Dr Stephens will give a talk entitled 'Les Misérables: From Page to Screen' at the Watershed on Thursday 24 January at 6pm. He will discuss how Victor Hugo's novel – a thrilling story of love, sacrifice and redemption with unforgettable characters – has recently been adapted across a range of screens, from big-budget cinema to fan-made material online, and will ask what might be learned from these different adaptations.
Admission is free, but booking is required via the online booking form or by contacting Diane Thorne: diane.thorne@bristol.ac.uk, 0117 33 18 318.
Dr Stephens will also be part of a Q&A panel before a screening of the film at the Institut Français in London on Saturday 26 January at 4.20pm. His fellow panellists will be William Nicholson, screenwriter of Les Misérables (also Shadowlands and Gladiator) and Hadley Fraser, West End performer who starred in the musical Les Misérables as Javert, Marius and Grantaire, and appeared in the film. The panel will be moderated by Dave Calhoun, film editor of Time Out.
This varied panel of speakers, each with a different perspective, promises a lively and entertaining discussion of the film and its adaptation from novel to stage to screen. The audience can expect fascinating insights into how Hugo’s story and characters are interpreted for contemporary audiences and learn more about the man behind the novel.
Film and talk: £15, conc. £12; talk only: £8, conc. £6; please book online.
About Dr Bradley Stephens
Dr Bradley Stephens's research focuses on the influences and legacies of French Romanticism during and since the nineteenth century. His study Victor Hugo, Jean-Paul Sartre, and the Liability of Liberty appeared in 2011 and explored previously overlooked connections between Romantic and Existentialist thinking through these two iconic writers. He also wrote the introduction to a new edition of Hugo’s classic gothic novel Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) with Signet Classics/Penguin USA.
Dr Stephens is currently working on how strategies of adaptation vary across medium, nation, and era with particular focus on the reception and adaptations of classic French Romantic works such as Les Mìsérables, especially in terms of male heroes.