
The Production Values
No expense was spared in recreating life in 19th-century France, and the results are stunning. Not just for the audience鈥攖he performers have spoken about how easy it was to slip into another world when they arrived on the set in full costume.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 great about acting in these shows on an epic scale is you get to time travel,鈥� West said. 鈥淚 love history and I love trying to imagine the past and it鈥檚 very easy when you鈥檝e got great artists who have created it all for you.鈥�
Oyelowo points out how evocative the visual storytelling is. 鈥淭homas Shankland, our director, did a brilliant job of making the show have an energy and a kinetic, visceral feel to it that it鈥檚 not your sort of chocolate box period drama,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 got real teeth, it鈥檚 got real dirt, it鈥檚 got real grime, an edge to it."
Les Mis茅rables on MASTERPIECE premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9/8c on PBS. The show will also stream on PBS.org and on the .
