"Le comte de Monte Cristo" (1998) TV mini-series

Director:

Josée Dayan

Writers:

Didier Decoin (writer)
Alexandre Dumas père (novel)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

21 June 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

The Classic tale from Alexandre Dumas. Edmond Dantes is unjustly sent to prison for 18 years. He escapes to reclaim his fiancée Mercedes and revenge against his nemesis, Mondego.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Revenge | Treasure | Sailor | TV Mini-Series

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Gérard Depardieu

...

Edmond Dantès / ... (unknown episodes)

Also Known As:

Der Graf von Monte Christo (Germany)
Il conte di Montecristo (Italy)
The Count of Monte Cristo (USA)

Runtime:

France:400 min | Germany:382 min (2 episodes) | 50 min (4 episodes) | Argentina:400 min

Country:

France | Germany | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Spain:T | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Chateau de Villette, Condecourt, Val-d'Oise, France

Company:

TF1

Trivia:

According to Nielsen Media Research, Inc., Startrak Overnight Ratings for 6/21-6/24, 1999 (8PM & 11PM airings), beginning with a 1.4 GAA for the premiere, 'Le comte de Monte Cristo' sustained an average rating of 1.3 GAA for the entire 8-hour series, crowning Bravo's first mini-series as the highest rated original co-production in the network's history.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Count of Monte Cristo (1908)

One the Greatest Tales of Revenge, but only available in novel form

I like Gerard Depardieu, and I liked much of this movie. I am huge of the book, which provides amazing insight in human suffering, redemption, and revenge. The butchery of the script was benign relative to the recent Hollywood remake (a complete disaster - "It was a nice film about something, but it was not the Count of Monte Cristo."), but apparently the writer(s) could not resist temptation to alter the ending - which was particularly galling given the mostly faithful recreation of the book up to the point of the conclusion. I personally was bitter - you can't take a story of revenge and remake it into Harlequin romance novel. If you know the story, you know what they should have done, and you know what they probably did. Given the time investment in this movie to watch the whole thing, I literally could not believe it as it became apparent that the sell-out was going to happen. They were so close, and that just made the experience that much more sour.