A man commits suicide.Ī single mother is accused of sleeping around. A police officer is captured and threatened with death by the rebels. Characters attempt to escape through a sewer. During a standoff, frequent gunfire is depicted and numerous characters are shot and killed (with blood shown in the streets). A character spits in the face of another. A woman slaps a man before being thrown in the streets. She is later forced to sell her hair and teeth before turning to prostitution to provide for her daughter. A woman is attacked verbally and physically by other women. Corpses are seen, along with numerous sick and impoverished people. Why is Les Miserables rated PG-13? Les Miserables is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements.Ĭhildren throw rocks at a man and badger him. Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried. Just leave the kids at home for this heavy tale. With strong moral dilemmas and personal heart wrenching dramas, Les Misérables’ complex characters and scenarios can push audiences to consider their own level of human compassion. Intermingled with the main plot are the stories of the unscrupulous innkeepers Madame Thénardier (Helena Bonham Carter) and her husband (Sacha Baron Cohen) who rifle through their customers’ pockets as soon as they step into their establishment, the bloody 1832 June Rebellion in Paris staged by a group of students and the unrequited love of Éponine Thénardier (Samantha Barks) for rebel Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne).Īctress Anne Hathaway and others better known for their Hollywood movie roles bring this evocative musical adaptation to the theater with their passionate performances set in a dreary era of social injustice. However, even while the reformed man attempts to fulfills his promise, he is haunted by his past in the form of Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), a zealous police officer with an aim to find and punish Jean for breaking parole. As Fantine (Anne Hathaway) lies dying, Jean promises to find her daughter Cosette (played by Isabelle Allen and Amanda Seyfried) and raise her as his own. Years later as a successful businessman living under the alias of Monsieur Madeleine, Jean has the opportunity to reciprocate this kindness by offering mercy to one of his former employees who is driven to despair and prostitution by her vicious coworkers. This one act of kindness in an otherwise cruel world offers a rebirth to the broken man. When he is apprehended by the local authorities and returned to the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson) the man of the cloth, rather than revealing the truth, instead chides Jean for forgetting the silver candlesticks and sets him free. As repayment for the hospitality, Jean waits until his host is asleep and then stuffs the church’s silver into a bag before stealing away. Forced to carry papers that identify him as an ex-criminal he can find neither work nor friend until a generous priest invites him to sleep inside a church. Released from jail after serving nearly two decades for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) finds the outside world as inhospitable as his prison cell. But for adults and older adolescents, the narrative of Jean Valjean’s unjust imprisonment and ultimate redemption remains as forceful as ever. However the unnecessary inclusion of a moment of sexual activity during the sole scene of comedy is the greatest factor in not being able to broadly recommend this film. The portrayals of child abuse, prostitution, and a bloody rebellion may make this story too explicit for many younger viewers. Yet despite the incredible musical score and a song designed for comic relief, Les Misérables deals with mature themes in desperate times. Now Director Tom Hooper’s film adaptation of the musical version of this story promises audiences a compelling telling of this tale. Published 150 years ago, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables remains one of the most powerful accounts of justice and mercy in all of literature.

Les miserablea movie notea for students