Outside of Notre-Dame, Paris

Notre-Dame is probably the second most famous landmark in Paris, behind the Eiffel Tower. The church's construction began in 1163 under Bishop Sully. It took nearly 200 years to finish. Built on the site of an old Roman temple, the cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece. The west front is the main entrance to the building and since we were there on a Saturday morning, the line was rather long to enter. That left us plenty of time to admire the exterior of the cathedral.

Notre-Dame from across the river

Us crossing the river, blissfully unaware of...

The long line!

The line to get in went from one side of the plaza, up some wooden bleachers in the plaza, down again into Notre-Dame by the far door (see if you can spot Mommy and L in the picture above). Over the entrance doors is the Kings' Gallery, featuring 28 statues of the Kings of Judah. During the Revolution, those brilliant intellectuals assumed these kings were French kings and destroyed most of the statues. They have all been replaced with 19th century copies. Some of the heads were saved and not discovered until 1977! They are in the Musee National du Moyen Age.

The Jewish Kings hold up the Medieval Masterpiece!

Tours of the Bell Tower are available but we did not take advantage since the children probably would not be patient enough. Visitors can see gargoyles and Quasimodo's bells up close from there, as well as having good views of the city.

We admired the three doorways leading into the cathedral. The leftmost as you face the front is the Portal of the Virgin, with Mary surrounded by saints and kings (these are the guys the Revolutionaries meant to knock over, whoops!) dating from the 13th century.

Portal of the Virgin

St. Denis featured after his martyrdom

Other saints by the Portal of the Virgin

The middle door is the Portal of the Last Judgment, featuring Christ enthroned in Heaven.

Portal of the Last Judgment

On the right-hand side is the Portal of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Portal of St. Anne

Unfortunately, we did not walk around the back of the cathedral where the famous flying buttresses are visible. These architectural structures bear the weight of the ceiling and the walls, allowing for much larger windows in the walls.

Movie Review: Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

As part of Ripon Cathedral's Summer Organ Festival 2012, they showed The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) with live organ improvisation by Alexander Mason. In spite of the stress and weariness of moving (we had to switch houses here in England, more on that in a later post), we decided to have dinner in Ripon and my wife would take the children home while I went to the movie.

We had dinner at the Unicorn Hotel's pub, part of the Wetherspoon chain. It was classic pub fare and we all enjoyed our meals (even if Lucy had a hard time choosing what to eat). I had a Daleside Old Boat Ale that was quite smooth to drink and went well with my chicken roast dinner. I should say that the pub is decorated following the theme of Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. The unicorn is the one who fights the lion in one of the book. We saw a full-size unicorn (though it was not live) and Tweedledum and Tweedledee behind the bar (though they were not serving drinks). Dinner finished just in time to get the kids in the car and get over to the cathedral.

The movie was back-projected on the screen that was about 15 feet above the ground. The copy of the film was a bit rubbish. It was a DVD with a grainy print and the title cards were often off an edge of the screen (either top or left), making them hard to read. Though maybe the projector was not aimed just right at the screen.

On the other hand, the organ playing was magnificent. Alexander Mason is an award-winning organist who teaches music and composition in addition to performing many free-lance improvisations, though improvising for the 90 minute running time of the movie is quite impressive. He was charmingly polite and was grinning from ear to ear at the end of the performance, partly from satisfaction at a job well done and partly from the warm applause.

A face only a mother/movie fan could love

As for the film itself, it is quite amazing. At the center of the film is Lon Chaney's performance. Known as the man of a thousand faces, this face is one of his most iconic. The make-up conjures feelings of horror and sympathy. He gives Quasimodo the hunchback a lot of pathos, especially through is expressive movements. The other actors are equally good (though they don't have the challenge of performing through so much make-up). Patsy Ruth Miller's Esmeralda is enchanting and innocent. It is easy to see how she catches each man's heart.

The set decoration is quite impressive, especially when the viewer can look from the projected image of the film's Notre Dame to an actual cathedral. The movie's set is spot on. All the locations are convincing. The plot is fairly thick with characters and events, but doesn't become confusing or overly simplified, in spite of a relatively brief running time.

This movie is definitely worth seeing and I am glad that I saw it in such special circumstances.

If you are looking for a better print, check this out at Amazon:



The movie is also available on YouTube, the print seems similar (the title cards are easier to read), though the music is orchestral with some choral elements thrown in. It looked pretty good, at least the first five minutes that I watched.