'Les Mis': Lite Fare By Rita Kempley Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 1, 1998

Liam Neeson is one of the stars of "Les Miserables." (Columbia) Director: Bille August Cast: Liam Neeson; Claire Danes; Uma Thurman; Geoffrey Rush; Reine Brynolfsson; Lennie James; Hans Matheson Running Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes For violence

Far more Bergmanian than French in spirit, August's careful rendering of Victor Hugo's 19th-century novel bleeds the story of its power and poignancy for fear of succumbing to the sentiment and melodrama intrinsic to the original book. As the enduring musical illustrates: Better to gild the fleur-de-lis than to tiptoe through the Tuileries.

But August is like one of the dour Protestants at "Babette's Feast." Although it's clear he respects the thought that went into its preparation, he doesn't exactly dig into this rich French fare. Not that the dozen or so French, Italian and American screen adaptations have fully explored every nuance of Hugo's 1,200-page tome.

In 1862, the French undoubtedly welcomed such lengthy works, but now, in a movie, 2 hours 11 minutes is just enough time to hit the high points.

And that is exactly what August and screenwriter Rafael Yglesias have attempted here. But in doing so, the filmmakers have stripped away Hugo's political bombast along with the main characters' psychological complexity. And other major roles become cameos in this skeletal telling. A mini-series seems the ideal medium for "Les Miserables" (Gerard Depardieu has just said oui to doing same for French TV).

While Depardieu was born to play Jean Valjean, Liam Neeson portrays the reformed convict with saintly constipation. Geoffrey Rush, the twitchy pianist in "Shine," is the stiff-necked Inspector Javert, a former prison guard who spends his life in relentless pursuit of the kindhearted hero. Rigidity is one thing, but Rush has the emotional range of the Man in the Iron Mask.

Like "The Fugitive," Valjean assumes various disguises over the course of the chase and is invariably tripped up by his courage and charity. He turns a poor village into a thriving brickmaking center, tenderly nurses a dying prostitute (Uma Thurman), rescues her daughter, Cosette (Claire Danes), from her evil foster parents and rears her as if she were his own.

In addition, he clothes and feeds the homeless hordes, comes to the aid of a group of addlepated student rebels and slogs through the sewers to save Cosette's injured beau, Marius (Hans Matheson), from the police, now headed by that poop Javert.

This leads to a final meeting between Valjean and Javert that ought to be if not climactic, at least cathartic. In this case, it's merely perfunctory. For that matter, so is August's staging of the explosive clash between the student revolutionaries and the authorities. They've got the troops and the cannons, the blazing barricades and ragged rebels. But Marius and friends have barely registered, Cosette is a goody-two shoes, and nobody cares if they'll ever make goo-goo eyes again.

August, whose films include "Pelle the Conqueror," "The Best Intentions" and "The House of the Spirits," is no stranger to dreary sagas, human suffering and strength of character. What he lacks is a love of excess, a passion for flag-waving and rabble-rousing. Epics by definition must be sweeping; "Les Miserables" is focused on the broom.