Les Miserables (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)"After 34 films, I am dedicated to filming hope." -Claude Lelouch

This is neither a movie based on the book or the broadway musical; it is not merely a retelling of Hugo's novel in modern times- it is a beautiful masterpiece that follows a period of time filled with fear, ignorance, oppression, suffering, miserable ones, war, greed, and betrayal. We follow the story of Henri Fortin (Jean Paul Belmondo), whose father died while trying to escape from a prison that unjustly sentenced him based on appearances. Henri Sr. was the driver of a man who commited suicide, and the police assumed that Henri Sr. killed the man. His wife, much like Fantine in the book, does everything she can to raise money for a lawyer, making her son Leopold, who she now calls Henri, work to raise money. She is forced into prostitution. Henri Sr. dies on an attempt to escape, so the wife kills herself. Henri Jr. starts a boxing career, and World War I ends. However, peaceful times never come because soon comes World War II. The Jews are being betrayed by all their friends. Henri is called a Jean Valjean because many people feel that his life parallels that of Jean Valjean. He helps a family of Jews travel towards Switzerland and gets their daughter into the Academy of the Sacred Heart for safety. As they drive they read him Les Miserables since he cannot read or write. He is amazed at the story and feels that Les Miserables can be applied to any situation in life. He starts seeing parallels to Cosette and Valjean.

It is a beautiful story that will surely make you cry! It is in French and has subtitles. I don't speak French but I had no problem with it. I read quickly and I had to rewind a couple of times because the subtitles go by so quickly, but that was no problem for me! I highly recommend this video if you want to see how Les Miserables is so true in today's world and is still a masterpiece. It is a wonderful movie! There is lots of violence in it, so it's not necessarily for younger viewers. it is beautifully done. I only hope they come out with a DVD version in the future with commentary and extras! BRAVO!

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Adam Resurrected (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)After a close friend "insisted" that I watch this film, I was absolutely torn apart by it, at times entertained by it and left with indelible images and feelings that may never leave me. It is a stunningly woven story of humanity at the peak of its potential for courage and resilience, as well as its unspeakable cruelty and taste for inflicting pain. I was startled, however, to discover that I was in the minority in my assessment. Most reviews, professional and otherwise, are either mixed or unfavorable. Is it too hard to take this film in? And if so, is it because of its intellectual or emotional demands - or both? As a psychologist and a Jew, let me say that I have never been made to feel the complex horrors of the holocaust on this level. Jeff Goldblum's performance is criminally unrecognized; it is the work of genius he has never before manifested. Perhaps the genius Goldblum found in the story itself, and in Paul Schrader's direction moved him to new heights. The rest of the cast is brilliant as well.
Adam Resurrected deals unflinchingly with the excruciating, bitterly ironic issues that Hitler's slaughterhouses have evoked in the area of faith and the Jewish attitude toward the God whose deliverance of their ancestors from slavery is celebrated year after year. The ironies and metaphors throughout the film involving men and dogs say more than any words of praise could possibly express.
Suffice it to say that this is, in my humble opinion, one of the finest films of the last decade, and perhaps the best work of art on the holocaust of all time. It is demanding, complex and disturbing, but highly worth your time and attention.

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Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, The Fly) as Adam Stein delivers one of the most powerful performances of his career in this compelling, unforgettably moving film. Tormented in a World War II concentration death camp by a high-ranking Nazi officer (Oscar® nominee* Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man), Adam spends the next 15 years tucked away in a remote experimental insane asylum with fellow Holocaust victims. Clinging to the remains of his sanity, Adam uses his amazing magic and comic skills to entertain the residents and develops a relationship with an attractive nurse (Ayelet Zurer, Angels & Demons). But only when he reaches out to a mentally scarred young boy does he begin to confront his own pain and guilt and start to heal in this extraordinary testament to the fierce resilience of the human spirit. *Best Supporting Actor: Platoon, 1986; Shadow of the Vampire, 2000

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