When I read somewhere this movie described as the best movie about the _banlieus_ since **La Haine**, I was expecting a movie about the street and undecipherable dialogues, what I got was wildly different.

While **Les Misérables** is indeed a movie about the _banlieus_, it's nothing like **La Haine**, which is a good thing. We live the story through the eyes of a newly transferred policeman who comes into this environment armed with an idealistic view of the world and a certain set of morals and principles, and through the journey he takes with his two new partners we see that things are complicated and not at all black and white.

The film explores many themes, mainly centered around the theme of power: acquiring it, displaying it, abusing it, and the illusion of it. As the events build up, the perpetual cycle of violence is exposed and laid bare for the viewer to see.

For a first feature-film directing effort, **Les Miserables** is rather excellent. I recommend it.

Stories of a Parisian banlieue shot in Dogma style with a frenetic pace.

The documentary-type style of filming always works great with stories like these, you almost feel like you're watching a long news report, which gives you a sense that what you're watching isn't a movie, but real events, making it almost uncomfortable to see. It's a movie that raises many questions, and never really answers them, just like there's no real answer for them in real life either. We're all part of a broken system, too far down the rabbit hole to be saved. The ending works great in that sense, it leaves it to the audience to imagine what happened next - the hopeful and optimistic would picture a happy (all things considered) ending, the realistic would probably imagine little Issa getting shot.

the best movie named Les Misérables nominated for an Oscar in the 21st-century, by a mile

It was good right up until the final moment when...well, I can’t say...but I wish it hadn’t ended when it did. A tough watch at times but it painted a picture of a grim reality well.

A great film about resistance and justice. Interesting way to use documentaries' aspects to portray the story.

I was really excited to watch it but with all respect wasn't worth it.