Les Miserables (1998)

Les Miserables is Victor Hugo's epic tale of love, honour and obsession. Set during the French Revolution, the film tells the story of Jean Valjean, whose theft of a loaf of bread condemns him to an unjust prison sentence and subsequent life on the run. But an act of forgiveness on the part of a Roman Catholic Bishop changes the course of his life forever.

Valjean becomes the mayor of a small town and falls in love with the beautiful, poverty-stricken Fantine. He devotes himself to caring for her and for the inhabitants of the poor town, which he transforms into a thriving community.

Fantine's untimely death signals a new chapter in Valjean's life, during which he raises Fantine's daughter, Cosette, who he desperately attempts to shield from the world and all its dangers. As she matures, she falls passionately in love with Marius, a charismatic young Parisian revolutionary.

All the while, Valjean is hunted by Javert, a policeman whose lifelong search for Valjean has become an obsession. The film culminates in a final, fated confrontation between Valjean and Javert on the banks of the Seine at the explosive height of the July Revolution in 1832.