On The Film Adaptation Of Les Miserables

As the most complicated in plots and profound in theme among plenty of Victor Hugo’s works, Les Miserables, with its grand narration and exquisite description, depicts the panorama spatially and temporally of the eighteenth-century France and the vicissitudes of French people and discusses the meaningful and everlasting humanity themes of revolution, wars, laws, freedom, equality and humanism. Since1907, this novel has been consistently adapted into films; however, the studies on the different versions of the adaption both in China and abroad have fallen behind.The present thesis will focus on the1958film version,2000four-episode film version and2012musical with consideration of other kinds of versions and analyze the similarities and differences of recreation of the plots and characterizations between various versions through meticulous textual examination and interdisciplinary research methods in comparative literature.Firstly, from a common narrative and the movie element of the literary works two aspects of the literary works’film adaptation, the thesis analyze the possibility of widespread conduction. Secondly, for the literary work Les Miserables itself, the paper carried out plot content, analyze clues structure and characters to analysis the possibility of its adaptation to film. Meanwhile, the paper also analyzed the contemporary significance for the film adaptation of the literary work Les Miserables. Combined with above, the paper draw a preliminary conclusion of the literary work Les Miserables both have a film adaptation possibility and necessary.In the literary work Les Miserables is not only suitable for adapted into films, but also should be adapted into films premise of this preliminary conclusion, the paper analyzed the common process of reconstruction in the film adaptation. And based on the characteristics of the Les Miserables, the paper has detailed analyzed delete and condense, these two ways of adaptation. Meanwhile, according to the specific adaptation of Les Miserables’movie adaptations of practice, addition and Actual situation transformation, the two-phase approach has detailed analysis. These all above has made a foundation of the comparative analysis for the following pieces. After the analysis of the possibilities of adapting literary works into films and the main means of recreation of plots in films, the body part of the present thesis will be divided into three chapters. Chapter Three will analyze the rearrangement of plots and characterization of Monseigneur Bienvenu and Cosette to indicate that film version is influenced by narrative clue in a specific movie and the change of time and thoughts. Chapter Four will expound the adaption related to Javert and his death, and the barricade war in the revolt to indicate that adaption both inherits and develops the essence of the original work. And at the same time, Chapter Five will, based on the analysis of the adaption of Javert and the revolt, interpret the misunderstanding caused by adaption.