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God Help The Outcasts Hunchback Of Notre Dame |
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PlotThe movie opens in 1482 Paris with Clopin, a gypsy puppeteer, telling a group of children the story about the bellringer of Notre Dame ("The Bells of Notre Dame"): One night long ago, four Gypsies tried to enter Notre Dame but were stopped by Judge Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice. One gypsy woman, carrying a bundle, attempted to flee, and Frollo pursued, thinking the bundle was stolen goods. Frollo snatches the bundle from the woman and she falls backwards onto the cathedral stairs and dies of a blow to the head. Frollo then finds that the bundle is a deformed baby, and attempts to drown it in a well, believing it to be an unholy demon. He is stopped by the Archdeacon, who tells him to care for the child to save his own soul from going to the underworld for killing an innocent woman. He reluctantly agrees, on condition that the child can live in the cathedral, and he names the baby Quasimodo, meaning "half-formed". Twenty years later, Quasimodo has grown up. He is the bellringer of Notre Dame. Frollo insists that Quasimodo never leave the bell tower because all the people in the city are cruel and horrible and will mistreat him due to his ugliness. Frollo then lies about Quasimodo's mother, telling him that his mother abandoned him on the church steps and that he kindly took Quasimodo in, but nevertheless, after Frollo departs, Quasimodo still dreams of spending a day out in the world ("Out There"). Quasimodo's gargoyle friends (Hugo, Victor and Laverne) convince him that this one day, the annual Feast of Fools, is the only day he can experience the world outside, given that everyone is in costumes. Meanwhile, Frollo and the new captain of the guard, Phoebus, arrive to oversee the festival as Quasimodo tries to keep himself from being seen. The main attraction of the festivities is Esmeralda. When the time comes to crown the ugliest member of the crowd as the "king of fools," Quasimodo is dragged onto the stage by Esmeralda, who thinks his face is a "great mask!". Quasimodo is crowned the king of fools and is initially met with great applause; however, the crowd soon turns on Quasimodo, tying him down to a wooden wheel and pelting him with tomatoes, eggs, cabbages and other kinds of food. Phoebus tries to end it, but is ordered back by Frollo who lets the torment continue, determined to teach Quasimodo a lesson. Esmeralda helps Quasimodo down and Frollo orders her arrested for helping the hunchback. Esmeralda uses stagecraft to disappear, and she is accused of witchcraft. She follows a humiliated Quasimodo while in disguise. She is caught in the Cathedral and Phoebus saves her by saying she claimed Sanctuary and the law cannot touch her. The archdeacon then commands Frollo to leave in respect for the church. Frollo reluctantly leaves, warning Esmeralda that if she leaves, she will be arrested. Esmeralda sees candles being lit for prayer and, though she thinks herself unworthy to address the Virgin Mary, hesitantly prays to her that God protect the outcasts of world ("God Help the Outcasts"). Quasimodo shows her the bell tower and becomes even more infatuated by her kindness and helps her escape. With her on his mind, he returns to his desk and carves a new little figurine in the shape of Esmeralda, believing she's like an "angel". ("Heaven's Light") Meanwhile, Frollo is disturbed by his own lust for Esmeralda and fears eternal damnation as a consequence ("Hellfire"). So the next day, Frollo leads a search for gypsies, burning down houses and buildings. Finally Phoebus refuses and Frollo orders him attacked. He steals Frollo's horse and prepares to make a daring escape, but as he is crossing a bridge, he is shot with an arrow. He falls off the bridge and into the river below. Frollo's soliders prepare to shoot more arrows at him but Frollo halts them saying, "Let the traitor rot in his watery grave." After Quasimodo is convinced by the gargoyles that Esmeralda is romantically interested in him ("A Guy Like You"), Esmeralda brings an injured Phoebus to the bell tower to be safe and Quasimodo, heartbroken, watches them kiss. Frollo returns to the cathedral just as Esmeralda leaves and Quasimodo hides Phoebus under the table he and Frollo are eating at. During the meal, Frollo notices the carved figure of Esmeralda, and furiously realises that Quasimodo helped her escape. Frollo then tells Quasimodo that he will free him from Esmeralda's "heathen witchcraft" by attacking the Court of Miracles, the gyspy hideout, at dawn with a thousand men. After Frollo leaves, Phoebus wakes up, and he and Quasimodo decide to work together to warn the gypsies. They use a map necklace given to Quasimodo by Esmeralda, but they are bound, gagged, and captured by Clopin and his men, who, mistaking them for spies, sentence them to death by hanging ("The Court of Miracles"). They are saved by Esmeralda, but Frollo and many soldiers arrive and arrest the crowd: Frollo had bluffed the whole time, planning to follow Quasimodo. The next day Frollo is preparing to burn Esmeralda at the stake in front of the cathedral. Quasimodo is chained up in the bell tower, but when he sees Frollo light the straw under her feet ablaze, his rage helps him break free, and he rescues Esmeralda by swinging downwards into the crowd and back to the cathedral, claiming sanctuary in the middle of the balcony. Phoebus, the gargoyles, Clopin, the towns people, and the arrested gypsies incite a revolt against Frollo and the guards. Quasimodo also pours molten copper (for crafting bells) from above to scare the guards away, but Frollo manages to break into the cathedral, where he finds Quasimodo weeping over the unconscious Esmeralda. Frollo seizes the opportunity to stab Quasimodo in the back, supposedly to end his suffering. Noting the shadow of Frollo looming over him, Quasimodo seizes the weapon and they fight. Quasimodo throws Frollo to the ground and prepares to kill him when Esmeralda wakes up. Frollo brandishes a sword, and chases them to the balconies. Quasimodo escapes with Esmeralda to hide underneath the balconies, but Frollo soon catches them and fights Quasimodo again. During the fight, he reveals to Quasimodo his mother really died trying to save him, and Frollo plans to carry out his original intentions and kill Quasimodo. Quasimodo falls, but manages to pull Frollo down as well. Esmeralda catches hold of Quasimodo's arm. While she is holding Quasimodo, Frollo climbs atop the stone projection (an inanimate 'gargoyle', in the proper architectural sense) and raises his sword high above his head, determined to send them both into oblivion. Suddenly, the gargoyle begins to break off from the ledge, causing Frollo to lose his footing and grab the statue, which suddenly comes to life and snarls at him. The statue finally breaks free, taking a screaming Frollo with it, down to his fiery death and eternal punishment in underworld. Esmeralda loses her grip on Quasimodo, but as he is falling from the cathedral he is caught by Phoebus on a balcony below, and there the three are reunited. Quasimodo then "gives his blessing" to Esmeralda and Phoebus's relationship, and they return to the crowd outside and Quasimodo is now accepted into the crowd as a normal man.
Production
Differences in depictions of characters present in both the novel and the film
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