Napoleon has been exiled to the island of Elba and the British are determined that he not escape. The other characters are also brilliantly cast, giving life and emotion to characters that I had already grown to love they came dancing off of the pages and I loved that. The range of emotion that the Count has to go through in the 16 years portrayed in the film is truly amazing to watch.ĭagmara Dominczyk plays Mercedes, Richard Harris plays Abbe Faria and a young Henry Cavill plays Albert Mondego. Caviezel is able to play the wide-eyed and innocent Edmond, the cynical and angry prisoner and the vengeful and hate-filled Count.
#The count of monte cristo movie movie
Of course, a large part of the credit for making this movie great must go to Jim Caviezel in his role as Edmond Dantes, the Count of Monte Cristo himself. Everyone had warned my class that the book and the movie were extremely different and that we would be disappointed if we watched it, but I wanted to watch it anyway. There were some things that were annoying (like the amount of time spent in prison and a few other details), but I loved the way it packed a monster of a book into a two-hour film that still managed to convey the spirit of the novel.Įven though some of the subplots were removed, the same sense of revenge, the fight for justice on an epic scale, the plotting and the betrayal all still come shining through. I think this comes partially from the acting by Guy Pearce, brilliantly conniving and slimy as Fernand Mondego, and from the way he and Jim Caviezel portrayed the friendship (and later enemy-ship) between the two men.
Then, later that same year, I saw this film. Dumas usually does endings so well, so I was surprised and disappointed. I had just finished reading Alexander Dumas’ epic masterpiece The Count of Monte Cristo for the first time and, although I loved the book and would still consider it one of my favorites today, I found myself less than enchanted with the ending. “God is never in France this time of year.” He scoffs at Edmond upon offering his first beating.The year was 2010. As if being locked away in a dank and dark dungeon aren’t bad enough, the warden makes his mark with barbaric annual lashings. The movie boasts some great villains along the way, such as James Frain (TV’s ’24’) and the incomparable Michael Wincott as the Chateau d’If’s sadistic warden. The scenes between the two are some of the better parts of the story. He meets an elderly prisoner (Richard Harris) who becomes his friend, teacher, and savior all in one. One particularly emotional scene depicts him attempting suicide, saved only by his driving force to right the wrong that has been besieged upon him. The years he spends inside the walls of the notorious Chateau d’If make for a hell far worse than any one can envision. Watching helplessly as Edmond has his life snatched away from him is tough. “The Count of Monte Cristo” has a bevy of themes that range across the spectrum from the good like keeping faith and not giving up, to the bad such as jealousy, resentment, and revenge. Edmond is framed for a crime by those he would least expect as adversaries, and sent to an island dungeon to be locked away in an archaic cell for good. He serves as a sailor alongside his childhood best friend Fernand, and is oblivious to the brewing resentment his happy life is causing to others. The childlike innocence of Dantes is displayed well by Caviezel.Įdmond has a desirable life youth, good looks, and a beautiful fiance, Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk). We’re introduced to our hero, Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel), a simple man who can’t read, write, or sufficiently defend himself in battle. The setting is a period piece, and well done in scope of costumes, character appearance, and location, taking us back to France, 1815.
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