If you haven’t already seen the memo (or read Adriana’s great review to kick off our coverage), we’re going to be covering the Fantasia Film Festival this year!
We will have tons of reviews for you in the coming weeks, but we encourage you to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for more regular updates about what we’re up to during the festival.
With that out of the way, I started my Fantasia adventure off with Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). This is a 2024 French period action-thriller film based on the 1844 novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas. This adaptation was written and directed by the duo of Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière.
For anyone unfamiliar with the source material (like I was), the movie starts in France in the year 1815. Edmond Dantès, played spectacularly by Pierre Niney, is ever so briefly on top of the world before he comes tumbling down through treachery and betrayal. Revenge, though, is one hell of a motivator and another twist of fate may just make that revenge possible.
One interesting note too is that the budget for this film was reportedly €42.9 million (about $46.7 million USD), which makes it the most expensive French film of the year!
So, with that out of the way, did I start my Fantasia 2024 experience off with a bang or a whimper?
My Thoughts
This was a definite BANG and one hell of a way to start off the Fantasia Film Festival!
First of all, this movie played like a superhero movie at the screening I was at. To see the same level of reactions to a French language period piece as I did when I saw Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame was an unexpected but hilarious treat. I’m pretty sure the crowd popped harder when Dantès called himself “Le Comte de Monte-Cristo” for the first time than when Captain America yelled for the Avengers to assemble.
To bring you even more into my experience at my first Fantasia screening, if you’ve never been to one before, it’s common for people in the crowd to meow like cats before the movie starts and cheer loudly for the Nongshim Noodle commercial. Check out this Reddit thread to learn more about the origins of those traditions.
Anyway, let’s dig into the actual movie itself, because there was a lot to really like here!
First of all, that big budget was used well, because the movie looked fantastic. Locations and sets were amazing, the costumes were fantastic, and the makeup (which is key to the plot) was also superb. In conversations I’ve had with people about films made outside of the US or Hollywood system, there is often a concern that they’re cheaper or of lesser quality as a result, and that absolutely isn’t the case. There was nothing I saw that made this movie feel amateurish and, as a matter of fact, it puts a lot of modern Hollywood movies to shame.
The entire cast here was phenomenal too. Aside from Pierre Niney, who I’ve already mentioned, the movie also stars Bastien Bouillon, Anaïs Demoustier, Laurent Lafitte, Vassili Schneider, and Anamaria Vartolomei. While everyone was great, of particular note to me was Vassili Schneider, who had a charm and look that reminded me a lot of Timothee Chalamet (sorry, Abby). We’re not given any reason to dislike his character other than his association with the targets of Dantès’ vengeance, but the story needs us to like this character for it to work. Thankfully Schneider was so charming and likable as Albert that he really becomes the sole embodiment of pure love, while being surrounded by people motivated by greed or hate.
There was one scene in particular towards the middle of the film where the rest of the main cast gets to shine, and it was one of the best scenes I’ve seen all year! Without giving details away, the Count is regaling his dinner guests with a supposed ghost story that hits a little close to home for some of his guests while others are fully engaged with giddy excitement. Every single actor in the scene has to do something unique and specific, and you can’t help but laugh at the reactions of each character. It was truly a standout scene in a movie filled with a ton of great moments.
Another thing I want to cover is the score. The score fit the movie well, and when it became more prominent in certain moments, it definitely worked, but I didn’t feel too strongly about this aspect of the movie. For what it’s worth though, I’m not the most musically inclined person in the world, so scores really only tend to stand out to me when they’re more noticeable in movies like Oppenheimer or Past Lives, to give you a couple examples from last year.
Sticking with audio, the sound design was another big highlight, specifically during the action sequences. The movie isn’t full of constant action by any means, but every action scene feels impactful.
This isn’t something most people are aware of when they watch a movie, but the power of sound design in action is massive, even if you don’t notice it. For example, imagine you’re watching a movie where someone falls off the roof of a three story building and when they land on the ground, you don’t hear any sound. The result is that despite your eyes seeing a great fall, you don’t really feel like it was a great fall.
I didn’t even realize how bad most movies are in this regard until I saw this one, because absolutely every gunshot, punch, or fall is something you hear and feel. The movie doesn’t come close to the flash of what you’ll find in the John Wick movies (nor does it want to), but you absolutely feel every single hit and that is incredibly important for selling an action scene. It felt like such a big revelation to me, because I didn’t realize how badly so many mainstream Hollywood action movies are failing in this regard.
Finally, and this perhaps should go without saying given the popularity of the book, but narratively, I found this movie wholly satisfying. There is a level of timelessness to this story and at no point did I find my personal feelings in conflict with the choices the movie makes. It’s not that I need a movie to agree with whatever my point of view is, but I should at least understand and feel the movie concludes in a way that feels authentic to the characters and story. A lot of this comes down to the script, and presumably the source material, but every choice felt earned and authentic to the rest of the movie. It was also paced incredibly well. Despite a three hour runtime, at no point was I bored or wondering when this was going to wrap up.
Verdict
What a start to the Fantasia International Film Festival! In an era of cinema where new movies often feel like more of the same, Le Comte de Monte-Cristo demonstrates that a little care and effort goes a long way.
If you get a chance to give this movie a watch, don’t hesitate. There is some undeniably great work on display from the performances to the makeup to everything in between. Even if you don’t like subtitles or don’t think foreign films are your bag, this one is so good that it might be the movie to convert you.
Adriana Wiszniewska