{"id":524057,"date":"2024-07-02T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=524057"},"modified":"2025-12-04T22:22:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:22:36","slug":"the-count-of-monte-cristo-france-recovers-its-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/cinema\/films\/the-count-of-monte-cristo-france-recovers-its-heritage\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00abThe Count of Monte Cristo: France reclaims its heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alexandre Dumas' novel is brought to life in this spectacular period film, which combines the best of two worlds: the beauty of the French language and the visual mastery of Hollywood.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

French culture often suffers under the camera of Californian studios. Just look at the American adaptations of the great classics of French literature: obsessed by its own clich\u00e9s and primarily concerned with its domestic market, Hollywood generally transforms any non-Anglo-Saxon creation into a manifesto recycling the genres of American cinema or dealing with subjects characteristic of American society. This doesn't necessarily mean that the films are bad, but it does mean that they are standardized and distanced from the original work or culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is particularly true of Alexandre Dumas' work. Recent adaptations of the Three Musketeers<\/em> Hollywood's disdain for French culture: the hideous The Three Musketeers<\/em> (2011) veers into the absurd when the Duke of Buckingham attacks France with flying boats and zeppelins, while the more sympathetic but naive Disney version of Three Musketeers<\/em> of 1993 caricatured all the characters to the extreme: D'Artagnan intrepid and candid, Porthos faithful and very stupid, Cardinal Richelieu very, very mean, while the story was simplified to the max. And let's not forget the ridiculous Iron Mask<\/em> (1998)... In these three films, the French historical landscape and Dumas's work serve only as an exotic backdrop for an American audience formidably ignorant of European history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's great to see French cinema reappropriating these classics, while borrowing from Hollywood what Hollywood does best: dazzling visual effects. The two parts of Three Musketeers<\/em> by Martin Bourboulon<\/a> are certainly flawed, but they have had the courage to offer a modern take on the cloak-and-dagger novel, with writing that sometimes verbatim echoes the dialogue of the novel. The film does not ignore the geopolitical context in which its protagonists are immersed, and blends the adventures of Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan with the Great History that is the hallmark of Alexandre Dumas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True to the letter and spirit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The new Count of Monte Cristo<\/em> by Alexandre de La Patelli\u00e8re and Matthieu Delaporte succeeds even more brilliantly in capturing the essence of Dumas's work, with meticulous photography and impeccable acting. Pierre Niney has fortunately shed his ridiculous comic grimaces from Fiasco<\/em> to portray a chillingly cold protagonist, whose emotion shines through in rare moments of weakness. The film largely follows the plot of the novel: the jealousies aroused by the young second Edmond Dant\u00e8s, promised a great maritime career and a happy marriage to the beautiful Mercedes. The first part describes the plot to accuse him of being a Napoleonic spy, his imprisonment in the Ch\u00e2teau d'If and his fifteen years of terrifying captivity in the gaols of the prison-island. There he meets the erudite Abb\u00e9 Faria (Pierfrancesco Favino), who instructs him in all things. After the Abb\u00e9's death, Dant\u00e8s manages to escape and finds the island of Monte Cristo on Faria's instructions. He will then use the formidable treasure amassed by the Knights Templar to orchestrate his revenge, methodically destroying the life his enemies have built on his back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n