Les Misérables (2019)

Sometimes, timing is everything. When the musical of the same name was finally filmed in 2012, we all thought, ‘How wonderful!’ And the songs were memorable, too.

Now, the CBC have started to show the BBC miniseries, with the first two episodes last night, and after a fitful night’s sleep, I want to express my concerns. After almost 10 months of lockdown, deprivations and death, I think it would have been better to show something uplifting instead. The title says it all, really.

Okay, so here’s why this is frightening. The French Revolution happened in 1789, as I’ve mentioned before. After the initial Reign of Terror, France was held under the sway of Napoleon, until his defeat at Waterloo, which is where this television series starts, 1815.

The subtlety of the timing is not lost on me. Is this what the world is watching on TV, in real time, now? By the end of the second episode, the date is 1820, 200 years ago.

Are we all Jean Valjean?