Film Review
The last of the great super-productions of the silent era, Henri Fescourt's
Monte
Cristo is easily one of cinema's best, if not the best, adaptation of Alexandre
Dumas' celebrated novel. The artistic quality and scale of the film are breathtaking:
this is the silent film at its most ambitious, most perfect, a last great parting shot
before the arrival of sound would consign silent films to history for ever.
Although he is virtually forgotten today, Henri Fescourt was one of the most talented
film directors of his generation, his achievements including a magnificent adaptation
of Victor Hugo's
Les
Misérables (1925). Perhaps his greatest film,
Monte
Cristo, had until recently been thought lost, and it is this which may have contributed
to Fescourt's comparative obscurity. Hopefully, the recent recovery and restoration
of this film will help to redress the balance.
Not only does Fescourt succeed
in narrating Dumas' complex story with apparent ease, masterfully capturing the excitement,
scale and rich characterisation of the original novel, but he also invests it with more
than a touch of artistic genius. The camera work is simple but hugely effective,
combining static and moving shots in a way that brings excitement and real emotion into
the drama. The intensely sinister sequence in which the jeweller is murdered is
a magnificent appropriation of German expressionism, with some shots most probably inspired
by Murnau's
Nosferatu
(1922). Similar “dark” moments punctuate the film, bringing a sense
of twisted cruelty to Dantès' revenge which is perhaps lacking in other film adaptations.
Contemporary tastes for the exotic are satisfied by the luxurious sets and costumes, which
combine Art Deco and elements of Eastern culture, making this a truly sumptuous visual
treat for cinema goers of the late 1920s.
The part of Edmond Dantès is
played by Jean Angelo, a popular actor of silent French cinema. A noted stage actor, his
screen career took off after his appearance in Jacques Feyder's
L'Atlantide (1924). Playing the part of Dantès' rival is Gaston
Modot, a well-known actor of the silent era who would feature in some major films of
the sound era - such as Buñuel's
L'Age d'or (1930) and Renoir's
La Règle du jeu (1939).
Monte Cristo differs from the
conventional melodrama that was popular in the 1920s in that the central character is
more an anti-hero than a hero. Driven by the baser motive of revenge, Dantès
is not an easy character for a spectator to engage with, but Jean Angelo succeeds in the
making him sympathetic and somewhat intriguing. Similarly, Modot's portrayal of Mondego
is far from being the two-dimensional villain, but a very human character, whose lack
of moral courage results in his spectacular fall from grace. Jean Toulout's portrayal
of Monsieur de Villefort is also rather poignant, and even comparatively minor characters
like the prisoner Faria and the adolescent Calvacanti manage to engage our sympathy.
Recently recovered, Fescourt's
Monte Cristo was subjected to a meticulous
restoration in 2005 by ZZ Productions for the Franco-German television channel Arte.
The result is an extraordinary achievement: exceptional image quality with remarkably
few blemishes. For the 2006 release, composer Marc-Olivier Dupin provided the film
with a score that is not only sympathetic to the film, but which really does accentuate
the film's visual brilliance and truly epic scale. This is undoubtedly one of the
finest pieces of cinematic resurrection in recent years.
© James Travers 2006
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Next Henri Fescourt film:
Les Misérables (1925)
Film Synopsis
On the day of his marriage to Mercèdes, the navigator Edmond Dantès is arrested,
wrongly accused of being a Bonapartist conspirator. Ignorant of who has denounced
him, Dantès is sent to the island castle of If, where he will be imprisoned for
the rest of his life. Before he dies, a prisoner in an adjoining cell, Abbot Faria,
tells Dantès where to find a huge fortune in jewels, hidden on the island of Monte
Cristo. By substituting himself for Faria, Dantès manages to escape from
If and returns to his hometown of Marseilles, having recovered Faria's treasure on the
way. Borrowing a disguise, Dantès learns that three men were the cause of
his downfall: his jealous rival Fernand Mondego, the greedy innkeeper Carderousse and
the King's Procurer, Monsieur de Villefort. Having used his newly acquired wealth
to save a former friend, the ship builder Morel, from bankruptcy, Edmond Dantès
sets about bringing a terrible revenge on the three men who have ruined his life.
To that end, he adopts the title: the Count of Monte Cristo…
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.