COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

I HAVE NETFLICKS, THANKS TO MY GENEROUS NIECE, DONNA, AND I RECENTLY SENT AWAY FOR THE MOVIE MENTIONED ABOVE. AFTER THE DVD ARRIVED, I STARTED TO THINK THAT MY FAVORITE VERSION OF THIS OFTEN TOLD TALE IS THE ONE WITH
ROBERT DONAT, MADE IN 1934. I WAS GOING TO SKIP ON WATCHING THIS ONE AND JUST SHIP IT BACK.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BIG MISTAKE, THIS IS A FINE VERSION OF THE STORY. IT IS VERY SMOOTHLY WRITTEN -- IT ALL MAKES SENSE AND NEVER GOES OFF TRACK.
IT IS WELL CAST & ACTED:
JAMES CAVIEZEL ( JESUS IN THE PASSION OF CHRIST MOVIE ) AS
EDMUND DANTES
RICHARD HARRIS - THE LATE AND GREAT TALENT, AS THE
IMPRISONED PRIEST AT THE CHATEAU D'IF
LUIS GUZMAN, WHOM YOU WILL KNOW WHEN YOU SEE HIM,
BUT NOT PLAYING HIS USUAL COP OR STREET HOOD IN THIS
PERIOD PIECE
DAGMARA -- IS THE FEMALE LEAD'S NAME AND SHE IS EQUAL TO
THE TASK OF BEING WORTH A TWO DECADE WAIT TO ROMANCE
GUY PEARCE -- THE STRAIGHT ARROW COP IN L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, IS
AS CROOKED AS THEY COME IN THIS FILM.
THE CHATEAU D'IF -- THE PRISON ITSELF, IS A CHARACTER IN THE FILM
AFTER IT WAS ALL OVER, I REALIZED I LIKED THIS FILM BECAUSE THEY TOOK LIBERTIES WITH THE ORIGINAL STORY AND THE MAIN LIBERTY WAS NOT AGING THE CHARACTERS VERY MUCH -- THE PASSION THAT EDMUND HAS, IS BEST DEMONSTRATED BY A YOUNG MAN - SO THEY KEPT HIM AND HIS LADY FRIEND YOUNG AND THAT MAKES THE PLOT MORE OPTIMISTIC, WHILE STILL GETTING IN THE REVENGE ANGLE THAT DRIVES THE STORY.
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO SEE, BUT IT IS WELL MADE AND MOVES ALONG FASTER THAN THE GERARD DEPARDIEU VERSION, MADE FOR TELEVISION A FEW YEAR BACK - YOU WON'T GO WRONG IF YOU CATCH THIS OR THE 1939 VERSION AND THEN PRETEND YOU ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK.
A LITTLE HISTORY ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandre Dumas was born in Villes-Cotterêts. His grandfather was a French nobleman, who had settled in Santo Domingo (now part of Haiti); his paternal grandmother, Marie-Cessette, was an Afro-Caribbean, who had been a black slave in the French colony (now part of Haiti). Dumas's father was a general in Napoleon's army, who had fallen out of favor.
Dumas did not generally define himself as a black man, and there is not much evidence that he encountered overt racism during his life. However, his works were popular among the 19th-century African-Americans, partly because in The Count of Monte-Cristo, the falsely imprisoned Edmond Dantès, may be read as a parable of emancipation.