Plot

In medieval Paris, a deformed foundling named Quasimodo grows up under the care and tutelage of Dom Claude Frollo, the archdeacon of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Quasimodo is humpbacked, lame, and blind in a drooping eye -- a human gargoyle who keeps to the shadows of the great church as its bellringer. But the tolling bells inflict upon him another handicap: deafness. On the Festival of Fools in the cathedral square, a crowd elects Quasimodo King of Fools, and a wag quips that the hunchback's attributes qualify him to become King of France. During the festival, a Gypsy woman of transcendent beauty, Esmeralda, dances for the crowd. Watching her sultry undulations from a cathedral niche, Frollo falls in lust with her. Quasimodo, too, is captivated by her, but in a childlike, innocent way. Though Frollo is a priest committed to celibacy, he decides he must possess Esmeralda, even at the expense of his immortal soul. But after realizing she is beyond his reach, he promotes her execution for a crime she did not commit. When the noose closes around her neck, Quasimodo swoops down on a rope from the façade of the church and rescues her, then ensconces her in the bell tower. The film concludes when mobs storm the church and Quasimodo defends it, believing the attackers will harm Esmeralda. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

Review

In this 1997 television adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris, Mandy Patinkin warms up Charles Laughton's 1939 film interpretation of hunchback Quasimodo with Salma Hayek in the role of Esmeralda. Like Laughton before him, Patinkin lards himself with makeup, then sets to work unscrewing the soul of the humpbacked Quasimodo to release it from its hideous encasement. What he reveals is a human being superior in sensitivity and insight to the men who bedevil him. Patinkin is good, to be sure, but hardly inventive. He is Laughton portraying Quasimodo, not Patinkin portraying Quasimodo. Imitation may be admiration, but it isn't necessarily art -- at least not the kind requiring a performer to infuse originality into his role. Hayek's stunning beauty makes her an ideal Esmeralda physically, for it is the Gypsy woman's looks that drive the action in the story. But her acting, though passable, is not exceptional. Richard Harris is compelling as the villainous archdeacon of Notre Dame, Claude Frollo. However, at times he allows Frollo's obsession with Esmeralda to degenerate into uninspired shouting and raving, and, for good measure, bloody self-flagellation. The makeup artists blundered when touching him up for his role. With his shaved head, peaked ears, and shoulder-to-toe cassock, he looks more like a Star Trek Vulcan than a priest. Although filmed in Budapest, Prague, and Rouen, the set has the look and feel of medieval Paris, and the colorful costumes and foreboding cathedral interior enhance the atmosphere. The Hunchback is a good production, but not a great one. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

Cast

• Mandy Patinkin - Quasimodo
• Salma Hayek - Esmeralda
• Richard Harris - Dom Frollo
• Nigel Terry
• Jim Dale

Edward Atterton

Credit

Peter Medak - Director, Trevor Williams - Production Designer, Victor Hugo - Book Author

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