by Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, the genius who brought us The Three Musketeers, reached the pinnacle of his fame with The Count of Monte Cristo. The story is written contemporaneously, or very nearly so anyway. Dumas relies on the fact that his audience knew all the intimate details of recent (at the time) French history. So, if you are like me, you might be a little lost as terms such as "the ascension" or "the usurper" are thrown around. If you can get your hands on a copy that includes an introduction with a brief historical overview, all the better, you'll be good to go once the story starts up.
Keeping that in mind, the story is very well told. It is the classic story of vengeance and love and pain. Dumas has the uncanny ability to send shivers down your spine while you watch two characters in love interact with one another- without having them touch each other or even say the other person's name. That, my friends, is talent.
However, the story is not perfect. It relies on a fair bit of coincidence. OK, a LOT of coincidence, to keep the plot moving. Dantes' enemies all move to Paris? And they are all now high-ranking members of society with everything to lose? None of them stayed in Marseilles and led simple lives? If you can get past all of that, then the intermingling of complex story lines is brilliant. Dumas keeps a bevy of characters in play throughout the story and manages to so intricately develop each one that you really feel their pains and joys as the pages turn.
The biggest hitch in the story for me was simply the fact that losing "everything" in mid-19th century society meant something quite different than it does today. Most of our characters are "ruined" when their reputations are tarnished. Dantes doesn't actually have to drive them to hurt each other or into despair, he simply plays them into debt, ruins their "good name" and allows them to wallow in their own grief.
If you're anything like me... that just doesn't add up. Yes, I want people to think positively of me (I cry a little every time I lose a follower), but I wouldn't consider myself "ruined" and as good as dead if, for instance, I was in debt. Or somebody thought I had lied. Don't get me wrong, I am an honest person, but we have our priorities in a slightly different order these days.
Nobody in 2002 (the release date of the film) could care less about their reputations. They are concerned with money, love and power. Which begs the question: what price do we now put on our good names and reputations? Not high enough, I'd wager...
The Movie: The Count of Monte Cristo
Starring Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce released in 2002
Rated PG-13 for violence/ swordplay and some sensuality
This story has been converted into film over and over again. IMDb returned 18 titles, and that doesn't count any "reinterpretations" of the story. However, there is a reason that this 2002 release stands as the most popular. It's good. Really good.
There are some major story adaptations made, and all of them for the better. You simply cannot convert 1300+ pages of hardback story into a 2 hour film. There must be cuts. The writers were very smart and strategically cut entire characters and their relative subplots. With the elimination of these subplots, the narrative is condensed down to basically just Dantes, Mercedes, Mondego and Villefort, with Danglars and the Priest as secondary characters.
One thing that will always bother me is that movie makers (and authors, for that matter, but that fact doesn't really apply here) love to impose modern-day "morals" on historical stories. In this case, they change MANY of the characters willingness to sleep around, both before and after marriage, which I find irksome. However, it does lead to a change in the story that adds a welcome bit of drama in an otherwise vanilla-flavored tale.
The drama, in general, is heightened considerably. The Count, on film, is flashier with his cash, more daring in his escapades and more passionate about everything, from women to food. Jim Caviezel plays Dantes with much more range than he was written with in the novel; he is young and naive at the beginning, falls into hopelessness, then cynicism before giving in to his overdeveloped sense of vengeance. In the novel, Dantes has bid his former life adieu; he see Mercedes as a lost cause, and gives no effort to reuniting with her. In the film, his love and affection burns passionately for her, despite the turmoil their lives have been put through.
Mercedes, incidentally, is played by the gorgeous Dagmara Dominczyk throughout the entire film. At the beginning of the story, Mercedes is 19, and by the end of the tale, she is 36. Dominczyk was 26, go figure. Tell me, does this look like the mother of a 16 year old?
And, can I just say, Luis Guzman is the perfect comedic relief.
This film is honestly one of my favorites. This is a go-to date night movie: swords, blood, vengeance all wrapped up in a love story for the ages. Kind of like The Princess Bride for grown-ups.
Bottom Line:
Watch it!
Not that the book isn't good, it is very good, it's just a considerable investment of your time (1300+ pages, in paperback), and unless you were a French history major, it's a tad on the uninteresting/confusing side. The movie is condensed, updated and a lot more fun.
