‘The Count Of Monte-Cristo’ Cast & Filmmakers On Giving French Classic Another Go-Round – Cannes

L to R: French actor Pierre Niney, French actress Anais Demoustier and French actor Laurent Lafitte pose during a photocall for the film "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo" at Cannes Getty

Laurent Lafitte who stars in the latest version of France’s feature take of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo thinks there’s twentysomething adaptations of the classic, but each one offers something different on the 1,400 page novel.

“You have to make certain choices,” said the pic’s co-director and co-scribe Matthieu Delaporte who sprung to the project with collaborator Alexandre de La Patelliere after their work on the two-part feature version of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers.

The Count of Monte Cristo tells the story of a young man, Edmond Dantes (Pierre Niney), who becomes the target of a sinister plot and is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit. After 14 years in the island prison of Château d’If, he manages a daring escape. Now rich beyond his dreams, he assumes the identity of the Count of Monte-Cristo and exacts his revenge on the three men who betrayed him. The latest production cost $46.5M and hits theaters via Pathe in France on June 28.

One of the characters who was given more breadth than previous incarnations was that of Haydee played by Anamaria Vartolomei. She is an estimated daughter of the vizier of the Greek state of Yanina and when her father is murdered, she’s sold into slavery. The Count of Monte Cristo purchases her freedom and watches her grow into adulthood, eventually falling in love with her. In the book, she’s devoted to him for saving her from imprisonment and torture.

de La Patelliere says that in this new take “we were looking through the eyes of Haydee and write the story of redemption.”

Vartolomei, said “My character is looking for freedom, but she’s trying to escape from the psychological control of the Count of Monte Cristo, that’s why she doesn’t give way to love.”

“She does manage to break free in the end, that’s what accounts for the beauty of the film,” added the actress.

Says Pierre Niney on why he was attracted to the title role, “He has this great charisma and graet voice, he’s a paternal figure you want to believe in, but there’s the seed of madness whether he’s someone who has gone crazy because he’s been in prison for all these years.”

“We were going for a new modern version, we wanted to portray the tragic side. We think the public is ready for this. There are references to Batman, but it’s the other way around,” emphasized Niney.

Samuel Goldwyn took U.S. rights to the pic before its out-of-competition premiere at Cannes. The movie’s world premiere last night in the Grand Theatre Lumiere received one of the longest standing ovations of the festival, nearly 12 minutes.

Anaïs Demoustier and Bastien Bouillon also star.