Don’t hate me, but for all that I am a raging Francophile, I find 19th-century French literature totally depressing. So I have never read Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel; I watched the 2002 adaptation, but all I remember is extreme boredom. So it may come as a surprise when I say that I watched the recent French feature film adaptation of The Count of Monte-Cristo (2024) and I was entertained! And on a transatlantic flight to boot! (But I can’t tell you thing one about how close it stays to the source material, so buyer beware).
Set in the 1810s and 1830s, the story is about a poor young man (Edmond) who is falsely accused and imprisoned for over a decade. While in prison, he befriends another prisoner who tells him where a hidden treasure is. Edmond escapes, finds the treasure, and then enters Parisian society as the fictional “Count of Monte-Cristo” where he seeks revenge on those who betrayed him, including the woman he was supposed to marry.
Overall, the performances are strong, the pacing is good, and the costumes — designed by Thierry Delettre (Flashback, The Three Musketeers: d’Artagnan) — supported the plot and characters and were mostly true to the period (with some inevitable quibbles).
Do you want to read all of this review (with over 1400 words and about 50 images) about title (date)? The full post is here!
Don’t want to wait next time? Pledge a small amount each month on Patreon to keep our site running, and in return, you’ll get access to subscriber-only content like this.
for YEARS I thought it was Mount d’Crisco
and I thought that was where Crisco got its name.
This is hilarious! He made his fortune in shortening!
I wonder if an adaptation will ever skip the Origin Story part of this particular tale and turn the plot into more of a thriller/horror story? (Focussing on our nefarious villains as the sins of their Past come home to roost, bringing their nice, cosy little rackets crashing down about them, rather than on Monsieur le Comte as he gets the work done).
With a story that has been adapted so often, you’d think that somebody would try a perspective flip to keep things interesting, at least (Rather than follow almost exactly the same plot beats).
—-
Also, that Miss Anamaria Vartolomei might actually belong in a dictionary as the illustration for ‘Classically Beautiful’ (She looks a little bit as though her father was a sculptor and her mother stepped down from a marble plinth).
Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favourite books ever. It has everything – high seas, fabulous treasures, Italian bandits, high society intrigues, murder plots, the hero with several different identities (apart from a French aristocrat, he also goes around as an Italian priest and an English lord), extramarital affairs, whatever you want.
As far as I know, there has never been a good adaptation. I admit I gave up on watching them few years ago, so I might have missed something, but most likely not. Once I had high hopes for French miniseries once, but it was abysmal. Also, it had Gerard Depardieu as Edmond Dantes (it’s not even about him as a person, you just can’t be a believable Count of Monte Cristo with this face).