“What will you do with this treasure?” Abbé Faria asks Edmond Dantes. “Will you use it to do good, or will you let hate fill your heart?” This question is at the core of all wealth and power. What do we do with what is given to us? Alexandre Dumas’ timeless novel explores this question over decades, following one man as he has everything stripped away from him.
The Count of Monte Cristo has been adapted countless times, on both the big and small screen. Many are probably familiar with the 2002 adaptation featuring Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce, but the definitive adaptation has finally arrived. The 2024 French adaptation of the famous epic novel comes in at nearly three hours. It is 2024’s second highest-grossing film in France and has garnered massive acclaim despite losing out on the country’s Best International Feature entry to Jacque Audiard’s Emilia Perez. The film stars Pierre Niney as Edmond Dantes, who was betrayed and sent to prison for 14 years before escaping and finding a way to enact his revenge.
If Ocean’s 11 is the heist of the century, The Count of Monte Cristo is the heist of history. Dantes has proven for almost 200 years to be one of the most compelling characters ever written, and this adaptation does him justice. Niney’s performance is varied and nuanced, especially considering he has to play the multiple personas Dantes takes en route to vengeance. Dantes, the titular Count, and Lord Halifax are unique characters with different demeanors and inflections, and Piney brings them all out perfectly.
The crafts on display, helmed by directors Alexandre de La Patelliere and Matthieu Delaporte, are stunning. Wealthy families and high society make for incredible costume and production designs that match the early 19th-century setting. Ornate mansions filled with the most beautiful decor and exquisite gowns and suits make every frame outside the prison look stunning. Every aspect of the film allows you to feel its grand scale, and the character arcs at play. The most impressive technical achievement is the movie’s score written by Jerome Rebotier. It feels like one of those classical scores in epics like Lawrence of Arabia or Gone With the Wind, effectively communicating triumph and betrayal, and helping the viewer get caught up in every moment.
There are some standout supporting performances outside of Niney, who carries the film on his shoulders. Anamaria Vartolomei as Haydee, a beautiful young woman Dantes has taken in, is brilliant. Haydee’s also been affected by those who betrayed Dantes, so she has skin in the game. Vartolomei ultimately becomes the film’s emotional core as she is the only one who pushes back against Dantes’ schemes as he continues to descend into his hatred. Haydee’s character is complex, having to learn the ways of the wealthy to pull off Dantes’ wishes while also questioning the morality of what they’re doing. The trio of men (Bastien Bouillon, Laurent Laffite, and Patrick Mille) who ruined Dantes’ life are also deliciously evil at every turn, doing exactly what they’re asked to do. The film’s moments of levity come when they’re trying to figure out how The Count seemingly knows intimate details about their misdeeds from the past.
The Count of Monte Cristo is more a tragic tale than a triumphant story of justice. Edmond Dantes overcomes the most extreme circumstances by escaping prison after 14 years and then finds himself as one of the most wealthy people in the world. He does do some good, taking people like Haydee and Albert (a son of one Dantes’ betrayers) under his wing and helping restore them to some sense of dignified life. Despite the good he’s done to these young people, Dantes is constantly grappling with the question Abbe Faria asks him just before he escapes prison. Will he do good with his wealth, or let hate fill his heart? The film’s latter two hours are an incredible character study into Dantes’ psyche and the inward warfare for his soul.
The Count of Monte Cristo is currently playing in theaters courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
The Count of Monte Cristo is the definitive adaptation of the timeless novel, effectively communicating the grand scale and scope of Edmond Dantes' decades-long journey to seek vengeance.
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Proud owner of three movie passes. Met Harrison Ford at a local diner once. Based in Raleigh, NC.
This fanfic is not the definitive version. This is a series written by two illiterates who never read the book and produced an utterly mediocre fanfic that completely deviates from the original work. To be a screenwriter nowadays, the main requirement must be illiteracy. Anyone who actually read the book would never have added duel scenes, turned Danglars into a slave trader, or forced a romance between Albert and Haydee.
I don’t know what’s worse: Ridley Scott’s fanfic about Napoleon or this Count of Monte Cristo fanfic, which strips away the characters’ complexity and turns the story into a cheap melodrama.
The best adaptation is the 1979 French miniseries with Jacques Weber.