43/19
After escaping from an island prison where he spent 14 years because he was wrongly accused of treason, Edmond Dantès returns as the Count of Monte Cristo to take revenge on the people who betrayed him. With an estimated budget of 42.9 million euros, The The Count of Monte Cristo is the most expensive French movie in 2024. When Albert watches Hydee sing and play the guitar, it’s very obvious that he doesn’t even touch the strings half the time.. Featured in La grande semaine: Episode #1.13 (2024). I won’t deny, I think the movie is really beautiful: scenery, costumes, props… and of course the lighting (congratulations M. Bolduc) and many other details helped make it a wonderful experience for the eyes, in my opinion. Now with such a big plot as with Dumas, so many characters, commercials, subplots and the like, the authors had to cut things, adapt, rewrite… issue, as is often necessary or critical with any adaptation! That’s a given. But why dishonor the choices of the original author (Dumas')? Why betray the lessons he wanted to convey: Monte Cristo’s moral dilemma, his overall good nature, his help to many, and his unsurpassed loyalty to anyone who was good to him or in any way deserved it? Why trade Haydée’s love for him for a silly romance? ? Even Mercedes' the understanding of Monte Cristo’s actions and why she cannot be saved and why Albert must follow her are admirable in the book…And what are we left with here? Pure performance? I can assure you that is not what you will be left with when you read it.
