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What is Sam Claflin's version of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ worth?

The eight-part miniseries arrives on Italian television

What is Sam Claflin's version of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ worth? The eight-part miniseries arrives on Italian television

There are countless adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo. So many, in fact, that when the Rai (huge Italian television channel) network announced its upcoming release, its competitor Mediaset bought the rights to air the 2023 French cinematic version, which features our own Pierfrancesco Favino in a small but significant role. A way to beat the rival network to the punch, bringing the film directed by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte to Italy for the first time, scheduling it for two nights on December 26 and 27, 2024. However, Rai Uno has a cast of top public service stars, from Lino Guanciale to Nicolas Maupas, who complement the lead role played by Sam Claflin, contributing to the success of the eight-episode television adaptation by adding a touch of international recognition.

The journey of Edmond Dantès, invented by writer Alexandre Dumas, begins in the heart of a storm on the open sea. This scene marks the start of the storm the character must face in his life/adventure, a path marked by revenge that sees water return as a dominant element in the actor's career. Claflin, who started his first big screen adventure in 2011 with Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides, and later moved on to portray the merman Finnick Odair in the dystopian Hunger Games saga. In The Count of Monte Cristo, especially in the first episodes, water is both a curse and salvation, where the character risks drowning and then rebirths to set his plans for revenge against those who imprisoned him for fifteen years, taking everything from him.

A man, Edmond, accused of being a Napoleonic spy plotting against the life of the beloved king. A protagonist caught in the jealousy and ambition of others for whom he has been condemned to spend part of his life locked in a cell, dreaming of escaping. In its retelling of the story from the great French literary novel, the Franco-Italian production calls upon Bille August – a Danish director with two Palme d'Or awards for his films Pelle the Conqueror, also an Oscar winner, and With the Best Intentions – for an adaptation with grand intentions and a modest result. An operation that seeks to balance the television audience with a moderately quality staging, aiming to be functional rather than artistic, thus maintaining the clarity of the story instead of falling into unnecessary opulence.

A complicated text that the sets and actors must try to render with as much clarity as possible, so as not to overwhelm the viewers, who are therefore presented with a simplified version, but one that maintains the core narrative and significance of Dumas' work, in one of those television solutions that are adequate though not exceptional. Sometimes artificial, even with the good efforts of its actors who commit to their roles with care. But it has little to do with the grandeur of the original novel or, to take a recent example of historical drama, with the magnificence of the historical reconstruction in M - The Son of the Century , which tells the rise and glorification of fascism through Mussolini, played by Luca Marinelli. They do what they can, and the Rai product tries its best. Perhaps its greatest achievement is making viewers want to approach the book from which it's adapted, overcoming the challenge of its thousand-plus pages. Not exactly what a film or series hopes for when adapted for the screen, but still better than total indifference.