Presented as part of Cinematic Century: Milestones From 100 Years of Film

Brand new 4K restoration with live musical accompaniment composed by Jean-François Charles and Nicolas Sidoroff commissioned by FilmScene performed by a 7-piece band

$30 members | $40 public | $25 students

Universal's most successful silent film is a breathtaking spectacle that made Lon Chaney legendary. Emblematic of the large-scale productions of the 1920s silent era, the film's massive set took six months to create and called for hundreds of extras. In one of the most iconic adaptations of Victor Hugo's classic novel, we travel to 15th-century Paris where Jehan (Brandon Hurst), the evil brother of the archdeacon, lusts after a Gypsy named Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) and commands the hunchback Quasimodo (Lon Chaney) to capture her. Military captain Phoebus (Norman Kerry) also loves Esmeralda and rescues her, but the Gypsy is not unsympathetic to Quasimodo's condition, and an unlikely bond forms between them. After vengeful Jehan frames Esmeralda for the attempted murder of Phoebus, Quasimodo's feelings are put to the test.

About the Musical Accompaniment

Jean-Francois Charles, who teaches composition at the University of Iowa, and Nicolas Sidoroff, a French musician based in Lyon, have worked together on several silent movies, from The Great Train Robbery to The Man with the Movie Camera. In 2020, they scored a series of four shorts from the Brinton archive (films by Georges Méliès and Segundo de Chomon, 1901 to 1907). The music was commissioned by the Red Cedar Chamber Ensemble and performed 14 times in Iowa during the “Brinton Reprise” tour in the spring of 2022.

Jean-François Charles and Nicolas Sidoroff put together a band of great Iowa musicians for this new soundtrack. The music is the result of classical, jazz, Persian, and Afro-Cuban influences.

Jean-François Charles: clarinet
Nicolas Sidoroff: trumpet
Nathan Platte: bass trombone
Ramin Roshandel: setar & melodica
Joseph Norman: electric & acoustic guitar
Steve Grismore: electric guitar & bass
Creighton Gaynor: percussions