MovieChat Forums > The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) Discussion > Is it possible to do a completely faithf...

Is it possible to do a completely faithful adaptation of the source material?

posted 5 years ago by MovieChatUser497 (18943)
9 replies | jump to latest

I personally highly doubt it because the only way to truly cover every plot point of the novel is to split the story up into multiple 3 hour films (it's over 1200 pages, 3 films is probably the bare minimum needed), and that is just too big of a risk for any studio, if the first one bombs then they just lost a boatload of money (no pun intended). It's in the studio's best interests to do another 2 hour, overly simplified and heavily edited version like the 2002 version.

Maybe a miniseries could work, but I doubt the budget would be too high which would probably impact the quality.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8801) 4 years ago

Someone like HBO or Netflix would have to be willing to sink the money into a limited series (I'd think somewhere between six and 10 episodes). But if that were to happen, then sure, it could be done.

A bigger question though is SHOULD it be done? I am actually in the middle of reading the book right now and, while I must withold judgment until I've finished it, I've heard others say that it does at times meander and feel long-winded. We must remember that Dumas was paid by the word.

In high school I read an abridged version. I can't remember exactly how many pages it was but I do remember it was somewhere between 400 and 600. At the time I didn't even know it was incomplete, but I did enjoy it a hell of a lot. I wouldn't mind seeing that version of the story brought to the screen with little in the way of adjustments.

[–] Furienna (3355) 4 years ago

I know I watched the French mini-series with Gerard Depardieu back in the day.
It seems to have "only" been four episodes though, so I suspect that some things were still left out.

I know I also read a version of the novel around the same time, but it must have been an abbreviated version.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8801) 4 years ago

When I was in high school I read an abridged version of the novel that was about 600 pages. For many, many years I thought that was the entire book. It was only a little while ago that I learned I had read an abridged version and that the actual book is over 1,000 pages. I am reading it now.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 4 years ago

Oh yeah the unabridged is the full story and it is quite lengthy, totally worth it though. I'm guessing your version removed Benedetto completely. There's also a scene where Monte Cristo and Franz get stoned, an entire 30 page backstory on Luigi Vampa and it turns out that Danglar's daughter is a lesbian.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8801) 4 years ago

It was too long ago to remember specifics, about 30 years ago. I loved it though, so whoever did the abridgement actually did excellent work in keeping the story coherent and entertaining.

I am now about 330 pages into the unabridged novel. In fact, I JUST finished the part you mentioned where Franz and the Count smoke hash.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 4 years ago

Yeah that part was kind of weird, but you are right whoever abridged the novel did a great job in making sure the narrative makes sense. In the abridged Villefort leaves to go somewhere then he comes back to discover his wife and son dead from suicide , in the unabridged we find out where he went (during that chapter Monte Cristo humiliated him) and it makes his the discovery of his wife and son all the more devastating

[–] howgamer (3967) 4 years ago

Only as a limited series and then it still won't be 100% faithful because some elements don't transfer well to the screen. It is incredible difficult to put a book into a two hour film. A 8-10 episode limited series would work much better and I think it would be great for this source material. The payoff at the end would be fantastic.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 4 years ago

Yeah the novel has a lot of flashbacks that don’t really go anywhere so I would condone removing those but I hope this gets made one day, this is a novel that deserves a fairly faithful adaptation

[–] howgamer (3967) 4 years ago

It's a great story and I wish one of these services would pick it up as a limited series!