The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Kevin Kline: Phoebus

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Quotes 

• Phoebus : [upon realising that Frollo knows where Esmeralda is hiding and that he will attack, Quasimodo feels as though he should help. Phoebus groans from under the table from which he was hidden from Frollo. Once Frollo leaves, he gets out]  We' have to find the Court of Miracles before daybreak. If Frollo gets there first...

  [starts walking, but Quasimodo does not follow; he just looks at Phoebus with the saddened realisation that Esmeralda loves Phoebus, not him; Phoebus turns to him] 

  Phoebus : Are you coming with me?

  Quasimodo : [looks down, still saddened]  I can't.

  Phoebus : [as Quasimodo gets to his feet]  I thought you were Esmeralda's friend!

  Quasimodo : [frowns]  Frollo's my master. I *can't* disobey him again.

  [grabs his shoulders and turns his back on Phoebus] 

  Phoebus : She stood up for you! You've got a funny way of showing gratitude.

  [Quasimodo does not respond; Phoebus stares disapprovingly at him as he grabs his left arm] 

  Phoebus : Well, *I'm* not going to sit by and watch Frollo massacre innocent people.

  [walks to the stairs and looks back to Quasimodo] 

  Phoebus : You do what you think is right.

  [leaves; Quasimodo remains silent, then turns to see Victor, Hugo and Laverne shooting him disappointed looks] 

  Quasimodo : [shrugs]  What? What am I supposed to do?

  [frustrated and sarcastic tone, in an arm-flailing manner] 

  Quasimodo : Go out there and rescue the girl from the-- from the Laws of Death, and the *whole town* will cheer like I'm some kind of a *hero*? She already *has* her knight on shining armour, and it's not me!

  [sighs] 

  Quasimodo : Frollo was right.

  [shrugs] 

  Quasimodo : Frollo was right about everything.

  [looks down] 

  Quasimodo : And I'm *tired* of trying to be something that I'm not.

  [upon looking down, he catches a glimpse of his left hand; recalls what Esmeralda told him about not having "monster lines," then looks down at the smouldering wooden figure of Esmeralda that Frollo burned earlier; pulls out the amulet Esmeralda gave him and stares ahead with hope and realisation; Laverne taps his shoulder and offers his hooded cloak] 

  Quasimodo : [whispering as he hesitantly grabs his cloak and hurries away to catch up with Phoebus]  I must be out of my mind.

• Frollo : Look at that disgusting display.

  Phoebus : [raising his visor]  Yes, sir!

• Phoebus : Esmeralda?

  Esmeralda : Shh. Shh. Shh. You'll hide here until you're strong enough to move.

  [Esmeralda pulls out a flask] 

  Phoebus : Great. I could use a drink.

  [Esmeralda pours it on his wound, and Phoebus cries out in pain] 

  Phoebus : Yessssss! Mmmm. Feels like a 1470 Burgundy. Not a good year.

• Phoebus : [to Esmeralda]  Candlelight, privacy, music. Can't think of a better place for hand-to-hand combat.

• Phoebus : [to the Parisians]  Citizens of Paris! Frollo has persecuted our people, ransacked our city. And now he has declared war on Notre Dame herself! Will we allow it?

• Phoebus : Why is it, whenever we meet, I end up bleeding?

  Esmeralda : You're lucky. That arrow almost pierced your heart.

  Phoebus : [holding her hand to his heart]  I'm not so sure it didn't.

• [after the night with the visions] 

  Phoebus : Good morning, sir. Are you feeling all right?

  Frollo : I had a little trouble with the fireplace.

• Frollo : The sentence for insubordination is death. Such a pity. You threw away a promising career.

  Phoebus : Consider it my highest honor, sir.

• Frollo : The Gypsies live outside the normal order. Their heathen ways inflame the people's lowest instincts. And they must be stopped.

  Phoebus : I was summoned from the wars to capture fortune-tellers and palm readers?

  Frollo : Ah, the real war, Captain, is what you see before you. For twenty years I have been "taking care" of the Gypsies...

  [squashes ants on the sill] 

  Frollo : ...one by one. And yet, for all my success, they have thrived.

  [lifts block to expose a swarm of bugs] 

  Frollo : I believe they have a safe haven within the walls of this very city. A nest, if you will. They call it the Court of Miracles.

  Phoebus : What are we going to do about it, sir?

  [Frollo smashes the block over the bugs] 

  Phoebus : You make your point quite vividly, sir.

• Phoebus : Easy, easy, I just shaved this morning.

  Esmeralda : Oh really? You missed a spot.

  Phoebus : Alright, alright, just-just-just calm down, just give me a chance to apologize.

  Esmeralda : For what?

  Phoebus : [kicking her to the floor]  That, for example.

  Esmeralda : You sneaky, son of a...

  Phoebus : Ah-ah-ah! Watch it. We're in a church.

  Esmeralda : Are you always this charming, or am I just lucky?

  Phoebus : Ah-ah-ah-ah, candlelight! Privacy! Music... can't think of a better place for hand to hand combat... You fight almost as well as a man!

  Esmeralda : Funny. I was going to say the same thing about *you*!

  Phoebus : That's hitting a little below the belt, don't you think?

  Esmeralda : No. This is.

  Phoebus : Touche! Oof!... I didn't know you had a kid.

  Esmeralda : He doesn't take kindly to strangers.

• Phoebus : [as Quasimodo is cruelly humiliated by the crowd]  Sir, request permission to stop this cruelty.

  Frollo : In a moment, captain. A lesson needs to be learned here.

• Frollo : [after locking the miller and his family in their windmill home]  Burn it.

  Phoebus : *What*?

  Frollo : Until it smoulders, these people are traitors, and must be made examples of.

  [hands Phoebus a burning torch] 

  Phoebus : [takes the torch]  With all due respect, sir, I was not trained to murder the innocent.

  Frollo : But you *were* trained to follow *orders*!

  [Phoebus backs towards the house as if to set it ablaze, but douses it in a barrel of water] 

  Frollo : Insolent coward.

  [takes a second torch and burns a windmill blade, setting the whole house on fire] 

• Quasimodo : Is this the Court of Miracles?

  Phoebus : Offhand, I'd say it's the Court of Ankle-deep Sewage. Must be the old catacombs.

• Phoebus : [after Quasi releases him from his collar and turns to leave as Quasi watches inquisitively]  Oh, and one more thing: tell Esmeralda - she's very lucky.

  Quasimodo : Why?

  Phoebus : [sheathing his sword]  To have a friend like you.

  [he leaves] 

• Phoebus : I'm sorry sir, she claimed sanctuary. There's nothing I can do.

  Frollo : Then drag her outside and...

  The Archdeacon : Frollo! You will not touch her!

  [addressing Esmeralda] 

  The Archdeacon : Don't worry. Minister Frollo learned years ago to respect the sanctity of the church.

• Frollo : Ah, duty calls. Have you ever attended a peasant festival, captain?

  Phoebus : Not recently, sir.

  Frollo : Then this should be quite an education for you. Come along.

• Phoebus : You leave town for a couple of decades and they change everything.

• Frollo : [supervising someone being whipped, just as Phoebus arrives]  Stop.

  Torturer : Sir?

  Frollo : Ease up. Wait between lashes. Otherwise, the old sting will dull him to the new.

  Torturer : Yes, sir.

  Frollo : [turns to Phoebus]  Ah, so this is the gallant Captain Phoebus, home from the wars.

  Phoebus : Reporting for duty as ordered, sir.

  Frollo : Your service record precedes you, Phoebus. I expect nothing but the best from a war hero of your caliber.

  Phoebus : And you shall have it, sir. I guarantee it.

  Frollo : Yes. You know, my last captain of the guards was, um, a bit of a disappointment to me.

  [whip crack, followed by screaming] 

  Frollo : Well, no matter, I'm sure you'll... *whip* my men into shape.

  Phoebus : Well, that's a great... tremendous honor, sir.

• Phoebus : [as the guards chase after Esmeralda and pass behind Phoebus' horse, Achilles]  Achilles, sit!

  Brutish Guard : Hey - whoa!

  Phoebus : Oh - dear, I'm sorry! Naughty horse! Naughty! He's just impossible, really; I can't take him anywhere!

• Phoebus : [about Esmeralda]  What a woman!

• Quasimodo : Phoebus!

  [Phoebus yelps in fright, but Quasi silences him] 

  Quasimodo : Sh! I'm coming with you.

  Phoebus : Glad you changed your mind.

  Quasimodo : But I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for her.

  Phoebus : You know where she is?

  Quasimodo : [presenting Esmeralda's map to Phoebus]  No, but she said that this will help us find her.

  Phoebus : [holding up Esmeralda's map]  Good, good, good. Ahhhh, great! What is it?

  Quasimodo : I'm not sure.

  Phoebus : [examining the map]  Hmm, must be some sort of code. Maybe it's Arabic. No, no, it's not Arabic, maybe it's ancient Greek.

  Quasimodo : [remembering Esmeralda's quote]  "When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand."

  Phoebus : What?

  Quasimodo : It's the city!

  Phoebus : What're you talking about?

  Quasimodo : [pointing out the symbols on the map]  It's a map, see? Here's the cathedral, and the river, and this little stone must be...

  Phoebus : I've never seen a map that looks like...

  Quasimodo : [arguing while Phoebus babbles]  Look, *I've* lived up in the bell tower for 20 years, and I think I know what the city looks like from above, and this is it!

  Phoebus : [with Quasi]  This is not it.

  [they both take deep breaths] 

  Phoebus : All right. Okay. If you say it's a map, fine; it's a map. But if we're going to find Esmeralda, we'll have to work together. Truce?

  Quasimodo : Well... okay.

  [slaps Phoebus's back; he yelps in pain] 

  Quasimodo : [as he steps down the stairs, he put his cloak hood on]  Sorry.

  Phoebus : [as he and Quasi head to the Court of Miracles]  No, you're not.

• Phoebus : [pulling Quasi up onto the balcony after he helps Esmeralda escape Notre Dame]  Hi there. I'm looking for the gypsy girl. Have you seen her?

  [Quasi jumps onto the balcony, growling at Phoebus like a wild dog, as Phoebus backs away] 

  Phoebus : Whoa - whoa, whoa, easy!

  Quasimodo : [grabs a torch then charges after Phoebus, who is backing away down the stairs; yells defiantly]  No soldiers! *Sanctuary*! *Get out*!

  Phoebus : Wait! All I want is to...

  Quasimodo : *Go*!

  Phoebus : I mean her no harm.

  Quasimodo : [growls, then waves the torch wildly at Phoebus]  Rrrrrrrr... GO!

  [Phoebus draws his sword, trapping the torch against the wall, as Quasi lifts him up by the collar] 

  Phoebus : You tell her for me, that I didn't mean to trap her here.

  [Quasi glares menacingly] 

  Phoebus : But it was the only way I could save her life. Will you tell her that?

  [no answer from Quasi] 

  Phoebus : Will you?

  Quasimodo : [snapping]  If you go. *Now*.

  Phoebus : I'll go. Now - will you - put me down, please?

• Phoebus : Achilles, sit!

  [horse Achilles sits on the guard's face] 

  Brutish Guard : [muffled]  Oh - whoa, get off me!

  Laverne : [to the pigeons]  Fly, my pretties! Fly, fly!

  [cackles] 

• Phoebus : [as he and Quasi wade through the catacombs at the Court of Miracles]  Cheerful place.

  [chuckles] 

  Phoebus : Kinda makes you wish you got out more often, eh, Quasi?

  Quasimodo : Not me. All I want to do is warn Esmeralda then get back to the belltower before I get in any further trouble.

• Phoebus : [to his horse]  Achilles, heel!

• Quasimodo : Is this the Court of Miracles?

  Phoebus : Offhand I'd say it's the Court of Ankle-deep Sewage.

• Quasimodo : Is this the Court of Miracles?

  Phoebus : Offhand, I'd say it's the Court of Ankle-deep Sewage. Must be the old catacombs.

  [they wade through the tunnel] 

  Phoebus : Charming place.

  [chuckles] 

  Phoebus : Kinda... makes ya wish you got out more often, hey, Quasi?

  Quasimodo : Not me. I just wanna warn Esmeralda and get back to the bell tower before I get in any more trouble.

  [they pass a pile of skeletons, three of which come to life and watch them] 

  Phoebus : Speaking of trouble, we should've run into some by now.

  [they stop] 

  Quasimodo : What do you mean?

  Phoebus : You know, a guard, a-a booby trap...

  [his torch goes out, leaving them in darkness] 

  Phoebus : Or an ambush.

• [Quasimodo and Phoebus are bound, gagged and about to be hung] 

  Esmeralda : Stop!

  [Clopin turns as Esmeralda bursts through the crowd] 

  Quasimodo , Phoebus : [muffled]  Esmeralda!

  Esmeralda : These men aren't spies. They're our friends.

  Clopin : Why didn't they say so?

  [Esmeralda removes their gags] 

  Quasimodo , Phoebus : We *did* say so!

  Esmeralda : [unties them]  This is the soldier who saved the miller's family, and Quasimodo helped me escape the cathedral.

  Phoebus : We came to warn you! Frollo's coming!

  [crowd gasps] 

  Phoebus : He says he knows where you're hiding, and he's attacking at dawn with a thousand men!

  [crowd panics] 

  Esmeralda : Then let's waste no time! We must leave immediately!