The Thenardiers are now poor and live in misery. In another part of the town baron Marius Pontmercy sees a very beautiful girl in a demonstration and falls head over heels in love. The girl is Cosette. When Marius helps the poor The Thnardiers, he meets Cosette again - it turns out that Cosette and Valjean help the very same family. But the Thnardiers are not good people - helping them proves to be ill-fated... Victor Hugo's 'Les Misrables' is one of the most significant European novels. It takes place in the early 1800's France, and it follows the tragic paths of multiple characters. 'Les Misrables' has been filmed into a movie numerous times. In 2012 Tom Hooper directed a movie starring Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe and Anne Hathaway.