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The Count of Monte Cristo by Josée Dayan
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Gérard Depardieu, Jean Rochefort, Ornella Muti, Pierre Arditi, Sergio Rubini Director: Josée Dayan Brand: Koch International Cinematographer: Willy Stassen Editor: Dominique Roy Producer: Doris Kirch Producer: Jacques Bar Producer: Jean-Pierre Guérin Writer: Alexandre Dumas père Writer: Didier Decoin DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language) Format: Color, Content/Copy-Protected CD, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 400 minutes DVD Release Date: 2005-12-06 Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: Koch Lorber Films Product features: - Alexandre Dumas' THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO follows the adventures of Edmond Dant s (G rard Depardieu), a 19th-century French version of James Bond or Batman, a rich, ruthless, and suave purveyor of homemade justice. This French production goes all out, having the destinction of being the first filmed version of the newly restored unabridged version of Dumas'ic, which runs about 800 pages.
Movie Reviews of The Count of Monte CristoMovie Review: Excellent French Adaptation Summary: 5 Stars
To begin, I have read Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo." The novel is very long, nearly 1,000 pages. It contains an incredibly large number of subplots and characters, which may either add or detract from the reading depending on the preference of the reader.
This film adaptation, nearly 420 minutes, certainly makes an attempt to stay relatively loyal to the novel. There are places where it compresses action, scenes, or subplots so as to prevent a 15 hour very BBC-like miniseries. However, this French film was very interesting to me and loyal enough - it contains most of the Count's revenge scenes (which are often greatly changed by other film companies). [Note: The whole last 0.80 of the James Caviezel 2002 version is drastically changed.]
One of the main drawbacks to this film for me was the French dialogue. While I understand French moderately well, it was still difficult sometimes to follow what each character was saying. The English subtitles were not a large help because every time I wasn't certain what a character was saying, seeing an English translation was only moderately helpful. (It would have been easier for me to have French audio with both French and English subtitle options).
Otherwise, I really do not have any major complaint with the film. I would have liked to see M Noitier de Villefort have a greater role, but I realize that would be difficult since the book "claims" M Noitier communicated by blinking his eyes, which does not seem very practical to show on film. Therefore, while Dumas paints M Noitier as a relatively major character in the novel, I can see why he was given a much smaller role in this film.
I can also say that I greatly enjoyed Gérard Depardieu's acting as Edmond Dantes. (Note: Depardieu plays in "102 Dalmatians" and "Le Placard" as well as many other French films.) In my opinion, Depardieu was a more realistic Dantes than James Caviezel in the 2002 American Buena Vista version. The same I find true with the actors who played the Prosecutor Villefort, Fernand Mondago, and Danglars.
Summary of The Count of Monte CristoAcclaimed actor Gérard Depardieu stars in the adaptation of Alexandre Dumas? classic tale of love, intrigue and revenge. The Count of Monte Cristo tells the dramatic story of Edmond Dantès, a young French sailor who is falsely denounced as a traitor and unjustly imprisoned for eighteen years without a trial. After a daring escape, Dantès secures a treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo bequeathed to him by a dying inmate. Using these riches, he assumes a new identity and devises a plan to seek vengeance against all those who betrayed him.
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