A The Count of Monte Cristo a shameless soap opera, a love story spanning decades and a steamy revenge drama. In other words, great fun. It was found by the French public of popular literature in 1844, when it appeared in sequels, and then by everyone in the Western world who could read during the nineteenth century. Alexandre Dumas his novel is one of the very first bestsellers in the modern sense. It was later filmed a million times. Cinematic Monte Cristos have been climbing out of If’s dark castle prison for more than a hundred years, and we still don’t get bored of them.
In recent years, the French film industry has invested considerable sums of money in order to ensure that domestic viewers do not only buy tickets for Hollywood superhero movies if they want a widescreen spectacle, but also find their way back to classic French heroic stories. Dumas can be pulled out of a hat at any time. Of the three bodyguards a two-part movie version was immediately made Eva Greennel, Vincent Cassell-lel and with other stars. The new one The Count of Monte Cristo its producers paid for it with a single film, but it turned out to be three hours long and the most expensive French production this year. It was presented at home in June, and it has already brought back its price.
Alexander of La Patellière and Matthew Delaporte they took on not only the duties of director, but also of screenwriters. Here, the key may have been the latter, the editing of the adaptation. Dumas weaves a terribly long and complex plot, from the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars to the end of the 1830s. Marseille, Paris, Rome, the Adriatic archipelago, the Ottoman Empire, which comes to life in memories, are all among the locations. Moreover, the characters also multiply: not only do they grow old and change social class, but they are constantly transforming, wearing disguises and masks. They try to deceive each other and themselves with every imaginable means.
As a matter of fact, the middle part of the novel, the charade spanning many months, is quite boring. Edmond Dantès, freed from the castle prison, attracts his former traitors. He already owns Abbe Faria’s fabulous treasure, with which he buys himself a noble rank and charms the royalist aristocracy as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo. He places bets, goes to the opera, and plots revenge. This is not the favorite section of twelve-year-old readers, but the The Count of Monte Cristo it’s not even for them in the first place. The snobbish peddles of the last century reclassified popular literature as youth literature, and gullible parents are surprised when the child asks why the royal chief prosecutor Villefort is burying alive the baby born to his lover.
La Patellière and Delaporte faithfully reproduce in their film how destructive the desire for revenge is. They assign a significant role to the company of young people, and we even find the most popular star of the film in their circle: Anamaria Vartolomeiwho is the grand prize winner in Venice Eventin and a Maria Schneider about his sad life, this year Mariáalso played a leading role in the Monte Cristo is growingplays Haydée, the main character’s adopted daughter. as Dantès Pierre Nineywhom it is About Yves Saint Laurent we saw him in a solo biopic a few years ago. The large cast is otherwise made up of the French second-line, but the second-line French actors also stand out brilliantly in a sword-fighting adventure film.
Its writer-directors tell the new story so clearly and enjoyably Monte Cristo is growingt that one hardly notices how many unnecessary twists and turns Dumas’ novel contains. These are mostly due to the way literary mass production works. It is well known that Dumas was initially only a co-author and manager of most of his works. THE The Count of Monte Cristo his basic concept with one of his writing assistants, Auguste Maquet-val he invented it together – the fairer, new editions also include Maquet’s name on the title page – and the weekly chapters were produced in his workshop employing more than seventy writers.
In comparison, it is a real literary miracle that the The Count of Monte Cristo its character formation is so consistent, its themes are uniform, and its depiction of the social and historical background is accurate and perceptive. The new film also does justice to the novel’s spectacular scenes. The solitary cells of the If castle, whose inhabitants are only asked if they are still alive by the roving prison guards every day – an invention of the film version – are horrible and hopeless. After the life-threatening escape attempt, the temple treasure found on the deserted island is majestic. Both the original novel and the new film version try to evoke basic emotions, and are interested in visceral effects.
The new one The Count of Monte Cristo its creators understand this effect mechanism and successfully balance the story’s old-fashioned and ever-current motifs. If the calvary of the unfortunate Edmond Dantès is no longer able to appeal to viewers, be they young or old, in the twenty-first century, it will not depend on Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte.
Monte Cristo grófja (Le comte de Monte-Cristo), 2024, 178 perc. 24.hu: 7/10.
2024-09-24 18:03:26