khyungbird (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} khyungbird) wrote,@ 2008-03-28 00:14:00 |
|
The Count of Monte Cristo
It's safe to announce this now: I'm going to be the editor for Del Rey's November 2008 edition of the manga adaptation of Gankutsou, aka The Count of Monte Cristo. Like the anime, the manga (by Mahiro Maeda and Yura Ariwara) is super-stylish, with lovely art and more than a little bishonen aestheticism added to the story in addition to the science fiction elements. (And in case anyone is curious, of course this means that someone other than myself will be reviewing it for Otaku USA.)
To be honest, I wasn't very familiar with Alexandre Dumas' original Count of Monte Cristo when I took the assignment, but since then I've become a huge fan of the story. It's an awesome fantasy, in the "what if this happened to you" sense of the word. Patrick Macias and I used to join in complaining whenever a movie's hero was motivated by 'destiny' or some other lame thing: what's wrong with good old-fashioned revenge? It worked in Lone Wolf and Cub and Old Boy. Old Boy, after all (not to disparage it), is basically just 1/100th of the Count of Monte Cristo. (Incidentally, I think that the brilliance of Old Boy is that the main character's enemies force him to spend his entire twenties in a dingy room watching TV and eating take-out food. This is something that everyone can relate to, since many people *willingly* spend their twenties doing this. Old Boy just makes it someone else's fault.)
I've particularly enjoyed the French TV miniseries which seems to have more of the original story squeezed into it than most adaptations (although none of them are exactly faithful, and all of them have their ups and downs). Gerard Depardieu, as the Count, is a total badass. His features are tough as nails. His voice is smooth as velvet. His face looks like it's been repeatedly beaten against the bells of Notre Dame, and he's not happy about it. Just listening to him deliver sinister, vaguely threatening monologues, while menacing violins play in the background, makes my heart race.
My other favorite thing about this miniseries is that Mercedes, the Count's ex-fiancee, is played by Ornella Muti, who I had never seen before. Maybe I'm blinded by hormones and plunging necklines, but she pretty much dominates every scene she's in. She's certainly an extremely beautiful 40something (at first I thought "Feh, they cheated and used a too-young actress!"), and again, listening to her and the Count subtly fish for eachother's feelings is delicious.
Anyway, totally apart from these two, the Count of Monte Cristo is a great story. Embarrassingly, I still haven't read the entire 1,000+ page novel yet, but it's sitting here on my bookshelf calling out to me. The French miniseries version is only about 75% accurate -- they remove some major plot points, add a new love interest, and chicken out by not making the Count quite so bloodthirsty and violent -- but it's good. On the other hand, if you want the full-on bloodthirsty angsty side with the scales tipped in the direction of handsome, brooding men rather than attractive women, I wholeheartedly recommend Gankutsuo. And now back to writing...
It's safe to announce this now: I'm going to be the editor for Del Rey's November 2008 edition of the manga adaptation of Gankutsou, aka The Count of Monte Cristo. Like the anime, the manga (by Mahiro Maeda and Yura Ariwara) is super-stylish, with lovely art and more than a little bishonen aestheticism added to the story in addition to the science fiction elements. (And in case anyone is curious, of course this means that someone other than myself will be reviewing it for Otaku USA.)
To be honest, I wasn't very familiar with Alexandre Dumas' original Count of Monte Cristo when I took the assignment, but since then I've become a huge fan of the story. It's an awesome fantasy, in the "what if this happened to you" sense of the word. Patrick Macias and I used to join in complaining whenever a movie's hero was motivated by 'destiny' or some other lame thing: what's wrong with good old-fashioned revenge? It worked in Lone Wolf and Cub and Old Boy. Old Boy, after all (not to disparage it), is basically just 1/100th of the Count of Monte Cristo. (Incidentally, I think that the brilliance of Old Boy is that the main character's enemies force him to spend his entire twenties in a dingy room watching TV and eating take-out food. This is something that everyone can relate to, since many people *willingly* spend their twenties doing this. Old Boy just makes it someone else's fault.)
I've particularly enjoyed the French TV miniseries which seems to have more of the original story squeezed into it than most adaptations (although none of them are exactly faithful, and all of them have their ups and downs). Gerard Depardieu, as the Count, is a total badass. His features are tough as nails. His voice is smooth as velvet. His face looks like it's been repeatedly beaten against the bells of Notre Dame, and he's not happy about it. Just listening to him deliver sinister, vaguely threatening monologues, while menacing violins play in the background, makes my heart race.
My other favorite thing about this miniseries is that Mercedes, the Count's ex-fiancee, is played by Ornella Muti, who I had never seen before. Maybe I'm blinded by hormones and plunging necklines, but she pretty much dominates every scene she's in. She's certainly an extremely beautiful 40something (at first I thought "Feh, they cheated and used a too-young actress!"), and again, listening to her and the Count subtly fish for eachother's feelings is delicious.
Anyway, totally apart from these two, the Count of Monte Cristo is a great story. Embarrassingly, I still haven't read the entire 1,000+ page novel yet, but it's sitting here on my bookshelf calling out to me. The French miniseries version is only about 75% accurate -- they remove some major plot points, add a new love interest, and chicken out by not making the Count quite so bloodthirsty and violent -- but it's good. On the other hand, if you want the full-on bloodthirsty angsty side with the scales tipped in the direction of handsome, brooding men rather than attractive women, I wholeheartedly recommend Gankutsuo. And now back to writing...
