It is clear that the production values of the 1977 version of are the biggest problem. The whole production looks like a stage play, and at times that claim seems generous.
The interior of Notre Dame looks like a High School gym.
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| Interior of Notre Dame de Paris |
Or a broom closet...
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| Interior Set, inside of Notre Dame |
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| The Lively City Streets |
The Paris streets are fairly empty most of the time. The town square is just a few unfinished buildings. You would hope that the filmmakers would try their best not to break the suspension of disbelief, but nope. They didn't even bother to finish half of the sets before shooting. This version isn't so much a cast of thousands so much as it is a cast of, perhaps, a dozen or so.
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| The balcony of Notre Dame |
Notre Dame itself looks like it's made out of Styrofoam. (Who knows, it could be?)
Besides the cathedral doors, mostly what we see of the architecture of Notre Dame is a single balcony.
The few other parts of the church that are shown are usually nothing more glorious than random columns and arches.
Whenever an exterior shot is needed, the filmmakers choose simply to cut to a drawing of the church.
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| Exterior of Notre Dame de Paris |
No, not a matte painting.
No, not a photograph.
A drawing, a sketch.
The effect is laughable, to say the least.
The camera work is very stale, but that's to be expected for television, especially in the 1970s. To give credit where credit is due, there are a few inventive moments that I really like, there are some great Psycho-esque shots of Frollo peering through a crack in the wall, but creative stuff like that is few and far between.
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| Frollo peers through a crack |
The majority of the shots are like this:
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| Quasimodo confronts Frollo |
Flat and lifeless. Standard television blocking and staging. Efficient yes, but inspiring? I don't think so.
Next: The Costumes and Makeup
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