Edmond Dantes Is Counting on Revenge in The Count of Monte Cristo

When my brother was in early elementary school and I was in high school, the two of us often watched Wishbone together. This PBS series starred a Jack Russell Terrier in dual roles: an ordinary pet in one storyline and a classic literary character in another. I’ve always considered myself an avid reader, but that show introduced me to several literary classics. One was The Count of Monte Cristo.

The writers of Wishbone had a great way of distilling a novel down to about 15 minutes while still having it make sense. Nonetheless, The Count of Monte Cristo is a pretty hefty book, so what little I remembered about what little made its way to Wishbone wasn’t much. I had only a vague idea of the plot when I watched the 2002 film adaptation directed by Kevin Reynolds, with a screenplay by Jay Wolpert.

Edmond Dantes (James Caviezel) is a good man who is betrayed by his friends and thrown in jail for a crime he did not commit. During his long imprisonment, his bitterness festers, but he finds a productive way to channel his angst: by painstakingly digging his way out of prison along with an ancient abbot who’s tunneled in from a nearby cell. As a fan of Richard Harris, it was a kick for me to see him as this impish but wise character, one of his last roles. In fact, their quiet companionship may have been my favorite part of the movie.

But it’s only the beginning of Edmond’s long quest, for after his improbable escape, he must find a fabled treasure in order to restore his fortune, and then he intends to bring down his treacherous friends, one by one. Throughout this part of the movie, he is aided by Luis Guzman’s Jacopo, a good-humored man who is fiercely loyal to Edmond, to whom he owes his life, but troubled by his obsession with revenge, particularly on Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce), who went on to marry Edmond’s true love, Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk).

Caviezel gives an intense performance as a decent man twisted by years of suffering. I like him best when he shares scenes with other individuals who bring out the best in him: the sage abbot, the cheerful Jacopo and Albert (Henry Cavill), Mercedes’ gentle son. The movie is packed with enough action for three, which is almost what it feels like; there’s Edmond’s time in the prison; his sojourn with the pirates, where he finds Jacopo; and finally, his reemergence as the Count of Monte Cristo. It’s a fairly long movie at more than two hours, but I never felt that it dragged.

One of these days, I should probably read The Count of Monte Cristo, and then the purist in me can start chronicling all the changes that were made. But with my limited familiarity, I found this adaptation an exciting and well-acted film that I’d readily recommend.

Twice the Tigers is Twice as Nice

There were several films this summer that I knew about and was looking forward to for months in advance: Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Village… But one movie appeared to me out of nowhere on a television preview in May, and since then it has topped my list of movies to see this summer. The title: Two Brothers. The first preview I saw led me to believe that the brothers in question were a tiger cub and the young boy with whom he lived. I soon learned that this commercial had only shown half the story, and the other brother was, in fact, another tiger cub, which only increased my desire to see the movie. So when it showed up in our dollar theater last week, I jumped at the chance to go see it.

I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for animal movies. In this one, the two tigers truly are the stars. At the beginning of the film, we are treated to several majestically photographed scenes of the cubs and their parents romping in their Edenic little corner of the jungle. Each of the tigers has a distinct personality, with Kumar, future circus tiger, a little daredevil and Sangha, future cherished pet, a timid Mama’s boy. Their idyllic lifestyle is shattered when, as is too often the case in such films, humans show up and ruin everything. Famed hunter Aidan McRory (Guy Pearce) is in the area, searching this time not for wildlife to shoot down but artifacts to cart away and sell at auction. As it happens, though, the tigers live in an ancient temple, leading to an inevitable encounter that leaves the father tiger dead and Kumar in the hands of McRory.

In spite of his reputation, McRory is a very likable character throughout the film. When he comes upon Kumar, he treats the cub with great gentleness, eventually earning his trust. A life with this hunter, it seems, would not be such a bad one for the young tiger. But circumstances forbid this, and instead the cub winds up with a group of not-so-friendly circus folk determined to turn him into the ruthless beast their ancient tiger has never been. Sangha, meanwhile, is left alone with his mother, who eventually succumbs to a trap, leaving the cub to be discovered by Raoul (Freddie Highmore), the sweet, adorable son of the Administrator with whom Aidan has a working relationship. While Kumar is miserable in his new circus cage home, Sangha has a pretty comfortable life with the boy he has grown to love until an unfortunate accident sends him packing to be part of the emperor’s managerie.

The majority of the film follows the tigers’ storylines separately. It alternates back and forth until the climactic moment when the two are finally reunited, a year later, in what is intended to be a fight to the death. This film includes quite a bit more dialogue than The Bear, director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s earlier film in a similar vein, but it still relies very little on words to convey the story. The most heartfelt moments need no words at all. The tigers are expressive enough in their natural state.

Humanity on the whole doesn’t come off so well. We see people acting in cruel and destructive ways throughout the film and are told at the end that fewer than 5000 tigers remain in the wild. But individuals fare much better, especially Aidan and Raoul. Both come across as very honorable, kind-hearted people, with Aidan having the additional virtue of having his worldview changed as a result of his relationship with Kumar, to the point of vowing to lay down his gun permanently. Yes, the movie does preach, and yes, the tigers are a bit anthropomorphic at times. But the gorgeous cinematography, the tigers’ engaging personalities, the heartwarming story and the worthwhile message combine to create a film well worth a trip to the theater for the whole family.