HOW NOTRE-DAME BECAME A LANDMARK IN POPULAR CULTURE
The Gothic cathedral has been immortalised in books, paintings and film. Chris Newbould rounds up some of its most famous appearances
The sight of the famous cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in flames on Monday will have brought a lump to the throats of many, far beyond the avenues and banlieues of Paris. The cathedral is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and a global Parisian landmark attracting about 13 million visitors a year. It’s hard to put an exact figure on annual visitors as entry to the cathedral is free, but many estimates claim the cathedral is the most-visited landmark in Paris, edging out even tourist favourites such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
The cathedral, which was completed in 1345 following a near-two century construction process, is far more than just a tourist attraction, or even a place of worship. It has also been the site of some of the most significant moments in French history, and has taken its place in the country’s cultural hall of fame.
Henry VI of England was crowned king of France, as Henry II, at Notre-Dame during the Hundred Years’ War in 1431. Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor there in 1804. He also sought to restore the cathedral, which had fallen into disrepair after suffering damage during the French Revolution.
In 1909, Joan of Arc, who had helped France battle the English, and was burnt at the stake centuries earlier, was beatified in the cathedral by Pope Pius X.
The cathedral was immortalised in popular culture by Victor Hugo in his 1831 gothic novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. The novel
really put the cathedral on the cultural map globally, and at least 13 film adaptations have followed, most famously the 1956 version by Jean Delannoy, starring Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo the hunchback, and 1996’s popular Disney animation.
Disney has used the cathedral in other movies, too. In Ratatouille, Linguini passes the cathedral twice, and a glimpse of Notre-Dame appears in the 2017 live-action remake of
Beauty and The Beast. JeanPierre Jeunet uses Notre-Dame as the location for the death of the main character’s mother in his five-time Oscar-nominated comedy Amelie, while lead characters Jerry and Lise share a romantic dance in the shadow of the cathedral in 1951’s An American In Paris.
Notre-Dame also appeared in Woody Allen’s Oscarnominated 2011 film Midnight In Paris.
Perhaps unsurprisingly in the City of Love, Notre-Dame is a popular movie backdrop for characters taking romantic strolls through the city, but what is it about this landmark that makes it such a popular location for directors?
Quite simply, it’s the building’s beauty. Perhaps Ethan Hawke’s character, Jesse, hits the nail on the head with his words in Richard Linklater’s
Before Sunset. As he and his star-crossed lover, played by Julie Delpy, gaze at the cathedral from a boat on the Seine, he tells a story about how, when the Germans were retreating from Paris towards the end of the Second World War, they rigged Notre-Dame with tonnes of explosives with the intention of destroying it as they departed. One soldier had to be left behind to flick the switch once the German troops were safely in retreat. Jesse says: “They had to leave one guy in charge of hitting the switch and the guy, the soldier, he … he couldn’t do it. You know, he just sat there, knocked out by how beautiful the place was.”
Jesse goes on to admit that he doesn’t know if the story is true, but it’s an apt testament to the building’s timeless allure, and goes a long way to explaining why location scouts come back to the site again and again. Fortunately, with the main structure seemingly having survived the fire, Jesse’s other prediction from the film has not yet come to pass: “But you have to think that Notre-Dame will be gone one day,” the beau says plaintively to his beloved.
Notre-Dame may have apparently structurally survived
this fire, but there’s still bad news for scouts, particularly those looking for movies in Notre-Dame’s most common role as a romantic backdrop. Of course, the landmark doesn’t only appear in films about love. It can take casting credits in numerous non-romance films, such as Jean-Luc Godard’s classic new-wave crime drama Breathless and the vampire romp Van Helsing starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale. Notre-Dame also shows up in the dramatic opening sequence of another cult horror – the sequel An American Werewolf in Paris.
Despite these outliers, however, it is most popular by far in the romance genre. These movies tend to feature our romantic leads floating down the Seine on a boat, or taking a stroll arm-in-arm down its banks, which means the cameras are usually shooting Notre-Dame’s southern facade, which faces the river and features the stunning South Rose window, dating from 1260. This is currently believed to have been destroyed in the fire.
Outside of the cinematic world, several painters have also been inspired by the beauty of this cathedral, with Picasso and Matisse among the best-known to have been inspired by the building.
The cathedral’s bells, immortalised by Quasimodo’s refrain “the bells, the bells”, have tolled at most major events in the history of France, including the coronation of kings, papal visits and to mark the end of two World Wars.