The Count of Monte Cristo Book vs. Movie

So a couple weeks ago, I wrote a review on The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. If you read my review, you know that I LOVE that story and it is definitely one of my all-time favorite books.

That being said, I also enjoyed the movie. I am talking about the 2002 movie starring Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce. The amount of differences are pretty astounding. The main plot line remains the same though. Edmond Dantes is falsely accused on a crime, he is imprisoned, escapes and seeks revenge on those who ruined his life.

The majority of the differences have to do with the characters. There are some characters that are either completely ignored or their story line changes.

For example, Valentine de Villefort, in the book she is Villefort’s daughter and in the movie she is Villefort’s wife! Now the main reason they most likely did this is because Valentine is a huge part of the book so they didn’t want to ignore her all together but didn’t have the time to do her character justice. In the book, her character arc is part of the main plot line and extremely tragic.

There is also Jacopo. In the movie, he is devoted to Edmond Dantes as a servant and as his close friend. In the books, he is just a passing character and not a part of the main plot. However, if you watched the movie, it is very difficult not to love him.

In the book, Haydee is also a huge part of Edmond Dantes life. She doesn’t exist in the movie. Haydee had a tragic life. Her father was gunned down and she was sold into slavery. She is bought by The Count of Monte Cristo, he treats her kindly and gives her servants. Later, he frees her and tells her to go live her life and be happy but she insists she loves him and they spend the rest of their life together. However, that would REALLY conflict with the movie because Mercedes is the main love interest. In the movie, Edmond wants his revenge on Mercedes but realizes he still loves her.

Then there is Albert Mondego…SWOON!

In the movie, he is played by none other than Henry Cavill. In 2002, I was 14 years old. I can tell you now, my heart absolutely melted when I first watched this movie. So it is safe to say I have been a fan of him for about 15 years now.

Sorry…I got a little side tracked.

Anyway, Albert Mondego is the true son of Fernand Mondego in the books. In the movie, it turns out he is the son of Edmond Dantes. But this doesn’t change the fact that I love his character in both the book and the movie.

Also Abbe Faria. I think he is my favorite in both the books and the movies. His character is pretty consistent from book to movie. Richard Harris did a fantastic job as Abbe Faria.

Now to the two main characters. Edmond Dantes, I love his character in both the movie and the books and think that Jim Caviezel did Edmond Dantes justice! He was amazing and he absolutely nailed the character. Guy Pearce was also amazing. It is hard to not love Guy Pearce. In the books, Fernand Mondego is just an acquaintance of Edmond. In the movie, Edmond and Fernand were best friends so I felt the betrayal stung a bit more in the movie.

There are so many more differences. I wish I could discuss them all. However, the book, (depending on what edition you have) in roughly about 1,000 pages. The movie is 2 hours and 10 minutes long. So it makes sense that characters had to cut or altered.

Overall, I think the movie conveyed the depth of the betrayal and the need for revenge despite all the differences from the book. I do think that this would make an amazing television show. (HINT HINT Netflix!) I love when books get made into television shows because there is more time to add more detail and story lines from the book.

So what do you guys think of this book to movie adaptation?