Les Misérables has become one of the year’s best-decorated films, taking home three Oscars last night, including Best Supporting Actress, and having been dubbed Best Comedy/Musical at the Golden Globes as well.

Adapted from London’s 1985 West End musical, itself an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1862 French novel, Les Misérables tells the story of Jean Valjean, who, after two decades’ imprisonment for stealing a loaf of bread, is delivered from darkness by the charity of a saintly small-town bishop. Thereafter, he breaks his parole and starts a new life as a businessman and mayor. Upon learning he has wronged a desperate woman in his employment by his sin of omission, Valjean vows to raise this dying mother’s...