Exceptionally, The Count of Monte Cristo is released on Friday June 28, 2024 for strategic reasons, in order to coincide with the start of the Film Festival. Despite everything, it arrives a year after Part 1 of The Three Musketeers and only 6 months after the Second Chapter which was dedicated to Milady, and of which it shares the same author. If we can talk about Alexandre Dumas Universe when we talk about these three films, we must above all remember that they are part of the reconquest strategy of Pathé and its big boss, Jérôme Seydoux, who had a simple plan at the end of the health crisis to revive French cinema: produce fewer films, but ensure that each of them is an almost guaranteed success. We all remember the cover of the French film and the actors/producers who were commissioned to put this ambitious new vision into motion. Guillaume Canet for Asterix & Obélix who still managed to bring more than 4.6 million spectators to theaters despite the artistic flop of his film. We also remember François Cibil, Pio Marmaï and Vincent Cassel who represented the Musketeers, two films which were relatively well received by critics, as well as the public who responded. Perhaps not as much as Pathé wanted, but the job was done. And then there was Pierre Niney also on this cover, more discreet, who therefore waited his turn to draw his Edmond Dantès blade. And he did well to wait because he is undoubtedly the one who single-handedly crystallizes this success of the French blockbuster.
To make the Count of Monte Cristo + French blockbuster cocktail as explosive as possible, Jérôme Seydoux put his trust in one man: producer Dimitri Rassam, from the great French cinema family and founder of the production company Chapter2. He will seek out Martin Bourboulon, Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière to make them the master builders of this Alexandre Dumas Universe. Directors who are basically more focused on dramatic comedy than Hollywood blockbusters. A method that is somewhat reminiscent of what Kevin Feige does with the MCU, by seeking out auteur film directors so that they bring their touch and their identity to his superhero films. And it’s true that Dimitri Rassam had already worked with Martin Bourboulon who had directed the two episodes of Papa ou Maman, while the duo Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière had made The First Name and the Best Still to Come for him. Dimitri Rassam was therefore on familiar ground.
REINVENTING THE MYTH
For the Count of Monte Cristo, it was necessary to reappropriate the myth, but also the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Already because we know the story by heart, but also because there are already around thirty adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo, some coming from the United States. And then there was also the question of the length of the film as well. When we know that Dumas’ work spans 1,900 pages, we are more likely to favor the TV series format rather than the one-shot film to try to treat the work in its entirety. That said, there is a sentence that the Count and therefore Pierre Niney say in the film that I really like, it is “We will take all the time we need to take revenge”. And that’s exactly what directors Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière did so as not to betray the richness of Dumas’ novel. Yes, Count of Monte Cristo lasts 3 hours, 2h58 to be precise, but the film moves so well that we never see the 3 hours go by. And that is already a sign of a certain high quality.
EDMOND, THE SUPERHERO
And then, we must recognize in this 2024 version of the Count of Monte Cristo a superheroic approach to the character, and in reality, it was the smartest formula to take to make the film more modern, more contemporary. We can even see a parallel with Batman in this character of Edmond Dantès. Like Bruce Wayne in Nolan’s The Dark Knights Rises, Edmond will reinvent himself after spending 14 years imprisoned in the moat of Chateau d’If. Like Bruce Wayne and his cave, Edmond Dantès will make the island of Monte Cristo his secret base, where he will foment his plan of revenge, learn to disguise himself, to fight too, all sometimes with a bare torso , bulging muscles and visible scars. It is quite obvious that the French directors took Batman as a reference for this modern vision of the Count of Monte Cristo, especially since the notion of the mask is also amplified in the film, up to some fairly classy overhead shots. And then, the entire structure and narration of the film revolve around this way of disguising yourself, of appearing suddenly to disappear surreptitiously, like a ghost, or rather like a certain Ethan Hunt, the hero of Mission Impossible played by Tom Cruise who he too plays with his opponents by changing his identity and mask on the fly, sometimes leaving only the sound of his voice echoing as his signature move. And despite Pierre Niney’s youthful traits, it works, the film never sinks into ridicule, whether from a visual or narrative point of view, through the dialogue and phrasing.
It must be said that the text in The Count of Monte Cristo is less sustained, less literary than the dialogues of The Three Musketeers, which gave this theatrical heaviness in the dialogues that could quickly turn into ridicule, especially with actors as marked as Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris and François Civil that we are used to seeing in more street roles. The advantage of the casting of The Count of Monte Cristo is that it called upon actors less known to the general public. Of course, there is Pierre Niney and Laurent Lafitte but Bastien Bouillon, Patrick Mille, Julien de Saint Jean, Vassili Schneider, Anamaria Vartolomei and even Anaïs Demoustier have not yet reached their full popularity. And yet, Laurent Lafitte, Bastien Bouillon and Patrick Mille form a trio of deliciously detestable antagonists, to the point that Bastien Bouillon’s Fernand de Morcef sometimes has a hint of Dr. No. The same goes for the new generation of actors Julien de Saint Jean, Vassili Schneider and Anamaria Vartolomei who embrace their roles with passion and accuracy, especially Anamaria Vartolomei who shines brightly and hypnotizes the camera with each of her appearances. She has an Isabelle Adjani / Monica Bellucci side at times that will make her an actress that French cinema can count on.
SOBRIETY & ELEGANCE
Technically too, it is very successful with a camera which each time tries to enhance the places where the plot sneaks in. It’s shot in natural settings, Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière have fun with tracking shots, crane shots, drone shots as well (there are many of them) to always give scale to the frame and keep the scenes visible. Many have criticized Martin Bourboulon’s hand-held camera for The Three Musketeers, I think it was necessary for some of his sequence shots, it didn’t bother me that much. There was also a more marked identity than the production of Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière for The Count of Monte Cristo, which remains a little too wise for my taste. Some will even say that it is plan-plan. That said, the photo is prettier here with contrasting colors that enhance each moment.
Despite the richness of Alexandre Dumas’ book, Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière managed to extract what was best and most appropriate to make a great swashbuckling film. So they made choices, it’s true, sacrificed certain passages of the novel to focus on Dantès’ revenge, with a narration reminiscent of Nolan’s Batman, while adding a hint of Mission Impossible. It sounds crazy to say it like that, but by making the Count of Monte Cristo a superhero from ancient times, it is also in this way that we find a certain modernity in him. And not only does it work very well, but also the dramaturgy has even been strengthened, while the story has never been told so well; at least in 3 hours.
OUR RATING: 8/10
