A French Italian co-production ,this version of Eugene Sue's mammoth novel has undergone lots of changes; it was impossible to transfer a 1000 -page novel to the screen in a ninety -minute film , a miniseries was made in the eighties, a more appropriate choice ; most of the characters were kept ,but they do not always have the same role as in the book .
Rodolphe (Frank Villard) is the lead ,but his role is reduced to the minimum ; the boy he's looking for must have been inspired by François Germain, a secondary character in the book and a farmer's son at that ; Fleur de Marie (Maria) is not the occasional prostitute but only a singer (La Goualeuse) whose songs have nothing Parisian ; the screenplay involves La chouette (La Civetta)(who would not scare a four-year -old) , notary Ferrand (but then again ,the tale was sweetened :he's not luxurious) , Le Chourineur (Squantatore ,played by a black actor,one can wonder why )and Sara , Rodolphe's first flame (without her brother) .The Pipelet concierges were de rigueur.
The screenplay is poor , because it essentially consists of abductions ,which create monotony in the long run .Eugene Sue was a socialist and his exponential melodrama was supposed to ask for a square deal for the underprivileged ; although his style was ponderous and loose ,his plot and subplots thoroughly implausible ,his depictions of the dregs of society were vivid and his gallery of monsters was frightening ....
He was against death penalty but his solution makes hair stand on end :to punish Le Maitre D'Ecole (the schoolteacher),he literally blinds him thanks to an operation ; too scary for this watered-down flick.
Directing is flat , low-budget settings do not help ;perhaps a director such as Riccardo Freda could have succeeded in giving this adaptation a sense of mystery which is desesperately lacking, and in painting a really threatening underworld.
