Featured in La grande semaine: Episode #113 (2024)
Plot
After escaping from an island prison where he spent 14 years for being wrongly accused of treason, Edmond Dantès returns as the Count of Monte Cristo to take revenge on the men who betrayed him. With an estimated budget of €42.9 million, The Count of Monte Cristo is the most expensive French film of 2024. When Albert sees Hydee singing and playing the guitar, it is very obvious that she is not even touching the strings half the time. It is hard to notice that modern adaptations of classic operas often tend to sacrifice depth and complexity for the sake of fast pace and entertainment. As a result, the special atmosphere and emotional depth inherent in the original texts are often lost.
But it is these details that make the work vivid and truly memorable
"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas is not just a twisted tale of revenge with many bright twists, it is a reflection on life and how a person is transformed by circumstances and his own decisions. Unfortunately, the new film adaptation, and this one, of course, in my opinion, coped with the task of conveying this transformation – satisfactorily, but no more, leaving the characters at a simple and understandable level of archetypes. Expectations did not come from nowhere, because many read this fascinating tragedy of revenge and hoped to see the development and deepening of the characters on a par with the original source. At the same time, the audience was offered a set of events that take place too quickly, as if on a high-speed cinematic highway. Deep emotions, character nuances, dramatic internal conflicts – all this was clearly not enough.
But I expected more and am a little disappointed
Yes, undoubtedly, a thousand pages of a novel cannot be transferred into one film, but this is the power of creativity – the ability to revive images and give the viewer empathy. In the film, all this is there, but dosed, within the standard form of monosyllabic presentation. The film is not bad, but to spoil Dumas means to be completely incompetent, and, to my joy, I cannot blame anyone for this. The entire film was shot with a 24 mm wide-angle lens and it was useless: there are clearly not enough close-ups, especially when the actors play well. Despite decent acting, the characters seem unspoken and aimless, reduced to simplified and stripped-down images.
integrity, has disappeared
While watching, I hoped to see a philosophical reassessment or depth of thought in the scene with “Abbé Faria”, but, unfortunately, only the Soviet painting by Georgy Jungwald-Khilkevich with Alexei Petrenko as the abbot could prepare the viewer, lay the foundation for the climax, making them realize the suffering of the prisoners and grasp the main question: "What will you spend your life doing, for revenge or for good?". After this episode, it became clear that the story would quickly pass through the pages of the fireproof manuscript, and so it turned out. The connection with the era and the literary echoes of the past, which give the original its special and indescribable flavor. Perhaps this is a sign of the times. Modern technology allows you to create impressive visual effects, but no technique can replace the power of a story, the ability to convey a state of mind and invite the viewer to a deep understanding of life.
One thing is certain: trying to adapt the classics is always a challenge that requires incredible skill and understanding of the text
This is a difficult task, and unfortunately not everyone can overcome this path, but the task was done well, although there was a residue of disappointment.
بدون دیدگاه