The Hunchback of Notre Dame

In terms of production values, a respectable representative of hedonistically grandiose films. For one thing, the hundreds of teeming extras in period costumes and masks among ten-meter sets look like attractive cinematic excess; for another, the epic crowd panoramas are often repeated for no reason and often fail to inform you visually as to what you should be looking at in any particular shot. The result, then, is more of a kind of appreciative head-nod at the relative restraint of this clown show where there’s no one looking into the camera too much and no one confusedly scratching their ass during the battle sequences since they forgot to sign up for the enemy during rehearsals. Plus, of course, Chaney's suitably repulsive leaping goblin, whose acrobatic feats on the cathedral walls has served as the inspiration for the source material, the Assassin's Creed series. The 100-minute version I saw also has an excellent, at times a bit dungeon-synth musical score by the duo of Laura Karpman/Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum. (28.12.2022)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an American production that does not rely on having a great actor in the lead role or great practical effects but primarily on the love story plotline. However, I did not find that focus so much to my liking. Otherwise, it is still a very good movie. It is obviously very dated, but so has every silent movie. It definitely deserves to be preserved for posterity. (07.02.2020)