Last night I finished the 8-part series available on the PBS app, and I'm happy to recommend it with some minor reservations. The storyline created by Dumas is of course enormously complex and detailed (the Modern Library version of the novel in our library runs to over 1,400 pages), and that complexity has always presented difficulties for screenwriters of the almost countless adaptations on film and television. Even with the luxury of almost 8 hours of broadcast time, there are huge sections of the novel that have to be skipped over or severely compressed. Edmond Dantès' social education by Jeremy Irons in the Château d'If is compressed to a matter of minutes. The discovery of the treasure is depicted in a couple minutes, and then moments later he's a wealthy man riding a horse.
On the other hand, the resources available for the current production are extensive and lavish. The estates and castles must have been a godsend for the cinematographers. The quality of acting is excellent through out. I'm so happy to see cinema with cast members unfamiliar to me; the world is full of superb actors - it's not necessary to ride the coattails of celebrities as Hollywood does.
I believe the series will drop on public PBS channels near the end of March. For now it can be viewed on the PBS app. I welcome comments from readers who have seen this.
Thanks for the recommendation. We’ve been bingeing “All Creatures Great and Small” on the PBS app. We’re around the end of season 3 so far so we’re just now beginning to think about what comes next. This looks like a good one.
ReplyDeleteI've read the whole thing in French. Wonderful story. Published initially as a serial, pretty much a newspaper soap. He spun out the Three Musketeers and its two sequels even longer (Vingt Ans Apres drones on and on and on and on). It's funny how a lot of what is now considered French high literature was initially published as serials. The same is true for Les Miserables. But because these stories were serials, there's a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter, which keeps the story going. On the other hand, some of them have too many sub-plots.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how different adaptations highlight different elements of the Monte Cristo story. The story really has a lot of aspects to it.
I recently watched this French version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q6y1waxlTY
It focused very much on the ruthlessness of his revenge and how it slowly hollows him out.
In contrast, the 2002 American movie was more a rags to riches movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qesn8pV9yu8
There's also in interesting comic that places the story in post 9/11 NYC.
https://www.magnetic-press.com/monte-cristo-graphic-novel/
And the delightful Stephen Fry made his on adaptation moving things to a UK/IRA setting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stars%27_Tennis_Balls
And since we're on the subject of Alexandre Dumas, let me promote two recent French movies of the Musketeers:
The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMMB7GUb-Ik
The Three Musketeers: Milady
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1HfovIccgw
(check your local library's DVD section)
There was gonna be a third, but that somehow didn't happen. These two are also not necessarily fun action movies, unlike The Man in the Iron Mask which I will not give a link to.
I really enjoyed watching these movies in French, because they're filmed in France in French setting and not in California. Americans often miss out how different the rest of the world looks because most movies are filmed in California (or Georgia, or BC or Ontario - all still North America).
Fun fact, Alexandre Dumas' grandmother was an enslaved woman, so he was a quarter black. This was mostly hidden on paintings, but on the pictures there are of him, his hair is quite a tell.
https://www.google.com/search?q=alexandre+dumas+photos
I thought the ending was curious. In the book I think Edmund takes off with ?Haydee on what the author might have envisaged as an upcoming "Further Adventures of the Count of Monte Cristo." I thought this one would be adapted for a modern audience into a happily-ever-after love forever, but the outcome is still left open and "hopeful" for the future. At least Caderousse got a Hollywood happy ending, sailing off into the sunset to America.
DeleteAs I said, many different interpretations.....
DeleteIn the end, the story is a tragedy because Edmond can't see that Fernand not only betrayed him but also Mercedes and that she still loves him.
Once Edmond rejects her attempts to reconcile and love, the story is concluded in the sense that it is established that Edmond is more consumed by hate and revenge than he is able to love again. He is a failed human. Quite frankly it doesn't matter what else happens.
You make a good point that there could have been a very good sequel. But apparently, he never considered that (says Google). The Count appeared in parallel with the Musketeers, and he certainly milked that them for what he got. Vingt Ans Apres was basically 19th century AI slop, largely written by different people in his studio. Or compare to some of the failed Star Wars projects that Disney made just because they got greedy. Le Vicomte de Bragelonne is much better.
If anyone has good information about the original publication of these stories, please let me know. I'm fascinated by how his studio worked. There has to be a good book about that.