The Count of Monte Cristo
Unjustly arrested on the day of his wedding and imprisoned for fourteen years, Edmond Dantes (Pierre Niney, "Yves Saint Laurent," "Black Box") is consumed with a desire for revenge when he escapes. His three betrayers may not recognize him now as "The Count of Monte Cristo."
Laura's Review: B
After adapting a new, two part, French language version of "The Three Musketeers," writer Alexandre de La Patellière adds some complexity to his retelling of the 1844 Alexandre Dumas classic by interweaving more connections among those who betray our protagonist, making the Count's completion of his elaborate revenge plot all the more satisfying. Adding to the entertainment is directors Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte's ("What's in a Name?") old fashioned, epic sweep, an adventure tale told on both land and sea framed in vivid widescreen by cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc ("The Three Musketeers" Parts I and II).
We're introduced to Dantes diving into a churning blue sea to rescue a young woman, disobeying the orders of Captain Danglars (Patrick Mille, "Love Crime"), but being rewarded upon their return by ship owner Morrel (Bruno Raffaelli), who fires Danglars and appoints Dantes as Captain (that young woman, Angèle (Adèle Simphal), disappears when the ship docks, but pops up later to connect two of Dantes' betrayers before departing once more). The young man, who loves a young woman, Mercédès (Anaïs Demoustier), whose wealthy family employs his father, now is in a position to ask for her hand, but on the day of their wedding, he is arrested for being an agent of Napoleon, Angèle's actual mission, her letter from the former emperor planted in his belongings. Initially prosecutor Gérard de Villefort (Laurent Lafitte, "Elle") appears to believe the young man, but there will be collusion with not only Danglars, anxious to regain his post, but with Dante's supposed good friend Fernand de Morcef (Bastien Bouillon, "The Night of the 12th"), Mercédès' cousin who desires her himself. And so the innocent and good man is thrown into the island prison of Château d'If, left to rot in a hole in the ground.
Nantes grows hirsute and skeletal, but one day he hears a noise and begins to chip through the rock wall, eventually creating an opening between his enclosure and his neighbor's. Abbé Faria (Pierfrancesco Favino, "Maria") becomes a fast friend and as the two plot their escape, tells Nantes of a vast treasure hidden on the isle of Monte Cristo which he generously agrees to share. Faria doesn't make it, his body providing the final tool for Nantes to escape his fourteen years of hell. After finding a heap of gleaming gold and jewels in an underground cave, Nantes returns to Marseilles only to learn his father has died and Mercedes has a child and now lives in Paris. After a dying Angèle, sold into prostitution by her own brother, one of Nantes' enemies, gives him an invaluable bit of information and the young man who goes along with it, he will arrive in the city as the mysterious and very rich Count of Monte Cristo, only his former lover, now married to Fernand, appearing to recognize him.
The plot is thick indeed (murder! romance! treachery!) and one must pay attention to its various threads over the film's two and a half hour running time, but comeuppance against those who harm the innocent is a very satisfying reward. The filmmakers keep things entertaining not only with skullduggery, but humor, such as an easily manipulated newspaper named L'Impartial and an unsettling dinner in a 'haunted' house. Niney is a cool customer as the Count, his burning desire for revenge reined back in the film's final moments. The large ensemble also includes Julien De Saint Jean as another imposter, Prince Andrea Cavalcanti, and "Happening's" Anamaria Vartolomei as Haydée, both in service to the Count's scheme while "Mandibles'" Marie Narbonne is Danglar's daughter Eugénie and Vassili Schneider is Mercedes' son Albert, their romantic targets.
The film, which was shot at various French chateaux and on the island of Cyprus, is a gorgeous, sweeping old-fashioned romantic adventure and political thriller with an orchestral score, the type of movie one rarely sees nowadays. There have been many films made from Dumas's novel, most notably in the U.S. the 1975 made for TV movie starring Richard Chamberlain, but it has been more than well served by current day filmmakers from its own country.
Samuel Goldwyn releases "The Count of Monte Cristo" in NY and LA on 12/20/24, expanding to the top 15 U.S. markets on 1/3/25.
