Durasi : 116 menit
Of the many film adaptations of Victor Hugo's novel, this classic from Hollywood's golden year of 1939 remains the best, surpassed only by the 1923 silent film version starring Lon Chaney. In his triumphant attempt to create a performance as memorable as Chaney's, Charles Laughton played the popular Parisian hunchback Quasimodo with a disfiguring costume and grisly makeup that rendered the actor almost unrecognizable. The result is a gripping and honest portrait of a disfigured bell ringer who falls madly in love with the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda. This lavish production also benefited greatly from exceptionally atmospheric black and white cinematography, brilliant medieval production design and the atmospheric direction of German émigré William Dieterle, whose style was heavily influenced by German films of the time.
