Summary
The location is the town of El Paris. When ten year old boy Quasimodo shows signs
of deformity, his well-to-do parents place him in the charge of the town’s mysterious
evangelist, Frollo. In exchange, they adopt a Cuban girl, Esméralda, from
a lower social class. Ten years later, El Paris is menaced by a serial killer, and
Quasimodo is the prime suspect...
Review
This racy adaptation of Victor Hugo’s famous novel is unlikely to appeal to all tastes
but for those that appreciate modern popular French comedy it is a real treat. The
film moves at a frantic pace with some very impressive visual effects, but the best thing
of all is the outrageously camp sense of fun which pervades the film.
Without demeaning Patrick Timsit (who also directed the film) and Mélanie Thierry,
who are entertaining in their roles as Quasimodo and Esméralda, the star of the
film has to be Richard Berry. His performance as Frollo, the bible-bashing evangelist
with sadomasochistic tendencies, is an unforgettable mix of dry comedy and sinister bad
guy charm. It is worth seeing the film for his riveting performance alone.
Some of the violence in the film is, it has to be said, really unnecessary. Also some
of the humour just fails to miss its mark and often provokes shock rather than a chuckle.
In particular, jokes about such sensitive topics as rape are in very poor taste and are
a bit of a turn off.
A more substantial fault is that so many of the characters appear more as pale stereotypes
than believable individuals. Even Quasimodo himself is underplayed and fails to
arouse any of the sympathy that you feel when reading the Victor Hugo novel.
As a serious film, this would be a very shallow effort and a real let down. Thankfully,
it is not a serious film. It is a film that rejoices in its own unrelenting silliness
and in that at least it is masterfully successful.
© James Travers 2001
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