Greven av Monte Christo

Warning: SPOILERS GALORE!

Greven av Monte Christo. 246 minutes, screenplay by Sven Lange. 1965, pub: NRK Television (Norway). Starring: Knut Risan. Director: Kent Nilssen, Alfred Solaas. This was really, really filmed on a budget and is the source of unexpected laughs. The very first scene has a geographically-challenged map of Europe. The Pharaon's landing in Marseilles is a tabletop model ship, with a fan blowing its little sails! Chateau D'if is a tabletop cardboard and plaster model! That said, the camerawork is superior to the 1964 BBC production, without the "up your nose/ face taking up the entire screen" shots of the British show. I don't understand the language, and there's no English subtitles, so I'm attempting to follow along using visuals only. The first part in Marseilles introduces us to Danglars and Fernand, both middle-aged, jowly and pretty long-in-the tooth and Villefort, quite a bit younger and handsomer than the other two. With a quick cut from Villefort's office, Dantes gets thrown into Chateau D'if, with no boats or outdoor shots of the prison whatsoever. Jacopo rescues Dantes from the sea, they find the treasure together, and he becomes the Count's right hand man, substituting for Bertuccio. Maximilian (not Caderousse) updates Dantes on what happened to everybody. After saving Morrel's business, The Count and Jacopo travel all around the world (implied with maps and a journal). Next we have the abrupt introduction of Albert, chatting with Max. There is no Carnival in Rome, so maybe they're just talking about it. Once Dantes becomes the Count, he appears with an outrageous bouffant hairdo and looks a lot like Gary Oldman in Dracula (1992). We get an actual scene of the Max and Val love story AND the mute and paralyzed Noirtier (this is very rare in any Monte Cristo movie!) and a possible conversation about his will. In a low-class tavern, Jacopo witnesses a young peasant(Benedetto/Andrea) being arrested by soldiers. The young man receives a note hidden in his bread in jail. The timeline seems muddled. From what I can gather- Albert was upset by a newspaper article and challenges the Count to a duel. On the field, Mercedes intervenes, explains everything, and the duel is cancelled. Afterwards, Villefort and Fernand's trials occur. Are they simultaneous? Last revenge: Danglars is riding away in a carriage. He stops and walks away to a nearby field and foolishly sits, clutching his money, gloating (why???). He is captured by two bandits.  The Fates of the Big Baddies (spoilers!): Caderousse: Adapted out. Fernand: Confronts the Count with a pistol after the trial. Learns the Count's identity and shoots himself while in the Count's house. Villefort: Goes mad in his chambers after Benedetto/Andrea tells all and the Count has his "I am Edmond Dantes" moment. Danglars: Kidnapped by bandits, starved, and freed. ✔ The Ending: It ends with the Count and Haydee on a ship, but he's looking despondent. They have a conversation and this is when she says she loves him and THEN he takes her hands and smiles. So... why wasn't this all hashed out before sailing away together? They had 4 hours but some plot threads were carelessly left hanging... No Caderousse at all? What happened to Max and Val? And Noirtier? And Albert? Dropped like hot potatos? Or was all this exposition handled by someone talking about it? ✅ 1-Morrel family saved from ruin ❌ 2-Franz and Albert's Rome Adventure ✅ 3-Villefort's secret baby ❌ 4-Caderousse murders jeweler ✅ 5-Maximilian and Valentine love story ❌ 6-Cavalcanti impostors ❌ 7-Botched burglary ❌ 8-Valentine poisoned by evil stepmom ❓ 9-Danglars embezzles money and flees ✅ 10-Andrea's trial ✅ 11-Danglars' fate ✅ 12-The Count sails away with Haydee ❌ I-MovieTrope: Albert de Morcerf ❤ Valentine de Villefort? ❌ II-MovieTrope: Swordfight between the Count and Fernand? ❌ III-MovieTrope: Edmond ❤ Mercedes=4ever? Includes non-canon scenes? No. But has several dangling plot threads left unresolved. Adaptation Deviation Score: Relatively minor. Some character and scene substitutions to stay within the time and money budget.