Sara Hammerzmith

Well hello everyhopa!

Today’s the day we do the things that we deplore all the other three hundred and sixty four days!

You know I love the Hunchback of Notre Dame. So of course, as any other HoND (or perhaps even Disney fan?) I celebrate Topsy Turvy. So most of the day I’ve been listening to the soundtrack, reading my favorite parts of the book, listened to an audiobook and just been inhaling everything Hunchback. It was nice.

So. Why do I love the Hunchback of Notre Dame so badly?

I figured I’d dedicate an entry for that, I mean, it’s actually HoND’s day today, and if you can’t stand it, it’s just up to you to stop reading.

Well. I mean, we can go over the basics, like the incredible music written by my favorite Disney composer Alan Menken (And he’s also responsible for scores as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Pocahontas, Tangled, Home on the Range… Uh, Yes, that pretty much covers it) and lyrics written by Stephen Schwartz in a way… it just.

Look. There isn’t a single song that leaves you untouched. The Bells of Notre Dame tells you the story about how Quasimodo got into the hands of Dom Claude, and what he did to “get” or, “end up” with him. They way you basically see Dom Claude kick Quasis mother to death, and the fright in his eyes when he feels all the eyes of Notre Dame onto him. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m just feeling it. And when Clopin says “Who is the monster, and who is the man?” Well, DUH. Of course Quasimodo is the monster!

Next song is “Out There“.
I mean sure. I want to punch Phineas so hard for being so oblivious to Isabella. But the way Dom Claude right up front tells Quasimodo “You are deformed, and you are ugly” and that he’s a monster, it makes me wanna not punch him. But kill him. I haven’t before paid that much attention to what Dom Claude actually said until I had spent an all night writing an exam and watched the movie in the morning and those words just stood out. I remember I was eating pancakes, but I just dropped the fork and gazed.

How is it fucking possible? How can someone do that? “You are deformed, and you are ugly”. What the hell, who is Dom Claude to tell Quasi what he is? The fucking rage I’m feeling.

After this Quasi sings about his desires just to spend one day other there. It’s a beautiful tune, and at least the Swedish one, sings it with so much passion, that he really WANTS to get out of there. This one little wish.

This little wish, that comes true on “Topsy Turvy“. This song is joyful. Or is it? Nah, not really. They make it sound festive, the feast of the whores and bandits  and the feast where we’ll crown the most ugly person on the court. Which happened to be Quasimodo. It’s HEARTBREAKING to first see him SO HAPPY, The SHEER happiness Quasimodo shows at the end, when he’s crowned the king, after the people accepted him, even if it was as the King of Fools, and right after this, he is HUMILIATED by Frollo’s people at first, and then the rest.

“God Help the Outcast” is the song that appears after this, and seriously. Always, when she says “God help my people, they look to you still” (okay, that doesn’t work, because she sings something completly different in Swedish) always tears me up. Or when she sits there and just.. pours it out. “I ask for nothing, I can get by”. Always tear me apart inside. Especially since this occurs RIGHT after Topsy Turvy.

“Heaven’s Light”. This is at first a heartwarming song, about how Quasi feels for Esmeralda. This is the sweetest tunes, but becomes the most depressing one when Quasi sees Esmeralda and Phoebus kissing and repeates “No face as hideous as my face, was ever ment for Heavens Light” and the tears and he cries and tears the Heart of Ace’s into pieces. Once again, it may just be me, but it breaks my heart.

Now we’ve reached “Hellfire“. This, is my personal favorite in the entire movie, the villain song. Dom Claudes song about how he lusts after Esmeralda, and how much he wants her, but how he CAN’T have her because his religions tells him so. This song is what, 2 minutes, but it manages to tell the WHOLE story of Dom Claudes struggle, in a terrifying way. The music is so majestetic  and the Swedish voice actor makes it brutal. It scares me, it does.

So. “A Guy Like You“. That’s a sweet song. About how Esmeralda of course would want Quasi, I mean, a guy like him you just can’t meet anywhere. The stone figures really brings Quasi up. But wait. Can the stone figures actually talk? No. They can’t. And that’s why this other joyous song becomes so depressing, when you realize that this is all in his head. It’s himself, telling himself, that of course he’s better than Phoebus, or any other knight in a shining armor.

“Court Of Miracles” is happening after this, and while that song is not really “sad” it’s on the other hand a bit brutal. I was quite surprised to see the joyful jester all of a sudden be so… insane. Bad, insane. “We find you totally innocent, which is the worst crime of all”  just makes you think of… gah, I don’t even know how to explain, but all the injustices you know. Many of the gypsies in his clan was killed for nothing, just as Esmeralda is about to be killed just because, yeah, nothing! Being innocent is the worst crime of all.

“The Bells of Notre Dame Reprise” is the last song of the movie, and it happens right after the score “Into the Sunlight”, and that score always makes me cry out of happiness. Clopin asks you in the song, “What makes a monster, and what makes a man?”

And this is what makes the movie… just… sort of perfect.

What is it really, that makes a monster, and what makes a man?

In the beginning you are SO sure that Quasimodo is the monster, because, that’s what you’ve been told, that’s what Dom Claude says. But as the movie progresses, just as “Beauty and the Beast”, you realize, maybe Quasi isn’t the monster, after all. And it tears you up a little, that you actually thought for a second that Quasi could be the monster.

Uhm. Yes. This entry is now FAR over a thousand words, so I think I’m done ranting about it. But perhaps this gave you another understanding in why I find this movie so emotional, and perfect.

Now I’m about to head upstairs, and watch it. And cry.

// Sara

This entry was posted on January 6, 2013 at 11:09 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.