Wow, that was really a satisfying, great film to watch.

" Satisfying, of
course, to see the typical good guy-gets-revenge tale but also a film which
provided some beautiful scenery and photography all the way through: a
real treat for the eyes and must-see on a widescreen DVD.

I also put on the English subtitles on the second viewing in parts, which
helped me understand a few things I missed on the first viewing and had
made the film just a bit confusing in several parts. That was cleared up,
and the rest was just enjoying the scenery and performances.

Most fun to watch was Richard Harris as "Priest," the longtime prisoner
who tutors young Jim Caviezel, the man (Edmond Dantes) unjustly
imprisoned who exacts his revenge in the last hour of the movie. Yes,
Harris' teaching stretched credibility as he seems to teach his pupil about
everything there is know in life! Harris, too, had some of the best lines in
the movie, several very profound statements. Ironic that he would be giving
Caviezel - who two years later was playing Jesus in "The Passion Of The
Christ" - sermons about believing in God! That's Hollywood! One film
you're an atheist, the next you are God.

For those who might think the first 30-40 minutes of this movie are a bit
slow, stay with it as the action picks up once Caviezel escapes from the
prison. Shortly afterward, he is aided by the other character I found most
fun to watch, played by Luis Gusman, who still sounds like he's more at
home in the streets of New York but, once again, you suspend belief and
just go along for the ride.

Strange how our human nature makes revenge so sweet when forgiveness
is the right thing to do, but Hollywood has always capitalized on this human
failing, making enjoyable films like this. To be fair, it isn't just revenge, as
this film points out, it's "justice" we all like to see. In here, the two words
are interchanged, depending upon ones rationalizations.

Plot Summary

Imprisonment and Escape

The Count of Monte Cristo begins with the arrival of a ship in
Marseilles, France. One of the crew is a young sailor named Edmond
Dantès. Dantès seems to be on the threshold of great happiness.
Morrel, the shipowner, promotes him to captain, and he is about to
marry a beautiful girl named Mercédès. However, at the feast before
the wedding Dantès is arrested for treason. He is innocent, but has
been entrapped by a plot hatched by Danglars, a fellow sailor who is
jealous of Dantès's promotion, and Fernand, who was his rival for the
love of Mercédès. The plot is aided by Villefort, a corrupt prosecutor,
and Dantès is imprisoned in the Château d'If. He is not told why he is
imprisoned. He remains in the Château d'If for fourteen years. During
this time he meets the Abbé Faria, a fellow prisoner who has been
digging what he hoped would be a tunnel to freedom, but which leads
instead to Dantès's cell. The Abbé is a learned man, and he teaches
Dantès everything he knows. He also tells Dantès the location of a
secret treasure, which is buried on an uninhabited island called Monte
Cristo, in the Mediterranean. When the Abbé dies, Dantès switches
places with the corpse and is carried out of the prison for burial. He
plans to escape from the grave. But instead of burying him, the jailers
toss him into the sea. Even so, he manages to swim to safety. He
makes his way to Monte Cristo and discovers the treasure.

Dedication to Revenge

Now a rich man, Dantès dedicates himself to gaining revenge on those

who wronged him. Taking on the first of many disguises, as the Abbé
Busoni, he tracks down Caderousse, a former untrustworthy neighbor
who is now an impoverished innkeeper. Caderousse tells him the story
of Dantès's arrest and what has happened since. Villefort, Danglars
and Fernand are all now powerful men. Dantès rewards Caderousse
and his wife with a valuable diamond. Based on what Caderousse told
him, Dantès, now disguised as an Englishman, Lord Wilford, rewards
the ship owner Morrel, who had tried many times to intercede with the
authorities on Dantès' behalf. Morrel has suffered many losses at sea
and is on the verge of bankruptcy. He is about to commit suicide when
his daughter Julie brings proof that all his debts have been paid by a
mysterious benefactor, who has also given Morrel a diamond for his
daughter's dowry.
The scene switches to Rome, where two young Frenchmen, Baron
Franz d'Espinay and Viscount Albert de Morcerf (Fernand's son) attend
the carnival. They meet Dantès, who has given himself the name
Count of Monte Cristo. Monte Cristo uses the influence his wealth buys
to save a man named Peppino from execution. He then saves Albert,
who has been kidnapped by bandits led by the notorious Luigi Vampa.
In gratitude, Albert agrees to introduce Monte Cristo to his social circle
in Paris. There Monte Cristo meets Lucien Debray, a diplomat,
Beauchamp, a journalist, and Captain Maximilien Morrel, the son of
Morrel. They are all fascinated by the remarkable count. Monte Cristo
meets Fernand, who is now the Count of Morcef. Morcef is grateful to
him for saving his son's life. Monte Cristo also meets Mercédès, who
recognizes him but says nothing.

Monte Cristo buys a house at Auteuil, near Paris, which was the scene
of a crime committed by Villefort, when he buried the infant child of
his lover, Baroness Danglars. Monte Cristo knows this from his servant
Bertuccio, who had a grudge against Villefort and tried to kill him at
that house. Bertuccio saved the infant's life and raised him as
Benedetto. Bertuccio also tells the count that he was a witness to a
murder committed by Caderousse and his wife, who killed the jeweler
who came to buy a diamond.

Monte Cristo next meets Danglars, who is now a rich banker. He

discovers that the Danglars are unhappily married and that Danglars's
wife is having an affair with Debray. Monte Cristo causes Danglars to
lose a large amount of money when the banker acts on a rumor spread
by Debray about political events in Spain. Danglars demands that his
wife, whom he knows is having an affair with Debray, repay him for
the loss. Monte Cristo then exploits the latent ill-feeling between
Danglars and Morcerf by encouraging Danglars to investigate Morcerf's
behavior many years ago in regard to a French ally, Ali Pasha, in
Greece.

Monte Cristo gets into the favor of Villefort by saving his wife and son
when their carriage goes out of control. Then he deliberately arouses
Madame Villefort's interest in the medicinal use of poisons. Villefort
and Madame Danglars are terrified when they guess that Monte Cristo
knows the secret of their affair. They fear that their child may be alive.

Maximilien wants to marry Villefort's daughter, Valentine. But the

Villefort family, except for Valentine's grandfather, Noirtier, want her
to marry Franz d'Epinay. The marriage is called off after the paralyzed
Noirtier, who many years before was a Bonapartist, communicates that
it was he who killed Franz's father, a royalist general. Madame Villefort
schemes to arrange an inheritance for her son Edouard by poisoning
her father and mother-in-law, and attempting to poison Noirtier and
Valentine. Noirtier and Valentine survive.

Enemies Vanquished

Caderousse escapes from the prison to which he was sent for aiding
his wife in murder. He burgles Monte Cristo's house, but Monte Cristo,
disguised as the Abbé Busoni, catches him in the act. Monte Cristo lets
him go but Caderousse is then murdered by his accomplice, Andrea
Cavalcanti. Andrea is in fact Benedetto, who has been given a fake
identity as an Italian nobleman by Monte Cristo. As Caderousse dies,
Monte Cristo reveals his real identity.

Morcerf is disgraced when it is revealed that many years ago, when he

was in the French army, he betrayed his benefactor, Ali Pasha, and
sold Ali Pasha's wife and daughter into slavery. The daughter, Haydée,
was bought by Monte Cristo. Albert realizes that Monte Cristo arranged
for his father's disgrace and challenges him to a duel. But Mercédès
tells Albert the whole story of Dantès' betrayal by Fernand, and Albert
apologizes to Monte Cristo before the duel begins. Mercédès leaves her
disgraced husband for a life of poverty, while Albert renounces his
name and fortune. Morcerf commits suicide.

Andrea, who was to be married to Eugénie Danglars, is arrested for

murder. Eugénie, who never wanted to marry him, disguises herself as
a man and runs off with her friend Louise d'Armilly. Andrea briefly
escapes, but he is recaptured. At his trial, he explains that he is the
son of Villefort, the man who is prosecuting him. Distraught, Villefort
rushes home. There he finds that his wife has committed suicide.
Villefort had discovered that it was she who was poisoning his family,
and told her to kill herself or face trial and a death sentence. When
Villefort discovers that his wife has also killed their young son,
Edouard, he goes insane, but not before Monte Cristo has revealed his
real identity to him.

Monte Cristo arranges for Danglars to be ruined financially. Danglars

leaves his wife and goes abroad, while Madame Danglars falls out with
Debray. Danglars embezzles some money and goes to Rome, where he
is kidnapped by bandits led by Luigi Vampa. They rob him of all his
money, except for fifty thousand francs. Monte Cristo tells him he is
now forgiven. Then he reveals to Danglars his true identity as Edmond
Dantès. Danglars is completely broken by the loss of all his wealth.

With all his enemies vanquished, Monte Cristo arranges for Maximilien,
who believed Valentine to be dead, to be reunited with her. Then he
sails off in his yacht, having found love once more with Haydée.

Background to the plot

Dumas has himself indicated[2][3] that he had the idea for the revenge
in The Count of Monte Cristo from a story which he had found in a book
compiled by Jacques Peuchet, a French police archivist and published in
1838, after the death of the author. Dumas included this essay in one of
the editions from 1846. [4] Peuchet related the tale of a shoemaker
named Pierre Picaud, who was living in Nîmes in 1807. Picaud had been
engaged to marry a rich woman, but three jealous friends falsely accused
him of being a spy for England. He was imprisoned for seven years. During
his imprisonment a dying fellow prisoner bequeathed him a treasure
hidden in Milan. Picaud was released in 1814. He took possession of the
treasure and returned under another name to Paris. Picaud spent ten
years plotting his successful revenge against his former friends.[5] In
another of the "True Stories" Peuchet relates the tale of a terrible affair of
poisoning in a family. This story, also quoted in the Pleiade edition, has
obviously served as model for the chapter of the murders inside the
Villefort family. The introduction to the Pleiade edition mentions other
sources from real life: the abbé Faria really existed and died in 1819 after a
life with much resemblance to that of the Faria in the novel. As for Dantès,
his fate is quite different from his model in Peuchet's manuscript, since the
latter is murdered by the "Caderousse" of the plot. But Dantès has "alter
egos" in two other works of Dumas: First in "Pauline" from 1838, then,
more significantly, in "Georges" from 1843 where a young man with black
ancestry is preparing a revenge against white people who had humiliated
him.

[edit]Historical background
The success of Monte Cristo coincides with that of France's Second
Empire and besides the description of the return of Napoleon I in 1815
Dumas hints at least once to the events: the governor at the Château d'If is
promoted to a position at the castle of Ham[6]. The attitude of Dumas
towards "bonapartisme" was extremely complicated and involved. This
conflict dates back to his father,[7] who was a coloured man, borne of a
slave and who became a famous general during the French Revolution.
When new racist laws were applied in 1802 the general was dismissed
from the army and he was profoundly bitter towards Napoleon when he
died in 1806. An event in 1840 renewed the patriotic support for the
Bonaparte family in the population: the ashes of Napoleon I were brought
to France and became object of veneration in the church of Les Invalides.
In "Causeries" from 1860, Dumas prints a short paper on the genesis
of Monte-Cristo. This essay, called "État civil du "Comte de Monte-Cristo""
is included in the Pléiade edition (Paris, 1981) as an "annexe". It appears
that Dumas had close and intimate contacts with members of the
Bonaparte family while living in Florence in 1841. In a small boat he sailed
around the island of Monte-Cristo accompanied by one of the young
princes – a cousin to he who was to be emperor of France ten years later.
During this trip he promised the prince that he would write a novel with the
island's name as title. At this moment the future emperor was imprisoned
at the citadel of Ham – a name that is mentioned in the novel. Dumas did
visit him there[8], but he does not mention it in "Etat civil..." Louis
Napoleon was imprisoned for life, but he fled in disguise. This happened in
1846 while Dumas's novel was already a gigantic success. Just as Dantès,
Louis Napoleon reappeared in Paris as a powerful and enigmatic man of
the world. In 1848, however, Dumas did not vote for Louis Napoleon, but
the novel may have contributed – against the will of the writer – to the
victory of the future Napoleon III.