Les Miserables Research Paper

Les Miserables (2012) Evaluation The film, Les Miserables (2012), tells the story of a prisoner who served nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread. The prisoner, Jean Valjean, is released back into the world, only to quickly break patrol. He uses stolen money to reinvent himself as a mayor and a gentleman. He then takes in a young girl, Cosette, after her prostitute turned mother dies. All the while he is being chased by the prison officer who originally set him free. The main plot of the film takes place in the Paris Uprising of 1832, two years after the July Revolution. The revolution, often mistaken for the French Revolution in 1789, is depicted at the end of the movie. The July Revolution in 1830 forced Charles X to abdicate and so the provisional government proclaims Louis-Philippe the king by the will of the people. Two years later, France is split between its political views and wants. Jean Maximilien Lamarque, a popular politician, dies and his state funeral sets off the rioting and armed forces for the Paris Uprising. The free thinkers of Paris begin this in hopes of repeating the same success as two years earlier in the Paris Uprising and to return France to a republic

It is more focused on the musical and emotional side of the story rather than the actual history. After doing some research I realized I had mistaken, along with many others, the movie for the French Revolution while in reality it was a much smaller event, and also took place 43 years after that. Along with this the movie made this rebellion seem more profound while in actuality it is a mere thing. The film, although somewhat historically accurate, is more for entertainment than for educational purposes. Despite this there were a few events in the movie that were based off of real events. An example of this would be the funeral procession for Lamarque growing a riot, it is said that some 100,000 people showed