I’ve read a lot of novels, and I’ve heard that Les Misérables is the best. I hadn’t read it, and I didn’t believe it. After seeing Les Misérables, I’m starting to.

The film is based on the musical, but its chief accomplishment is adapting the depth and breadth of an immense work. Like the best of Dickens’, Tolstoy’s, and Dostoevsky’s plots, Victor Hugo’s were thought experiments, taking an archaic or cancerous institution and following it through to the logical and often tragic conclusion. Jean Valean steals a loaf of bread and is imprisoned for 19 years.

Upon release, he must carry the past with him in his release papers, so that no man will give him work. Destitute, his last resort is to rob a church of its silver, and only through the uncommon kindness of its priest is he granted a new life. But it is threatened. Valjean has torn up his papers and in doing so risks life imprisonment — a man’s life extinguished for a mere legal technicality. Years later he becomes a successful businessman, where the unfortunate Fantine is employed, but by chance he is reintroduced to Inspector Javert, the man who oversaw his imprisonment and now dedicates his life to hunting Valjean.

The musical is one of the most interesting types of storytelling. It is all together ludicrous to have all of your characters stop what they are doing and relate their emotions in song. But for all that silliness it is also one of the most pure and powerful ways to convey emotion and impact onto an audience.

One of the most popular, and longest running, musicals out there is Les Miserables, based on the Victor Hugo novel. The story is classic and has been adapted before for film, but now the popular musical version is receiving the big budget cinematic treatment.

Now we get our first look at what exactly we can expect from this big budget cinematic adaptation in the form of the film’s first trailer. You can judge for yourself if it feels suitably epic for you, but I can assure you this feels very right. The cast seems spot on, and the look and tone seem to be right as well.

For those of you who have yet to experience the music of Les Miserables in some form or another yet in life, do yourself a favor and pencil this one in to your year-end movie watching calender.

The movie comes out this December and you can check out the trailer after the jump.