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Notre Dame de Paris
1 Nov 2008 11:57 pmSee, when I had only the soundtrack to go by, I thought this was a beautiful and heart-wrenching musical*, but after watching it on DVD I have realised that it is actually HILARIOUS AND CREEPY. Its female characters are handled dreadfully (not helped by the fact that I wanted to stab the actress singer playing Esmeralda IN THE FACE), there is zero logical continuity, and the whole thing is like a Mary Sue gone terribly wrong (every single male character in it is irresistably drawn to her! unfortunately -- but logically enough -- this is NOT ACTUALLY A GOOD THING).
However, I was mostly too busy being amused by the staging to care about this. Phoebus has his big IT'S NOT CHEATING IF WE'RE NOT MARRIED YET, RIGHT? song while surrounded by writhing almost-naked men (Fahye: ummmmm) and half the scenes involve the male chraracters randomly chillaxing together on the steps of Notre Dame.
Frollo: So, dude, where's your wife?
Gringoire: Ah! My one true love, the muse of poetry, is as fickle and as fleeting within my thoughts as YOUR true love, the Church. Let us forget these cruel female metaphors and serenade each other about printing presses some more! Because that wasn't gay enough the first time we did it!
Frollo: ...you know, when I said wife, I meant the woman to whom you are married.
Gringoire: Oh, right. The one you're totally stalking, you mean?
Frollo: *coughs*
Clopin: Hey, Gringoire! Where's yourbeard wife?
Gringoire: NOBODY APPRECIATES MY ARTISTIC SOUL!!!! Or my luscious curls and my eyeliner. SOB.
Other redeeming features: the sets are fantastic, THE DANCING IS AMAZING, and Gringoire's curls are overshadowed only by the awesomeness of Clopin's dreadlocks.
*Look, I understood MOST of the lyrics, but not ALL. ("'My fourteen summers are for you?' OH. OKAY THIS IS EVEN CREEPIER THAN I THOUGHT.") Definitely enough to know that the subtitles are often...wrong.
However, I was mostly too busy being amused by the staging to care about this. Phoebus has his big IT'S NOT CHEATING IF WE'RE NOT MARRIED YET, RIGHT? song while surrounded by writhing almost-naked men (Fahye: ummmmm) and half the scenes involve the male chraracters randomly chillaxing together on the steps of Notre Dame.
Frollo: So, dude, where's your wife?
Gringoire: Ah! My one true love, the muse of poetry, is as fickle and as fleeting within my thoughts as YOUR true love, the Church. Let us forget these cruel female metaphors and serenade each other about printing presses some more! Because that wasn't gay enough the first time we did it!
Frollo: ...you know, when I said wife, I meant the woman to whom you are married.
Gringoire: Oh, right. The one you're totally stalking, you mean?
Frollo: *coughs*
Clopin: Hey, Gringoire! Where's your
Gringoire: NOBODY APPRECIATES MY ARTISTIC SOUL!!!! Or my luscious curls and my eyeliner. SOB.
Other redeeming features: the sets are fantastic, THE DANCING IS AMAZING, and Gringoire's curls are overshadowed only by the awesomeness of Clopin's dreadlocks.
*Look, I understood MOST of the lyrics, but not ALL. ("'My fourteen summers are for you?' OH. OKAY THIS IS EVEN CREEPIER THAN I THOUGHT.") Definitely enough to know that the subtitles are often...wrong.
