1815. In the Bagne de Tulon, prisoner number 24601 is released after 19 years of captivity. He has no home to return to and wanders aimlessly, endlessly, and alone.

Actually, he is not really free. The law requires him to carry a yellow passport, the sign of an ex-convict, and because of this no inn will accept him. So, desperate, he sleeps on the streets. Angry and bitter.

But this is not a tale of an angry and bitter man. Victor Hugo’s famo