Number Six visits Chateau d’if….
Saw the recent (2002) adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo late last week. What a great movie! Not only does it have Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce as the two main characters (Dantes and Mondego, respectively), but one of the last performances of Richard Harris (English Bob, ‘original’ Dumbledore, among other recent notable roles before he passed away that year).
Of course, this is the classic Dumas story of a deceitful betrayal and revenge story set in Napoleonic France (he’s just been exiled to Elba but escapes back to France midway through the story). Napoleon himself appears at the beginning of the story but otherwise doesn’t really play a role. Each main character is compelling in his own way, whether good or bad, but Guy Pearce (chief bad guy) naturally gets to steal many scenes. There were even a couple last minute plot twists i didn’t anticipate, and it keeps you tense right up until the end, which is well done.
Another interesting thing here is Jim Caviezel later going on to play Number Six in the remake of The Prisoner (seven years later in 2009). Chateau d’if, where his character Dantes is imprisoned – is in many ways not unlike The Village – a prison of no escape, albeit one much harsher than even The Village. It really made me think about how brutal such imprisonment must have been in those times – simply lock them up in a lonely stone tower on a remote part of the French coast, throw them a bowl of gruel once or twice a day and whip them at your leisure. Better to not get in trouble at all – at least they could walk around and play chess in The Village!
Anyway, great movie, definitely worth checking out.
candybowl