Character Relationship Map: Les Miserables

Characters

• Henri Fortin / Jean Valjean (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) — protagonist

  Henri is the film's central figure, orphaned after his father dies in prison and his mother commits suicide. He becomes a boxer, later owns a moving company, joins the Resistance, saves Marius during...

• André Ziman (played by Michel Boujenah) — protagonist

  André is a young Jewish journalist and law student who marries Elise and becomes Salomé's father. During the war he is wounded and held captive by a farmer, but escapes after the farmer couple dies. R...

• Mother Superior (played by Micheline Presle) — minor

  The Mother Superior leads the Catholic convent school that shelters Salomé during the war. Her institution protects the child while her parents are separated and endangered. She later appears at the c...

• Javert (played by Philippe Khorsand) — supporting

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Henri Fortin / Jean Valjean → Javert (related)
• Javert → Henri Fortin / Jean Valjean (related)
• Henri Fortin / Jean Valjean → Mother Superior (Social Community Associate) — They are linked through Salomé's protection and final marriage ceremony.

  Henri presides over Salomé's civil marriage, which takes place in the presence of the Mother Superior, who represents the school that sheltered her.

• André Ziman → Mother Superior (Alliance Child Shelter Associate) — The Mother Superior is connected to the institution that protects André's daughter.

  André and Elisa enroll Salomé in a Catholic convent school, and the Mother Superior is present at the later marriage after the school sheltered Salomé...

• Henri Fortin / Jean Valjean → André Ziman (Narrative Fellow Protagonists) — Their parallel struggles form the film's central narrative structure.

  The film follows both Henri's wartime resistance story and André's persecution, captivity, escape, and later defense of Henri.

Story Analysis

Parallel lives shaped by war, persecution, moral choice, and the possibility of renewal converge in justice and family reunion.

Plot Progression

1. An Orphan Forged — Henri's family is destroyed by a false accusation, imprisonment, and suicide. He grows up alone and learns boxing, establishing the hardship that shapes his future.
2. Flight Across Europe — André meets Elisa and later tries to escape Nazi persecution with his family. Henri encounters them, accepts responsibility for their daughter, and the border crossing collapses into violence.
3. Resistance Under Occupation — Henri joins the Resistance, while its criminal elements exploit the anti-Nazi struggle. André is wounded and separated from his family, and Elisa is deported after defiance.
4. Liberation And Renewal — Henri attacks a Vichy train, returns to Normandy, and supports the Allied landing. After saving a life, he begins a new life running a seaside camp.
5. Justice And Reunion — Henri protects Salomé at Chez Jean Valjean but is imprisoned on wartime accusations. André escapes captivity, reunites with his family, defends Henri, and witnesses the final marriage ceremony.