Le Comte de Monte-Cristo

Not once was I bored. Not once did I find inconsistencies. Sceneries and sets were to notch. The acting never pulled me out of the story, it keeps you there from start to finish.

French cinema produces a lot of forgettable movies (in my opinion), a lot of fun ones, some greats and here and there a movie that actually makes me love cinema and the theater. Le comte de Monte-Cristo is of the latter.

Rarely do I find a movie that depicts love, friendship, treason, courage, solitude, caring, vengeance, and much more, in at least a decent manner. Nothing felt rush to me. The three hours were deserved and it felt like less than two.

I encourage you to watch this movie, it has many qualities and it won't be a waste of time.

Now if you are a Dumas enthusiast, you opinion will certainly differ.

I read the books and saw two other versions of it as a film.

I asked myself what was the idea to make another version even though 18 exist already.

I watched it in French and realized that it is pretty far off the original storyline. Some characters are missing and others adapted. Apart from the great costumes and the brilliant locations, it seemed to me that only the beautiful, 'rich' sides were shown. The prison seemed too romanticised to me, as did the society. The Count could hardly stand out from the others due to his wealth and mystique, because this didn't always come to the surface.

Nevertheless, the film is entertaining and I was never bored. It managed to tell the whole story, although in a different way. Unfortunately, I couldn't answer the question of why this film was made, because it's just another version.

Watch the film if you don't know the story yet and like a romanticised story. Otherwise, I recommend the book by Alexandre Dumas and the film 'The Count of Monte Cristo 2002'.

I have not read the novel but I had the sense that the film made multiple changes to the story to abbreviate it. And I cannot imagine that anyone thinks a film can entirely capture or reproduce a timeless masterpiece.

That said, this was a gorgeous, beautifully filmed and acted movie. The cinematography was never less than artful and there was never a weak link in the acting or script. With the Three Musketeers movies and this, I have the sense that the French are applying modern film making (and financing) to their great patrimony just as they have in other ways, for centuries. We are the beneficaries.

It enchanted both my 11 year old daughter and me, this is a can't-miss experience, both as a representation of a great novel, but also as movie equal to the best theater experiences we can enjoy today.

The first question I'd love to ask directors adapting novels to movies is: if that book inspired you so much that you wanted to make a movie out of it, why then alter its story?

The Count of Montecristo is another of those cases: those who read the book will be astounded by how the ending was completely distorted; and for no evident reason I'd submit, as the book's ending was dramatic enough.

So, again, if you didn't like it, why make a movie about it? If you want to ride your own ideas by all means do that, use your fantasy and in that case the sky will be the limit.

OK, end of runt...If I had to disconnect my literary memory and judge the movie for its sheer cinematographic merits, The Count of Montecristo is a honest cloak and dagger movie, with good performances by all the key actors, good photography and decent pace.

But then again, my literary memory kicks in again and a bittersweet aftertaste lingers in my mouth...

Usually not a fan of action movies, the wonderful cast as well as the choice of a classic of French literature convinced me to go watch LE COMTE DE MONTE CRISTO. And man I wasn't disappointed !

Despite its three-hour runtime, the movie never bores. When it doesn't keep us on our toes, it shows us eye-popping scenes of 19th century France, leaving us wondering how they made that with only 40M euros ! I guess the beautiful cinematography and clever editing have a role to play in making this movie stand out from much costlier Hollywood productions.

Of course much of the credit also goes to Alexandre Dumas for coming up with such a poignant story, but adapting it for the screen sure wasn't an easy task either, and it was done marvelously here.

I sincerely hope this movie will have a career outside of France, as more people deserve to see this.

Merci Alexandre, merci Matthieu :)