The Hunchback, Soul of Paris Arrives on Netflix November 27, and Vincent Cassel Plays a Darker Quasimodo

Photo: Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Hunchback, Soul of Paris lands on Netflix on November 27. Despite the title, this is not an animated film and it is not the Disney story. It is a live-action French historical drama directed by Jean-Francois Richet, and Vincent Cassel plays the man said to have inspired Victor Hugo's Quasimodo.

Painting: Eugène Delacroix, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The setting is Paris on the eve of the July Revolution of 1830, with a cholera epidemic spreading through the city. Cassel's character is caught between political turmoil and an impossible love. Coverage describes the tone as much darker than the Disney film, with plague and manhunts in place of songs and gargoyles. Karim Leklou, Benjamin Voisin and Daphne Patakia also star. The film was previously known as Quasimodo, the Soul of Paris.

Illustration: Tangopaso, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I like the idea of going back to the real-world story behind a legend. Hugo's novel was itself a campaign to save Notre-Dame, and a film about the people who lived around the cathedral rather than the monster is a clever angle. Richet has directed tough action in the past, so I expect something visceral.

Illustration: Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard Grandville, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One date note: a German outlet gives November 23, but every other source I found says the 27th, so I am going with that. Netflix has dropped quite a few European period dramas lately, and this one sounds like it has real scale.

Photo: Ilya Mauter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Do you prefer the romantic versions of this story or a grittier one? I am leaning towards grit.