Qthis evening at 9.30pm the first part of the French film will be broadcast on Canale 5 The Count of Monte Cristo – the second will be broadcast tomorrow at the same time. This new adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas, released in France last summer, it was a triumph of audiences and critics (the second highest grosser of 2024). Protagonist of the story which mixes action, romance and revenge, is the actor Pierre Niney (as Edmond Dantesa young sailor unjustly imprisoned and who returns after 25 years to take revenge on those who betrayed him).
The Count of Monte Cristothe plot of the first part of the film on Canale 5
The young sailor Edmond Dantés (Niney), returned home from a mission at sea, is about to ask for the hand of his girlfriend Mercédès de Moncerf (Anais Demoustier). He confides this to his friend Fernand de Moncerf (Bastien Bouillon), the girl’s cousin, unaware that the man in turn would like to marry her. Fernand thus organizes a plot and with a false accusation gets Edmond jailed that comes locked up in the Château d’If, a gloomy island-fortress off the coast of Marseille.
The years pass inexorably and Edmond thinks more and more insistently about suicide until the decision to starve to death. However, when his body is about to abandon him, feels digging under the floor; after a short time a man appears in his cell, Abbot Faria (Pierfrancesco Favino), who confides in Edmond that he has been digging, for many years now, a tunnel to escape. In a very short time, the two they become friends and Faria instructs Dantès in various disciplines: from economics, to mathematics, to foreign languages and philosophy.
In parallel, the two begin to planning an escape together and Faria also confides to Edmond the location of a great treasure, which belonged to the Spada family and hidden on the island of Montecristo. Initially the boy believes it is a baseless story but the sight of a document indicating the location of the treasure, in addition to the respect he has for Faria, convinces him of the truthfulness of the story.
Pierre Niney and Pierfrancesco Favino in a scene from “The Count of Monte Cristo”. (Jérôme Prébois/Pathe Films)
A compelling transposition of Dumas’ novel starring Pierre Niney
The Count of Monte Cristo directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière cleverly mixes adventure, drama and a passionate love story. Delaporte and La Patellière – already screenwriters of the two recent adaptations of The Three Musketeers with Louis Garrel and Eva Green – they skilfully range between genres and take some liberties, without ever exceeding, with respect to the literary material of departure.
In fact, in the film some bonds between the protagonists have been slightly changed and the directors also opted for some small change of social context to strengthen but above all modernize the drama. Despite some narrative forcing, and some overly emphatic passages especially in the omnipresent soundtrack, The Count of Monte Cristo succeeds perfectly in its mission entertain the general public with a high level of spectacularity and without ever getting boring. Despite the almost 3 hours long.
Blockbuster of the French season – over 9 million viewers and second highest grossing of 2024 – the film owes much of its commercial success to the protagonist played by Pierre Niney. An actor beloved in his homeland who had the opportunity to show all the facets of a surprising talent.
Also in the cast is Pierfrancesco Favino in the role of Abbot Faria
The good Italian actor for several years now he divides his time between the Italian sets and those of numerous international productions. But 2024 was a truly amazing year for Favino who, in addition to the role The Count of Monte Cristois one of the protagonists of Marythe biopic on Callas with Angelina Jolie which will be released in cinemas on January 1st.
Regarding the experience in The Count of Monte Cristo, in the press conference to present the film in Cannes, Pierre Niney had beautiful words for his colleague Italian. «He has impressive charisma and he played very well the character of a man who embodies a father figure capable of spurring you to madness.” Niney then continued: «I was impressed by Pierfrancesco and how he staged the character of Faria. A complicity was created immediately and it was truly an honor to share the set with him.”
Favino has recently finished filming The master – film directed by Andrea Di Stefano. Set at the end of the 1980s, it tells the story the story of a former tennis player with a mediocre career, who finds himself coaching a shy boy for the first time who carries all the weight of his father’s expectations on his shoulders. Participation in fiction is also in his future Whales with Carla Signoris and Veronica Pivettibroadcast on Rai 1 next spring.
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