‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Review: Delivers Luxurious Revenge

The arrogant, bloodthirsty howl of “Gladiator II” isn’t the only opportunity to sweep the period drama this season, thanks to the new charm that OG adventure writer Alexandre Dumas has recently exerted on the French film industry.

Last year’s two-part ‘The Three Musketeers’ (‘D’Artagnan’ and ‘Milady’) was followed by an even grander and no less enjoyable production. It was produced by “The Musketeers” screenwriter and official Dumas enthusiast Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière. Moviegoers will want to fortify their hard-and-muscle Roman revenge diet with this “Monte Cristo”-smashing herbal-garlic mother sauce. In the end, “Gladiator” tips its helmet to “Ben-Hur,” which was directly inspired by Dumas’ revenge classic. .

And like any indulgent French multi-course feast, this one starts in just three hours. But the time goes by like a cozy night in with an episode binge. This passionate condensation of the 18-volume, 1300-page epic is a model of streamlining, even if the story’s many tantalizing threads, emotions, and complications could have been much more fleshed out. But that’s the irony of investing in a story that carries the weight of decades. Getting the nuance, and whether it’s applied well, can be the difference between a thread that just tears and a thread that’s satisfyingly complete.

But this lack of subtlety cannot be criticized. For whether on land or at sea, marked by bloom or destruction, what is on display here is a splendid and enthralling delight. First of all, there is the excellent casting of the brooding, almond-eyed Pierre Nini (“Franz”), whose every word’s intensity suggests the offspring of a swindler and a troubled artistic romantic. That alchemy begins with the departure of Edmund, a young captain who has been falsely accused of treason by his jealous friend Fernand (Bastien Bouillon) and resentful sailor Danglars (Patrick Millet) and sentenced to life in prison by the corrupt prosecutor Villefort (Laurent Lafitte). It becomes a powerful asset. A whirlwind victim of a mysterious masked chess game conspiracy.

Help comes first, with a wise and mentoring Italian cellmate (Pierrefrancesco Fabino) and a thrilling depiction of his escape after 14 years (for us, only a brief moment) in an island prison. Reemerging disguised as the wealthy, worldly, black-clad earl (but harboring an elaborate plan of revenge), Edmund slips back into the prosperous lives of those who betrayed him. He also discovers the son (Vassili Schneider) that Fernand, now a war hero, had after winning Edmond’s lost fiancé Mercédès (Anaïs Demoustier) for himself. By the Count’s side, a grieving orphaned young man (Julien de Saint-Jean) and a woman (Anamaria Bartholomew) become adoptees according to their benefactor’s plan.

Delaporte and De La Patellière understand Dumas’s novel type of revenge. cold or warmis best served on screen in some of Europe’s most picturesque locations, where cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc’s camera moves at a galloping, not galloping, pace, ready to dive and soar as needed. Again, it would have been nice if the movie had stayed longer on certain intimate moments, especially the big declaration of intent scene where Niney is alone in the church, lashing out at God and ready to settle the score. The moment almost calls for a fiery, extended monologue, not the hastily presented version.

But the filmmakers know when to extend the tension elsewhere, such as in the deliciously vile dinner scene where the Count, armed with his unwitting target’s secret sins, a performance that hints at the dangers of that cruelty. Of course, as “Monte Cristo” progresses, we are forced to question everything that cold thinking has produced, and we do. Such lessons become a bit of a moral fuss. But that’s only after tasting so many of the exploits of one of literature’s archetypal punishers that nightmares welcome him, he explains, “because they keep my wounds fresh.” Merry Christmas, friends!