Direction: Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière
Country: France
For their third feature film, French filmmakers and screenwriters Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière take on Alexandre Dumas’ classic The Count of Monte Cristo, a sweeping tale of love, tragedy, and revenge.
With its meticulous period details, lush settings, and an old-fashioned approach to storytelling, this grand production delivers visual flair but falls short in generating excitement, suffering from a lack of surprises. While this tame, three-hour adaptation replaces some characters and unfolds with formal, somewhat academic staging, it nonetheless secured a strong position at the French box office.
Pierre Niney (Frantz, 2016; Yves Saint Laurent, 2014) is appropriately earnest as Edmond Dantès. Wrongfully imprisoned and later escaping from a remote island prison, Dantès orchestrates a calculated revenge against the three men—Danglars, Gérard de Villefort, and Fernand de Morcerf—who destroyed his life.
It’s a constant battle between polished images and undramatic sequences that could be better matured. Still, there's still something to ponder about the vengeful Count tale that's worth pondering. If nothing else, this adaptation serves as a nostalgic reminder that, on occasion, they still make movies like they used to.
