Season 1 • Episode 2
LatestAn ex-convict who wants to make an honest life for himself is pursued by the implacable hatred of a policeman.
Acting
Georges Géret's Valjean carries exhaustion like a second prison sentence.
Direction
Bluwal's handheld realism makes period drama feel dangerously immediate.
Writing
Hugo's brick of a novel, mercifully condensed to pure moral agony.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This aired on French television in two parts over consecutive nights—essentially inventing the prestige miniseries format before HBO existed.
Released during the Cold War, its portrayal of institutional persecution resonated differently in Eastern Bloc countries where it was smuggled on VHS.
FR
