Jean Valjean is an ex-convict struggling to redeem himself, but his attempts are continually ruined by the intrusion of Javert. Javert is a cruel, ruthless police inspector who has dedicated his life to pursuing Valjean, whose only crime was stealing a loaf of bread, for which he received 5 years in jail. He serves an additional 14 years for escape attempts. The film, like the novel, features numerous other characters and subplots, such as Fantine, a woman forced into prostitution to pay two cruel innkeepers, the Thénardiers, for looking after her daughter Cosette, and the story of the revolutionaries, including Marius, a young man who falls in love later on in the film with the now-adult Cosette.