The Count of Monte Cristo (2002 film)

Infobox_Film
name = The Count of Monte Cristo

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caption = "The Count of Monte Cristo" film poster
director = Kevin Reynolds
producer = Gary Barber
Roger Birbaum
Jonathan Glickman
writer = Jay Wolpert
starring = James Caviezel
Guy Pearce
Dagmara Dominczyk
Richard Harris
movie_music = Edward Shearmur
cinematography = Andrew Dunn
editing = Stephen Semel
distributor = Touchstone Pictures
Spyglass Entertainment
released = January 25, 2002
runtime = 131 minutes
language = English
imdb_id = 0245844
country = Malta
music =
awards =
budget = $35,000,000 (estimated)
gross=$75,395,048cite news |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=countmontecristo.htm|title = The count of Monte Cristo budget| publisher = Box Office Mojo |accessdate=2008-09-18 ]
amg_id = 1:259131
imdb_id = 0245844

"The Count of Monte Cristo" is a 2002 film and 10th film based loosely upon the book of the same name, by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was directed by Kevin Reynolds and starred James Caviezel, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Guy Pearce.cite web | title="The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)" | work=IMDb Pro| url=http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0245844/maindetails| accessdate=2007-02-17] It loosely follows the general plot of the novel (the main storyline of imprisonment and revenge is preserved), but many aspects, including the relationships between major characters and the ending, have been changed, simplified, or removed, and several action scenes not in the novel have been added, presumably to satisfy modern-day action fans. In one deviation from the novel, Edmond's escape from the Chateau D'If is discovered "before" the two jail workers can throw the body bag containing him into the sea; thus making it necessary for Edmond to kill one of them before he escapes. The character of Sultan Ali Pasha's daughter Haydee, whom Edmond ends up marrying in the novel, is completely missing from this film version, though she was included in many others. The movie met with modest box office success, and surpassed its budget bringing in about $75 million worldwide.cite news |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=countmontecristo.htm|title = The count of Monte Cristo budget| publisher = Box Office Mojo |accessdate=2008-09-18 ]

Plot

The year is 1814, during the downfall of the Napoleonic Empire and the Emperor's exile onto the tiny island of Elba.

Second mate Edmond Dantès (James Caviezel) and his friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce), officers of the French trading ship Pharaon, are heading towards Elba seeking help and medical attention to assist their ship's captain who has fallen ill with brain fever, despite the fact that the British are charged to kill anyone who sets foot upon the island. Upon arriving, Dantès and Mondego are chased by British Dragoons who believe them to be spies of the exiled French Leader Napoleon Bonaparte (Alex Norton); they would have died were it not for the Emperor's timely arrival and declaration that they are not his agents. The emperor then asks of Dantes a simple favor; to give a letter to an old friend back home in France (this is a deviation from the book; Napoleon never meets Edmond in the novel, and it is the captain who gives Edmond the letter). He swears that the letter is innocent, yet still requests that its existence be revealed to no one, not even Mondego. When the captain dies later that night, they are sent on their way.

Once arriving at the port city of Marseilles, Dantès is reprimanded by the ship's first mate, Danglars (Albie Woodington) for disobeying orders. The shipping company's boss, Morrell (Patrick Godfrey), is inspired by Dantès' bravery and responsibility and thereupon promotes him to captain- over Danglars. Meanwhile, Dantès' fiancée Mercédès Iguanada (Dagmara Dominczyk) is intercepted by Mondego, who seeks her for himself, asking her to sleep with him. She refuses, and speaks of an incident from their past as children. They discuss the fact that Edmond will not be able to afford marriage to her for two whole years. When Mondego learns of Dantès' luck, however, they all realise that the wait will now be much shorter than two years.

However, the naïve Dantès does not realize how his fortune affects those he considers "friends". Mondego, shown very drunk in the streets, meets with Danglars, whom he tells of the secret letter he saw Napoleon give Edmond. Danglars informs the police, and Dantès is arrested one night (on charges of "treason" as an alleged Bonapartist) and sent to the deputy public prosecutor and chief magistrate, J.F. Villefort (James Frain). Though Villefort is at once sure of Dantès's innocence and is on the verge of setting him free, he discovers that the addressee is none other than his own father, Clarion, a prominent Bonapartist. However, the son has denounced his father to improve his relations with the current royalist regime, and a resurgence of speculation about his true loyalties could irrevocably damage his career and prevent his imminent marriage into a well-known aristocratic family. In order to bury this secret, Villefort burns the letter and fools Dantès into submitting to arrest, and sends him to languish indefinitely in the infamous island prison Château d'If. Dantes manages to escape and goes to Mondego for help, however fueled by envy, Mondego wounds him such that he cannot attempt escape. Dantes is re-arrested and sent to the Château d'If, where he is beaten by the sadistic warden, Armand Dorleac (Michael Wincott), every year on the anniversary of his imprisonment

In prison, Dantes meets and befriends Abbé Faria (Richard Harris), a priest and a former soldier in Napoleon's army, who appears from the floor into Dantès' cell, having misjudged the direction that he would have to tunnel to escape. Dantès learns that Faria, too, was wrongfully imprisoned, by the Emperor himself, because he claimed to have no knowledge as to the location of the hidden fortune of the now deceased, enormously wealthy count, Enrique Spada. With the priest's help through his gift of education and military skills, he discovers the truth of his imprisonment and vows to seek revenge on Mondego and his associates in the betrayal once they escape. Their makeshift underground tunnel leading out to sea is interrupted when Faria is buried in a cave-in. Before he dies, Faria confesses to Dantès that he knows the whereabouts of Spada's treasure, and has the directions on an old circular map he has kept hidden in his cell. He also advises Dantès to use the wealth "only for good", with God on his side.

With the tunnel collapsed, the priest's death gives Dantès another opportunity to escape. When the guards put the priest into a body bag, Dantès quickly removes the corpse and hides himself in the bag. He is taken to the cliffs, with Dorleac saying a mocking prayer. The guards lock a weight around the bag to weigh it down. As they are about to throw him in, he grabs the keys from Dorleac's buckle, pulling the evil warden down with him. After freeing himself, he kills Dorleac.

Dantès finds himself washed onto the shore of an island not two miles from the prison. Here he encounters Luigi Vampa (JB Blanc), who introduces himself as a smuggler and a thief. He persuades Dantès to fight Jacopo (Luis Guzmán), a crewmember and a traitor whom they had intended to bury alive. Dantès defeats Jacopo but allows him to live. In return for saving his life, Jacopo vows to serve Dantès for life. Under the name of Zatarra ('driftwood'), Dantès joins the smugglers for three months, but leaves them when he they arrive at his hometown of Marseilles. He seeks the counsel of the retired Morrell, who does not recognize him. Morrell tells Dantès that his father committed suicide upon learning the nature of Edmond's treason and that Mercédès has married Mondego, who is now a Count. He also learns that Danglars took over Morrell's shipping company after Morrell reluctantly took him on as a partner. In a fury, he goes to the island of Monte Cristo, finds the treasure, and vows to use his new wealth to break Mercédès, Mondego, and the others who conspired against him.

To aid his plan and disguise, Dantès buys an enormous house and becomes the "Count of Monte Cristo". He hires Vampa and his group to stage a kidnapping of Mondego's son, Albert (Henry Cavill), and then "rescues" him, and invites the boy to his residence. In return for his rescue, Albert invites the count to his sixteenth birthday at the Mondegos' Paris residence. At the party, Dantès meets with Villefort to discuss a certain shipment of unspecified property. Mondego, however, upon meeting with Villefort later that evening, mentions that his son had heard Monte Cristo use the words gold, shipment, and Spada (words carefully dropped by the Count, leading them to believe that the shipment is treasure, which they plot to steal).

At the party, Mercédès begins to suspect that the Count is actually Edmond. Jacopo allows her to hide in Monte Cristo's carriage to speak with him privately, wanting his master to take what he has won. Edmond does not admit to being her old lover, but accidentally says 'Edmond Dantès', a name which Mercédès had never spoken to him.

Dantès' revenge begins with his confrontation with Danglars. When the police arrive, he attempts to fight Dantès, who reveals his true identity. Danglars is nearly strangled in the confrontation and is then placed under arrest. Later, the count gets Villefort to inadvertently confess that he had Mondego kill his father, Clarion, in return for telling Mercédès that Dantès had been executed. He is charged with conspiracy to murder, and comes to realize Monte Cristo's true identity.

Mercédès has by now realized who Dantès really is and confronts him. She admits to him that, although she had quickly married Fernand, she has always loved him, and shows him the ring that she had promised would never leave her finger. After sleeping together that night, Dantès, in a change of heart, decides to take Mercédès and her son and leave the country together. Edmond causes for all of Mondego's debts to be called in the next day, making him bankrupt. Mercédès confronts Mondego and reveals to him that she is leaving him, and that Albert is actually the son of Edmond Dantès (the only reason she married him in the first place was because she was pregnant). He leaves for his old family estate where the stolen gold shipment was arranged to be taken. When he arrives, he finds that all of the chests are empty and is confronted by Edmond Dantès. Albert rushes out of nowhere to defend the man he believes to be his father and Mercédès reveals to Edmond and Albert that that they are actually father and son. Mondego attempts to shoot Mercedes, but she is saved when Jacopo hits Mondego's hand with a knife. To end the feud once and for all, Dantes and Mondego duel, resulting in Dantès killing his former friend in the ensuing swordfight.

Dantes purchases the prison Château d'If three months later, and is shown giving thanks to Abbé Faria for the sacrifice and wisdom he endowed on him that allowed him to reclaim his life. Mercédès is shown to have recovered from the bullet, and Albert and Jacopo accompany them off the island, which Edmond decides to leave unattended, although he had bought it originally intending to tear it down. The movie ends with a shot of the inscription on Dantès cell wall: "God will give me justice".

Cast

* Jim Caviezel - Edmond Dantes
* Guy Pearce - Fernand Mondego
* Richard Harris - Abbé Faria
* James Frain - J.F. Villefort
* Dagmara Dominczyk - Mercedès Iguanada
* Michael Wincott - Armand Dorleac
* Luis Guzmán - Jacopo
* Christopher Adamson - Maurice
* J. B. Blanc - Luigi Vampa
* Alex Norton - Napoléon
* Henry Cavill - Albert Mondego

Characters Omitted

*Ali
*Beauchamp
*Benedetto
*Bertuccio
*Caderousse
*Château-Renaud
*Edouard Villefort
*Eugénie Danglars
*Franz d’Epinay
*Haydée
*Louise d’Armilly
*Marquis Saint-Méran
*Marquise of Saint-Méran
*Maximilian Morrel
*Peppino
*Valentine Villefort

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0245844|title=The Count of Monte Cristo
*Character List http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/montecristo/characters.html
*Character List http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/countofmontecristo/about.html