Hint: Pay attention to grey tones
provided by flash-gear.com
I wonder if the Phantom and Quasimodo were created for the Jolie-laide archetype or was the Jolie-laide archetype created for them?
Two Ugly Frenchmen
Get More:
Movie Trailers, Movies Blog
MTV’s Movie Blog back in May had an interview with Josh Brolin regarding the the rumors around the new Hunchback movie. According to Brolin, he woke up one fine day and decided he wanted to make a Hunchback movie. He also says that Tim Burton will be involved in some form and the script is brilliant. Though what actor would diss their own vanity project by saying the script is a piece of crap? And this is a vanity project for Brolin since he is putting himself in the role of Quasimodo, a role that fine actors have been playing since the 20s.
Now from the book’s perspective Brolin, who is in his 40s is way too old to play Quasimodo but from a film history perspective he is not. Of the actors who have played Quasimodo in films since 1923 the average age of the them is 42. So while I can’t really disparage Brolin for playing a character 20 year younger than himself, I do blame the film industry as a whole for this warp-ness especially when actress playing Esmeralda that have less of an age gap are deem too old.
Another issue I have is that Brolin mentions a few times (in the space of a minute and a half) how fun the movie will be. Hunchback has a connotation for being dark and depressing and while it’s true that most of the character die in the book the films are never as bleak. The way Brolin makes it known that this movie will be “jazzy” makes it seem like he feels that all the movies are depressing and never fun. However the last two major movie versions have been a Disney movie and a modern-retelling that was a parody. The world doesn’t really need a another fun version of Hunchback. Making it fun is a marketing ploy to get people to watch the movie since people in general don’t like sad movies. So making the Hunchback of Notre Dame (a book people know very little about other than it’s “depressing”) fun is a way to make money off of the book. Hollywood doesn’t have the balls to make a version of the movie that keeps in line with the book.
This movie is also going to focus on Gringoire, so it’s like the 1939 version and the 1997 version where Gringoire is Esmeralda’s major love interest. While I it find this interesting I also think it’s a major cop-out out. He is a safe character to follow as he not controversial or deep .
All that being said the prospect of new Hunchback movie is exciting and I can’t wait to see how it the film takes shape but my exceptions are low.
Additional nites.
Ages of Actors who have played Quasimodo in films (ages may not be exact)
Chaney born 1883 – 40 in 1923
Laughton born 1899 – 40 in 1939
Quinn born 1915 – 41 in 1956
Hopkins born in 1937 – 45 in 1982
Hulce born in 1953- 43 in 1996
Patinkin born in 1952 – 45 in 1997
Timsit born in 1959 – 40 in 1999
Brolin born 1968 – will be 45 in 2013
The average age is 42 and the character is 20 that a 22 year different between the actors and the actual character.
This video is from The Muppet Show
no release date as of yet for season 5 of The Muppet Show
A Fan Music Video using Disney’s Hunchback with the Italian version of Belle (Bella) from Notre Dame de Paris. Singers (in order) Giò Di Tonno (Quasimodo), Vittorio Matteucci (Frollo), Grazino Galatone (Febo/Phoebus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3AiK1vLJ3o
He maybe ugly as sin but remember ladies, Quasimodo is a Frenchmen so looks don’t matter. Not when he’s armed with that Beret, that Mustache, those Baguettes and that Red Wine. No woman can resist the charms of a Frenchmen even the ugly ones.
Frenchmen Quasimodo
Sony Pictures Animation is releasing a new 3-d movie called Hotel Transylvania. It’s about a hotel for monsters and the character of Quasimodo is it. Quasimodo is played by Jon Lovitz and is a gourmet cook.
Quasimodo as a monster archetype comes out the 1923 reputation, so this interpertation of Quasimodo has nothing to do with the book. The fact that he’s a gourmet chef is more of a parody of the French than Quasimodo. However since this movie isn’t about Quasimodo and him being a straight-up monster and a chef doesn’t bother me
Quasimodo in Hotel Transylvania
My biggest annoynace is the design of Quasimodo. For a character that is famous for being deformed and ugly he sure looks normal albeit slightly ugly but not up to standards for the character. I mean look at this eyes, where his protrusion? Even cutesy Disney Quasimodo got that much. It’s a bad character design when the identifiable characteristic are his legs and feet. If it wasn’t for the legs and the shoes I wouldn’t believe this as Quasimodo. For a movie about monsters they could have made him look more like a monster but they didn’t. I have to wonder though, for a movie about a haven for monsters where no humans are allowed, how do they explain Quasimodo being there in the first place?
I have no issue with Jon Lovitz for the voice. I loved him in The Critic
Hotel Transylvania hits theaters September 28, 2012. You can see Quasimodo at 1:32 in this trailer.
I think the movie looks entertaining enough. Not an original concept but seems silly.
A New Product from the Hunchstore. Now you can get stamps with your favorite deformed bell-ringing Hunchback; Quasimodo.
This weekend is Otakon, which is the largest Anime Convention on the East Coast of the USA (and I’m attending), I though this Fan-art Friday I would use Pokemon in the Belle staging (with some liberties) from Notre Dame de Paris.
Pokemon performing Belle Notre dame de Paris made by me
Esmeralda – Bellossom
Quasimodo – Snubbull
Frollo – Gengar
Phoebus – Rapidash
Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda with Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Costumes in the 1923 version of Hunchback are for the most part good. They look appropriate to fashions of the late middle ages. However with the exceptions of Chaney’s make-up for Quasimodo the costumes are not spectacular. There is no one costume that stands out and is memorable. They are just nice and appropriate to both the characters and the times. However there are two costumes I would like to discuss in addition to Chaney’s make-up since Chaney is the main selling point of the film.
Lon Chaney as Quasimodo 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Lon Chaney was a genius with make-up. It’s not wonder that he has been dubbed the “Man of a Thousand Faces.” His most memorable transformations of his own face in his film career were the Phantom and Quasimodo.
For Quasimodo, Chaney looked at illustrations by Hugo to get an accurate look. For his cheeks Chaney used cotton and colodium. Colodium is a skin sealer. What he would do is paint spirit gum, which is an adhesive, apply a wad of cotton to it and then cover it with colodium. The process was repeated to build up the cheeks to the desire look. This also allowed Chaney to reuse the cheeks for a few day with minimal effort. For the hunch he wore a 15-20 pound plaster hump. The hump was held in place by a leather harness that attract at the waist. It also had straps at the shoulders that attached to the belt to keep Chaney in a hunch position.
He also wore a rubber suit over the harness in the pillory scene. He covered it with hair to give Quasimodo an animal-like look. Early in the film he had hair on his knuckles but he did away with that as the filming went one. Chaney also employed false teeth and a wig.
Lon Chaney as Quasimodo 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
I don’t think the Quasimodo’s look has aged as well as the Phantom’s make-up but Chaney did help solidify movie make-up and set a precedent for the look of future Quasimodos so I do give kudos to the make-up in this version.
Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
So there are a few costumes I want to discuss, three of Esmeralda’s and Marie’s costumes. Esmeralda has four costume changes but I want to look at three, her normal outfit, prison dress and her robe. The Costumes were supervised by Gordon Magee, that they only costume credit I found.
Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Esmeralda’s normal gypsy costume is based on a 1891 illustration. You can see it in the vest, short sleeves, the shoes and the mid calf hem line. While I like this costume as a whole it is inaccurate to the Romani convention that ankles should not be expose but their is another force at work in Esmeralda’s costume; the 1920’s.
Esmeralda’s costume has a more shapeless silhouette, long beaded necklaces and the sleeves look straighter and look more like modern t-shirt.
Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
However Esmeralda’s prison dress and her robe look more like a product of the 20’s. Her prison dress has a shapeless silhouette and the way it cinches in at the waist and puffs over is very 20s. Plus the short hemline. Hemlines that hit mid-calf was the style in 1923 for hem.
Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
However the robe is the worse offender of Esmeralda’s costumes. In a deleted scene from the movie, Quasimodo trades candles for clothing for Esmeralda to wear. He gets a robe or a “dressing gown” that has a fur trim and looks to be made of velvet with a satin belt.
Number 1; robes didn’t not exist at this time in Europe.. Robe/dressing gown came in to fashion in the 18th century because orientism was fashionable. Number 2; given the materials, fur, satin and velvet, it’s doubtful that a mere chest of candles could be traded for a garment made from these materials. Beside those issues, the robe features the signature 1923 hemline and the shoes. The shoes that Esmeralda wears with the robe are flats with a flower detail. Clearly not shoes wore in the middle ages.
Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
However the worse offender of the 1920 style in a costume is Marie’s. Marie is Clopin’s wife. Marie actually has two costumes but they’re very similar. Both are very shapeless dresses that flattened out her chest which is the classic 1920 silhouette.
Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
One has almost kimono-esque sleeves that have a scallops detail at the edge. Both hemlines hit at the ankles but one it’s a handkerchief hem, so the longest point hit the ankle.
Handkerchief hems were popular in the 1910-1920’s and it was seen in Ancient Greece. While it was used in Antiquity it was not at all popular in 1482. The other one is pointed with a scallop edge which makes it appear shorter. While Esmeralda’s costumes harken to the 20’s, Marie’s flaunts it to the point that it looks really out of place.
Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The costumes are appropriately medieval for the men and the women’s costumes are mixed with the style of the 1920 to make they look more stylish regardless of period appropriateness.
Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Pictures came from the Philip J Riley Book
Next Time – The Sets
Notre Dame de Paris Set from the 1923 version of Hunchback