Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1996
Physically deformed Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) has lived his entire life in the church, where he is the bellringer, under the cold eye of his patron, Frollo (Tony Jay). But things change when he meets a beautiful Romani woman named Esmerelda (Demi Moore) and a kind Captain of the Guard, Phoebus (Kevin Kline). But Frollo's hatred of the Romani people coupled with his lust for Esmerelda puts everyone on a dangerous trajectory.
Boy, talk about a tale of two movies. Watching this film was like being witness to a creative tug-of-war, leading to a movie with some incredible highs and some baffling lows.
To begin with the positive, I think that the film goes a lot further than you'd expect from a Disney movie in terms of the portrayal of characters and events. Yes, the film makes some MASSIVE changes to the story (as in, entirely changing major plot points), but I appreciate that it keeps some of the themes present.
The strongest---and darkest--aspect of the film is Frollo's demented relationship to Esmerelda. He lusts after her, explicitly, and yet the only way that he can cope with these feelings is to condemn her as a witch who has manipulated him. In what I found to be shockingly on-point lyrics to the song "Hellfire", he actually prays that either she will be his or that she be destroyed or damned. "My greatest hope is that I get to have sex with her OR she be brutally killed. Either or." It's such an effective portrayal of the resentment that people can have toward those they find attractive (but can't have), and the way that the resentment can morph into anger and the desire to punish. Frollo is disgusted at himself for feeling lust for someone who is "lesser", and because he has power, he is able to turn that disgust outward to punish those around him.
The okay part of the film is the main plot involving Quasimodo and Phoebus and the rest of the city. This is where the cracks begin to show in terms of the film trying to make the story one of acceptance and friendship. Kevin Kline is fine as Phoebus, but his character is very much the glib, wise-cracking Disney hero of the 90s. If only the film had had the courage to play his character a little straighter, as a horrified witness to Frollo's abuses of power. Instead, this is where the film begins to feel a little stranded. One moment, Phoebus is risking his life to save a family from being burned alive by Frollo, the next he's talking to his horse with a funny name.
But the dregs of the film are the gargoyles. In any other Disney film, these characters would not be all that out of place. They are the perpetual goofy sidekicks wearing impromptu silly costumes, making period-inappropriate jokes, and doing armpit farts. But here they make so little sense that it made my brain hurt. Their potty humor clashes horribly with the emotional heart of the movie. I'm sorry but this:
does not belong in a film that also contains this:
.
Overall I liked the animation and the voice performances. The music wasn't amazing (though "Hellfire" was certainly the best), but neither was it wholly forgettable. In the end, this feels like a movie that has unresolved conflicts between artistry and commercial appeal. Better than I expected, but certainly nowhere close to how powerful and compelling it could have been.