Though others have tried to adapt Alexandre Dumas’ rip-roaringly excellent 1884 novel The Count of Monte Cristo for the big screen—like in 2002 when director Kevin Reynolds did…his thing with Jim Caviezel—French filmmakers Alexandre de La Pattellière and Matthieu Delaporte have officially come closest to nailing the harrowing twists and turns of the source material.
Unlike Dumas’ Three Musketeers, Monte-Cristo is more of a cerebral work than a swashbuckler. In short, lead character Edmond Dantés becomes the victim of brutal jealousies when three not-yet-powerful men frame him for colluding with the then-exiled Napoleon. Dantés is imprisoned for a whole mess of years, but he meets a fellow prisoner who knows of a hidden Templar treasure. 20 years after getting arrested at his own dang wedding, Dantés returns as the Count of Monte-Cristo with the power of his long-lost fortune and a knack for slow-burn vengeance aimed at the now-powerful men who ruined his life. Zut alors!
Dantés is herein played by Pierre Niney (The Book of Solutions), whose wide-eyed “ruh-roh!” stare works much better for the role than moments requiring him to act tough or sad or angry. If anything, one starts to resent the guy for his single-minded revenge obsession with his foes Danglars (Patrick Mille), Morcef (Bastien Bouillon) and Villefort (Laurent Lafitte)—particularly as it burns the few around him he supposedly loves. But whereas this new film version dances right up to the line of criticizing obsession, it never fully commits to any particular take on the matter. Does it feel good watching a wronged man use powerful men’s actions against them? Big time. But what does it cost to do that kinda thing? Dumas’ book explores that idea painstakingly; the new film pops in a somehow boring sword fight while it’s checking resolution boxes in a furious race to the conclusion.
All the same, the orchestral music by Jérôme Rebotier swells behind jaw-droppingly gorgeous costumes by costume mainstay Thierry Delettre (Eiffel). The lavish spectacle is where the new Count hits hardest, from the complex outfits and 1800s aristocratic decor to the oceanic backgrounds of ports and bustling metropolises of cities. Besides that, the filmmakers do remain patient enough throughout to trust their audience will enjoy the tense dialogue and semi-satisfying conclusion. Like the book on which it is based, The Count of Monte-Cristo ends in a way that leaves us wanting, but it feels all the more real for that. How else would you end something so bittersweet, anyway?
7
+Beautiful costumes; sticks closer to the story than other adaptations
-Some scenes feel needless; the sword fight is boring
The Count of Monte Cristo
Directed by De La Pattellière and Delaporte
With Niney, Mille, Bouillon and Lafitte
Center for Contepmorary Arts, NR, 178 min. (w/subtitles)
