Search - Bruno Pelletier, Luc Plamondon, Daniel Lavole :: Notre Dame De Paris (Double CD) [French Import] Version Integrale [Live] [Box Set]

Le Miz meets Cirque de Soleil

Prangster | West Linn, Oregon USA | 06/01/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love the music for the show. It is lyrical and emotional. One does not need to understand French to follow the pathos of the story. Fortunately, however, the DVD does offer the choice to have English subtitles. I have now watched this video 3 times and the parts of it I loved the first time I love even more now.

My complaint with this DVD is not the show but the editing. I have no idea what this show really looks like. I think the choreography is spectacular but, again, who knows. The film editing is done in MTV style, a cut to a different angle every 15 seconds. The staging for this show is huge which befits Notre Dame. The choreography uses the whole stage horizontially and vertically but because of the manic editing you have to watch the dance numbers several times to get an appreciation for this.

The look and style of the show is gorgeous. There is never any doubt that this is going to have a tragic ending. Don't buy this if you are expecting a French version of the Disney cartoon. (And because of Disney this will probably never be produced in the US)

And the actors... amazing, beautiful, soaring. But my favorite is Gringoire. And the actor who is Clopin is so good that I wanted to reach through the screen and throttle him myself. Ah, enjoy!

If you want a taste of this show, search for it on YouTube. Also look for the Italian version. French is the language of love, but Italian is the language of song."