Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Count of Monte Cristo
My life seemed to have hit a Bermuda Triangle of sorts where I was caught in a trifecta of Alexandre Dumas.
A few months ago, I was home with a sick baby and channel surfing and happened to come across the 2002 movie version of a Count of Monte Cristo. I hadn't seen this movie since I had seen it in the theater back in '02 when it was released. I remember enjoying it and I liked it even better this second time around.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago when a friend of mine leant me a DVD of a 1998 French version of The Count of Monte Cristo starring Gerard Depardieu. Now, this mini-series is a whopping 7 hours long and 2 DVD's, which puts even the BBC Pride and Prejudice to shame. Needless to say, with 2 small children and a very busy schedule, this movie was a bit overwhelming and it sat in my house for weeks as I gradually came to the realization that there was no way I was going to find time to watch this movie. If you know me, that's a sad day. :-(
Now, on a side note: possibly from watching the 2002 version and seeing the DVD sit in my living room for weeks, I decided to read the book. So I downloaded it onto my iphone using the Kindle app (if you like to read, GET THIS APP!! if you don't have the Kindle itself). I've started reading it, but for the same reasons listed above, it's a slow process. I expected the book to start slow, but it really kind of just jumps into the story and takes off right away. I didn't have to get 2 pages into the book to realize that the 2002 movie version starring Jim Caviezel and Guy Pierce strayed pretty radically from the book. This is generally the case with books turned into movies and I try not to be too judgmental about the changes made, but I must admit, I found my opinion changing for the worse about the movie I had so recently enjoyed. Bummer.
So, last week, I came down with the flu. Once the worst of it was over and I was simply reduced to a shaking, sore, fatigued blob of goo, I decided I would watch the Everest of all movies and put in the Gerard Depardieu Count of Monte Cristo. I was at first a little judgmental because Edmond Dantes is supposed to have black hair and eyes and be a devastatingly attractive young man. Let's just face it: Gerard Depardieu is none of those things. I quickly decided to get over this because really, from the very beginning, I was so entranced with the story and the acting that it didn't even matter that the dashing, deceitful Count was being played by a paunchy, blonde Frenchman. This movie is in French, so be prepared to read subtitles. Quite honestly, I enjoyed the movie so much, I barely noticed. The only thing upsetting about this to me was that when I had to get up to make my very patient son lunch, I couldn't understand what they were saying.
The amount of detail they put into the sets, costumes, and the quality of the movie itself was very impressive. Unlike the 2002 Hollywood version, they don't spend a lot of time telling the story of how Edmond Dantes got into his predicament or his friendship with the old man in the Chateau d'If; choosing instead to begin the story as Edmond escapes from the Chateau d'If and tell the early story by means of flashbacks. This is fine as there is so much story to tell after the Chateau d'If. This classic tale of revenge, which the 2002 movie made into primarily a love story with a backdrop of revenge is actually a true tale of revenge of which past love lost is a part, but by no means the whole story.
The true villains of the story, Villefort, who sends Edmond to prison to save his own family's reputation, Danglars, who is motivated by pure jealousy of Edmond and Fernand, who is in love with Edmond's fiance Mercedes are caught up in Edmond's spiderweb of revenge that they are completely unaware of the trap closing in on them until the net actually closes around them. Using charisma to endear himself to these former enemies, he infiltrates their close inner circle of Paris high society and manipulates from the inside out. Divide and conquer, bringing to light long hidden secrets and past dirty deeds, Edmond, as the Count brings justice to himself at last.
This movie was so good that 7 hours of reading subtitles flew by and even now thinking back on it, it's hard to believe I actually was able to do that and get anything out of it with a 14 month, on the go baby boy with me all day. Trust me, if you invest the time, you'll be thinking about it for at least a week.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Pride and Prejudice - Movie vs Book
Before we begin, let me introduce myself: my name is Theresa and I live in Southern California. I am a fledgeling writer and the mother of 2 beautiful boys. I have a wonderful husband and a huge extended family.
What qualifies me to blog about movies and books? Well, the fact that they are a lifelong passion of mine. By the time I was 9 years old I was already an avid movie watcher. I would run home from school and watch movies all afternoon until it was time to go downstairs for dinner. I also was an absolute bookworm. Sometimes I would be reading 2-3 books at a time.
I've also always had a passion for writing. I've been writing creatively for years and years and always wanted to pursue it. Now that I'm a mother and only working part-time, I decided it was time to pursue my passions and expand my horizons. Thanks to internet, millions of people have an outlet that was never available before to pursue their passions.
I also review books and movies on epinions.com. I'm going to post a link so that you can read my reviews over there. I will not be duplicating on this blog any of the reviews I have on epinions. This blog is going to be centered on my favorite reads and watches and what I personally recommend.
I will always invite feedback and I hope you enjoy following my recommendations on this blog.
http://www1.epinions.com/user-tcbird
My first post is on a classic: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Amazingly, since this story is right up my alley, I actually just read this book for the first time. I have of course seen the movies and know the premise of the storyline, but there is never anything quite like reading the book yourself.
Anytime I read a book after I've watched the movie, I really make an effort to not let the images in my head dictate how I feel about the book. Instead I try to supplement the movie with the book so I get even more out of it.
We've all read books and then been so disappointed by the movie that it just ruins the experience for us. Too many things left out, too many actors that don't fit the character description, etc. In this case, I've seen more than one movie version of Pride and Prejudice but the one that was the freshest in my mind was the new one with Keira Knightley. I have seen the BBC mini-series version several times but it's been a few years.
PLOT:
For those of you not familiar withthe story, I'll give a quick synopsis:
Elizabeth is the second daughter of five in the Bennett family. Her mother is high-strung and socially inept and wants nothing more than to marry off her daughters to wealthy men. Mr. Bennet just wants to be left in peace and quiet with his books. Elizabeth is her father's favorite and her mother's least.
Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy at a party where he has come with his friend Charles Bingley who has recently rented a large estate in the neighborhood. While Mr. Bingley is found to be a perfectly pleasant gentleman, Mr. Darcy is found to be boorish and rude. Elizabeth takes an immediate dislike to him because she overhears him insult her directly.
Elizabeth then meets Mr. Wickham, a very charming member of the militia stationed near their home in Meryton. She detects a dislike between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy and because of her own dislike of Mr. Darcy, she lends a compassionate ear to Mr. Wickham as he tells his tale of woe that he blames Mr. Darcy for.
Upon meeting Mr. Darcy again while visiting a friend in Kent, they have the opportunity of getting better acquainted. At this time, Mr. Darcy admits his love for Elizabeth and asks for her hand in marriage. She comes back at him very boldly with strong accusations regarding his intereference in the relationship that had developed between Elizabeth's beautiful sister Jane and Mr. Darcy's friend Charles Bingley. He owns up to his interference and Elizabeth then confronts him with the ill treatment of Mr. Wickham. They quarrel and depart from each other in anger.
The next day, Mr. Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter and lays out his side of both accusations. His well laid out, truthful letter made Elizabeth take a strong look at herself and realized she had judged him in many ways. Her feelings soften for Mr. Darcy and she realizes she's been very wrong about him.
Eventually, the two cross each other's paths yet again and seem very much on the verge of a real relationship when something terrible happens in Elizabeth's family. I don't want to give away too much at this point because it's really the best part of the book.
Of course it has a happy ending though and Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennett get married.
Let me begin by saying that the book absolutely lives up to the hype. It's a wonderful story with great characters. Mr. Darcy is of course the ultimate brooding, strong silent type and Elizabeth Bennett is a wonderful, multi-dimensional heroine. We like Elizabeth because she's feisty and opinionated, like most real women are. She also is hard on herself, like most of us. She forms an opinion of Mr. Darcy and is not shy in sharing her feelings with her friends and family. When she learns she's been misled and was wrong about Mr. Darcy, she's very candid with herself and takes a good look in the proverbial mirror.
It's hard to judge such an archaic, nearly alien form of life by today's standards. The Jane Austen era of British life when a girl's main objective in life was to find a husband, the wealthier, the better, is a little hard for the modern woman to relate to. In essentials, however, life has always been the same; we're all concerned about money, relationships, the next party we're going to, meeting new people, going dancing, etc.
Don't get intimidated by the old language, sometimes you'll have to re-read a sentence a few times, but it gets easier as you go along.
Movie or Book?
I say, both. The Keira Knightley movie version does an outstanding job of putting this story into a 2 hour movie. It's a lot of ground to cover and really I didn't notice any serious changes to accomodate the limited time frame. I understand sometimes movies have to change scenes a bit just to make it more visually attractive. They really didn't have to alter much in the movie version, they did condense time a little bit and worked around it by putting several conversations that in the book happen through the course of several scenes and they put it all in one scene in the movie.
One thing I will say about the movie is that they did an absolutely excellent job of casting the film: Brenda Blethyn, who is always fabulous, does a fantastic Mrs. Bennett. Donald Sutherland is great as Mr. Bennett. To me the absolute standout though is Judi Dench as the formidable Catherine de Bourgh. I cannot say enough about her. After seeing the movie and reading the book, she absolutely personifies the character.
Keira Knightley is very good as Elizabeth Bennett and I thought Matthew McFadyen was a great Mr. Darcy. I feel for anybody who tries to take that role on after Colin Firth who is the ultimate Mr. Darcy, but I enjoyed Matthew McFadyen's portrayal.
All in all, I would say, read the book and watch the movie. The movie did such a good job that you won't be upset by the storyline adjustments and you'll thoroughly enjoy both. Let one enhance the other.
What qualifies me to blog about movies and books? Well, the fact that they are a lifelong passion of mine. By the time I was 9 years old I was already an avid movie watcher. I would run home from school and watch movies all afternoon until it was time to go downstairs for dinner. I also was an absolute bookworm. Sometimes I would be reading 2-3 books at a time.
I've also always had a passion for writing. I've been writing creatively for years and years and always wanted to pursue it. Now that I'm a mother and only working part-time, I decided it was time to pursue my passions and expand my horizons. Thanks to internet, millions of people have an outlet that was never available before to pursue their passions.
I also review books and movies on epinions.com. I'm going to post a link so that you can read my reviews over there. I will not be duplicating on this blog any of the reviews I have on epinions. This blog is going to be centered on my favorite reads and watches and what I personally recommend.
I will always invite feedback and I hope you enjoy following my recommendations on this blog.
http://www1.epinions.com/user-tcbird
My first post is on a classic: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Amazingly, since this story is right up my alley, I actually just read this book for the first time. I have of course seen the movies and know the premise of the storyline, but there is never anything quite like reading the book yourself.
Anytime I read a book after I've watched the movie, I really make an effort to not let the images in my head dictate how I feel about the book. Instead I try to supplement the movie with the book so I get even more out of it.
We've all read books and then been so disappointed by the movie that it just ruins the experience for us. Too many things left out, too many actors that don't fit the character description, etc. In this case, I've seen more than one movie version of Pride and Prejudice but the one that was the freshest in my mind was the new one with Keira Knightley. I have seen the BBC mini-series version several times but it's been a few years.
PLOT:
For those of you not familiar withthe story, I'll give a quick synopsis:
Elizabeth is the second daughter of five in the Bennett family. Her mother is high-strung and socially inept and wants nothing more than to marry off her daughters to wealthy men. Mr. Bennet just wants to be left in peace and quiet with his books. Elizabeth is her father's favorite and her mother's least.
Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy at a party where he has come with his friend Charles Bingley who has recently rented a large estate in the neighborhood. While Mr. Bingley is found to be a perfectly pleasant gentleman, Mr. Darcy is found to be boorish and rude. Elizabeth takes an immediate dislike to him because she overhears him insult her directly.
Elizabeth then meets Mr. Wickham, a very charming member of the militia stationed near their home in Meryton. She detects a dislike between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy and because of her own dislike of Mr. Darcy, she lends a compassionate ear to Mr. Wickham as he tells his tale of woe that he blames Mr. Darcy for.
Upon meeting Mr. Darcy again while visiting a friend in Kent, they have the opportunity of getting better acquainted. At this time, Mr. Darcy admits his love for Elizabeth and asks for her hand in marriage. She comes back at him very boldly with strong accusations regarding his intereference in the relationship that had developed between Elizabeth's beautiful sister Jane and Mr. Darcy's friend Charles Bingley. He owns up to his interference and Elizabeth then confronts him with the ill treatment of Mr. Wickham. They quarrel and depart from each other in anger.
The next day, Mr. Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter and lays out his side of both accusations. His well laid out, truthful letter made Elizabeth take a strong look at herself and realized she had judged him in many ways. Her feelings soften for Mr. Darcy and she realizes she's been very wrong about him.
Eventually, the two cross each other's paths yet again and seem very much on the verge of a real relationship when something terrible happens in Elizabeth's family. I don't want to give away too much at this point because it's really the best part of the book.
Of course it has a happy ending though and Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennett get married.
Let me begin by saying that the book absolutely lives up to the hype. It's a wonderful story with great characters. Mr. Darcy is of course the ultimate brooding, strong silent type and Elizabeth Bennett is a wonderful, multi-dimensional heroine. We like Elizabeth because she's feisty and opinionated, like most real women are. She also is hard on herself, like most of us. She forms an opinion of Mr. Darcy and is not shy in sharing her feelings with her friends and family. When she learns she's been misled and was wrong about Mr. Darcy, she's very candid with herself and takes a good look in the proverbial mirror.
It's hard to judge such an archaic, nearly alien form of life by today's standards. The Jane Austen era of British life when a girl's main objective in life was to find a husband, the wealthier, the better, is a little hard for the modern woman to relate to. In essentials, however, life has always been the same; we're all concerned about money, relationships, the next party we're going to, meeting new people, going dancing, etc.
Don't get intimidated by the old language, sometimes you'll have to re-read a sentence a few times, but it gets easier as you go along.
Movie or Book?
I say, both. The Keira Knightley movie version does an outstanding job of putting this story into a 2 hour movie. It's a lot of ground to cover and really I didn't notice any serious changes to accomodate the limited time frame. I understand sometimes movies have to change scenes a bit just to make it more visually attractive. They really didn't have to alter much in the movie version, they did condense time a little bit and worked around it by putting several conversations that in the book happen through the course of several scenes and they put it all in one scene in the movie.
One thing I will say about the movie is that they did an absolutely excellent job of casting the film: Brenda Blethyn, who is always fabulous, does a fantastic Mrs. Bennett. Donald Sutherland is great as Mr. Bennett. To me the absolute standout though is Judi Dench as the formidable Catherine de Bourgh. I cannot say enough about her. After seeing the movie and reading the book, she absolutely personifies the character.
Keira Knightley is very good as Elizabeth Bennett and I thought Matthew McFadyen was a great Mr. Darcy. I feel for anybody who tries to take that role on after Colin Firth who is the ultimate Mr. Darcy, but I enjoyed Matthew McFadyen's portrayal.
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