Les Misérables 1995 French version -- running commentary

Now embarking on the adventure of watching the French 1995 version of Les Mis with Belmondo -- from what I have read, set apart by the fact it uses a framing device set in 1942 to stress the point of 'Why is the classical novel Les Misérables still relevant for us today?' Oh what a happy age -- nobody in 2013 or 2014 questions why Les Mis is still relevant. Globalisation, the raging neo-con and neo-liberal ideologies as well as the global economic crash they caused, and in consequence the movements trying to defend us against all this, like Anonymous and Occupy, have brought us right back to the barricade, and to the despair and poverty surrounding it. The book's opening motto is as painfully current as ever. Les Mis needs no justification for us today.

No, the most adventurous part for me is that it's entirely in French -- and there's not even closed captioning to support my far-less-than-perfect auditory comprehension of the language. I know the story, yes, but getting through the framing device and putting together who is who in 1942 and in 1832 (and before) will take some concentration.

( On to the bullet points! )