Presented by Cinémania

International Premiere
Cheval Noir

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo

Directed by Alexandre De la Patelière, Matthieu Delaporte

Credits  

Official selection

Cannes 2024

Director

Alexandre De la Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte

Producer

Dimitri Rassam

Writer

Alexandre De la Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte

Cast

Bastien Bouillon, Anaïs Demoustier, Laurent Lafitte, Pierre Niney, Anamaria Vartolomei

contact

Sphère Films

France 2024 178 mins OV French Subtitles : English
Genre ThrillerAction

It's 1815 in Marseille, and young Edmond Dantès has just been promoted to captain, and is preparing to marry his sweet Mercedes. Unfortunately for him, the treachery of certain jealous peers leaves him to rot in the dismal dungeon of the Château d'If for 14 years. There he meets Abbé Faria, who schools him in languages, history, sciences,and weaponry, as well as divulging the location of a lost Pharaonic treasure, so that one day he can even the scrore for the affront he has suffered. Dantès manages to escape and seize the Templars' fortune before returning home to orchestrate his ruthless revenge.

Created by the great Alexandre Dumas in the mid-19th century, Edmond Dantès is one of the most celebrated characters in French literature, and the story of his revenge has left its mark on popular culture around the world through countless works. Consider Batman, for instance, and the similarities between Bruce Wayne and Dantès are obvious. This new film adaptation by Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, the screenwriters of the recent diptych LES TROIS MOUSQUETAIRES who now share the director’s chair, takes the brilliant gamble of subtly reappropriating MONTE-CRISTO's pop-culture influence for its own benefit, hinting at the tropes and trappings of the modern superhero film while retaining the classicism of the work through grandiose art direction. Pierre Niney shines in the title role as he expresses the stages of Dantès's evolution into Monte-Cristo with exemplary sobriety and spellbinding charisma. If you're looking for a truly magnificent piece of cinema that respects its original source material while adding welcome contemporary elements, as evidenced by the triumphant reception of LE COMTE DE MONTE-CRISTO at the recent Cannes Film Festival, this is the place to go. – Translation: Rupert Bottenberg