#Noirtier

[chateau-dilf]

My Little Château d’If doodles

[vickyvicarious]

Noirtier is trying to build up an immunity to poison in Valentine! A wise precaution, though it seems perhaps a little too late...

[kashilascorner]

MADAME DE VILLEFORT WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU BITCH I SWEAR HASN'T VALENTINE SUFFERED ENOUGH ALREADY

[pegasusdrawnchariots]

What. The Count of Monte Cristo is so good :0

[ninadove]

[mzannthropy]

It's so annoying that we still have to wait MONTHS for The Count of Monte Cristo limited series but they could at least release the cast list, so that we know who's in it and who isn't. How long am I supposed to be speculating for, at least if I have to get disappointed about whatever, let it be asap.

[duchesspeggy]

Fun fact: Napoleon is responsible for the law in France that forbids one from disinheriting a child. One also cannot give more to one child than another (which causes difficulties for families with estates. They must either divide it between the children or one must buy the parts of the others) (my father was a notary; he ranted many times about that).

Which is why Noirtier's will is invalid. Since he is a widower and has only one son, Villefort must inherit, by law, of at least half of his fortune. Noirtier is only free to dispose of and give to whoever he wishes the other half.

(I'm not sure how making Valentine his sole heir, like seemed to be his initial intention, would work. As long as Villefort is alive, the law would still apply.)

An heir can, however, refuse their inheritance, which I assume is what Villefort would do to respect his father's will and give it all away.

[none-ofthisnonsense]

I have few favourite characters in the Count of Monte-Cristo but Noirtier is THE favourite for me...

[lamuradex]

Okay. Here are the things about The Count of Monte Cristo I adore, but I am certain adaptations will get wrong without having watched any adaptations.

Edmond's father being a major motivator for his revenge. Films, for brevity, mainly seem to focus on Mercedes and his ruined marriage. Thanks Hollywood.

Villefort having no connection to the other people who betrayed Edmond. One of the most tragic elements is that Villefort is actually about to save Dantes, right before he sacrifices him to save himself. I'm aware of at least one musical that has Villefort conspire together with Danglars and Fernand. I love the songs but that bothers me.

Caderousse. I can imagine some versions cut him out as superfluous. The musical seems to replace him with Villefort. But he's the fourth conspirator! And the first to fall.

A whole bunch of the subplots. Do the films need all the stuff with Monsieur Noirtier? Maybe not. Is Monsieur Noirtier the best character in the book? I think so. He's the most magnificent bastard in the plot.

The Morrels. Again, is it strictly necessary? I don't know. But, again, is there the scene where they reveal Monsieur Morrel's last words were to remember Edmond Dantes, making it my favourite scene in the book? You bet your ass!

Seriously, so many subplots I can see them cutting, but each one pays off in some way. Vampa, Franz, Eugenie Danglars, the Abbey Fariah's book

That scene at the end where The Count goes back to the Château d'If is beautiful

Adaptations will try to give it a happy ending, getting him back with Mercedes or something. But that isn't the point of the book.

Only a handful of characters get out of the book happy. And most of them have gone through hell first.

Also, The Count never actually fights anyone with a sword. He could, he's apparently lethal, but he never does. He's about to once, but then Fernand fucking panics when The Count puts on a sailor suit.

He literally leaves the room, gets changed, and then comes back in a sailor's uniform. It's so extra and I love it. And Fernand loses his shit! Understandably.

The whole revenge plan is so extra, so complex, so convoluted, there is no way you could adapt it all into a film.

And all because Edmond knows the Abbey Fariah wouldn't want him just killing them. Because that would be against God.

So instead he unleashes hell on them!

It's classic "No, I didn't kill them. They're just trapped in never ending misery for the rest of their days. So it's fine."

Bleed them dry of money, out them as a criminal, introduce poisons to his wife and introduce his illegitimate bastard to society.

I can see why you could never truly adapt this book.

Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.

[hey-scully-itsme]

franz d’epinay: “Sir, do you know who killed my father? Can you tell me who he is?”

m. noirtier:

[vickyvicarious]

So Noirtier's definitely gonna change his will to only give Valentine his money if she's unmarried, or at least not to Franz, right? But it will have to be worded carefully to ensure that he doesn't leave a possibility open for Madame Villefort to get her hands on it somehow... and it does make me wonder if "I will make excuses for you" is going to move past explaining his system of communication, to trying to declare him mentally unfit if he tries to make any changes Villefort is too against. Definitely wouldn't put that past him, though he might not if Valentine is there to speak up on Noirtier's behalf.

[pedanther]

The Calendar of Monte Cristo: Chapter 108

September 1838, Friday: Bertuccio visits Benedetto in prison for the first time. [R]

September 1838, Saturday: Bertuccio visits Benedetto in prison for the second time, and tells him who his father is. [R]

September 1838, Sunday: M. Noirtier reminds M. de Villefort of his promise. [E]

September 1838, Monday: The day of Benedetto’s trial. Villefort gives his wife an ultimatum. [E]

I’m in two minds about the date of Benedetto’s trial. We’re told it’s set for five days after Benedetto’s arrest and three days after Valentine’s funeral (which we have cause to recall was on 5 September), so that would make it 8 September. However, 8 September 1838 wasn’t a Monday and (perhaps the stronger argument) it doesn’t feel like five days is quite enough room for everything that happens in between; for one thing, Benedetto’s clothes are described as being in rags when Bertuccio visits him on the Friday, which seems unlikely enough at any point within five days but even more unlikely if it’s only his second day in prison.

Setting the trial on Monday 10 September 1838 would sort out the weekday and put it five weekdays and three weekdays after the earlier events, but that feels uncomfortably like quibbling.

[kashilascorner]

Omg is Noritier's plan to stop Valentine's marriage to tell Franz that Villefort Noirtier effectively murdered his dad??

[logo-comics]

Katarina x maria (Fortune lovers)

Title: She is mine to torment, not yours.

"Noelia Flores," the unmistakeable voice of Lady Katarina Claes, beloved daughter of THE Duke, Luigi Claes, fiancee of the Third Prince, and the author of so much of Maria's suffering announced, causing the noble, her allies, and Maria Campbell to turn to see her, alone, for once.

Striding like a Queen, she approached and smiled with a smile that wasn't before painfully, yet slowly removing Noelia's hand from the commoner's hair.

"Flores, as in daughter of Marquis Noirtier Flores. If I recall, your father's knights were trained under the Claes knights, who instill the fiercest loyalty." She delicately adjusted Noelia's scarf as the others watched in horror, tightening it ever so slightly even as she said, "I'd hate to hear about something terrible happening under their ever-watchful eyes."

Noelia's eyes widened at the unspoken implications even as Katarina finished her adjustments.

"Speaking of unpleasant things, I notice you've been bothering one of your fellow students," she continued, snapping her fingers as her maid practically materialized from behind a pillar to hand Maria a brush and replacement flowers, all blue, "That is certainly not your place, is it, Miss Flores? Let's have a chat."

This was only the start of an odd period of Maria's life...

[ninadove]

You know what? Starting Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, I thought I had the plot twists figured out. In Les Trois Mousquetaires Albert would have definitely been Edmond’s son. In Les Trois Mousquetaires Noirtier would have definitely been faking his illness this whole time. The philosophies and writing tricks between the two stories are vastly different and it’s fascinating

[mzannthropy]

The Count of Monte Cristo 2024

I said I was going to make a post on this, so *gestures here*.

As a film it is truly amazing, beautiful cinematography, it's worth watching just for how pretty it is. Nice costumes, and the musical score is good too. Pierre Niney is brilliant as the titular hero. As an adaptation, though, it doesn't quite deliver. Much better than the 2002 film, but that means the total sum of pick any number times zero.

Spoilers under the cut.

The whole film takes place in France (Marseille and Paris), and apart from Edmond finding the treasure on the Monte Cristo island, we don't set a foot in Italy. (Side note, he throws a torch into a hole, which, upon landing, reveals the treasure, but it's never shown how he actually managed to get down there to obtain it.)

Fernand is once again Edmond's friend. He is de Morcerf from birth and lives in a nice mansion; old Dantes is employed as a servant. This makes Mercedes noble too.

There's no Noirtier, instead Villefort has a Bonapartist sister, Angele. And you know what, I actually liked this change. In the scene where she comes to Villefort's house, she looks really badass, a bit like Anne Bonny, the pirate queen. Villefort is not getting married, but he has a mistress, whose name is Victoria and who is pregnant (and who later becomes Madame Danglars).

At the beginning of the film, Edmond saves Angele from drowning. Angele has the compromising letter on her, which is seized by Danglars, at this time the captain of the ship. When Morrel hears Danglars would have let a woman drown, the strips him of captaincy and appoints Edmond as a captain. It's the only scene we see Morrel in, and we see a little Maximilien, who is his grandson here, however, Maximilien never shows up again. It would have been better had they not bothered with him in the first place, it's more upsetting to see him wasted than not to see him at all.

Pierfrancesco Favino is so good as abbe Faria. It was neat of them to cast an actual Italian to play the role. He looks the part, also he's the right type of mad (after so many years at Chateau d'If, though I think Faria was always a bit mad, in a mad scholar way). The scene where they first meet, Edmond falls into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time and it's honestly so emotional. Brilliant acting.

Faria, like in the 2002 film, dies in a cave in, but I think that's actually a better choice for a film, easier to do than a lengthy explaining of an obscure illness.

After his escape, Edmond simply walks onto a dry land, stealing a shirt from a washing line in the process. The smugglers don't appear in the film. Neither do the brigands, for that matter. (In fact, no Italian characters made it.)

I will say this in favour of the film, all three antagonists are well developed. Villefort seems to have married later, but his wife takes no part in the story. One of the best scenes was the dinner party at the house in Auteil, where the count tells the story of the buried baby. Poor Madame Danglars is close to breaking down and Villefort is sweating from head to toe. It feels truly gothic.

Caderousse is in the film, he was the quartermaster of the ship. Edmond goes to him first and gives him the gem; later he is shown to lead a group of bandits? or robbers?, but nothing more is shown of him and I'm not sure what the writers were trying to do with him.

Eugenie appears very little only, but she does appear and is a lesbian (though her gf is called Suzanne, not Louise).

They worked in the count's disguises; abbe Busoni appears, so does Lord Halifax, who I take is supposed to be Lord Wilmore. (The scene with Lord Halifax is really funny.) The count uses actual masks for his disguises. (He uses a mask for his Monte Cristo persona as well. I wish he didn't.)

Lord Halifax publishes a tabloid in France, reporting the fake news of Danglars's ships being lost, which is how he eventually gets him.

The above mentioned Angele is the one who digs up and saves Villefort and Victoria's baby. This was a change I also liked, personally, it avoids some of the coincidences from the book. Poor Angele doesn't meet a nice end, but the count visits her on the death bed where she tells him the story. He then goes and gets the baby, now a young man named Andre and takes him under his wing. (This is the scene from the trailer, where Andre asks "who are you" and the count, answers "I am the count of Monte Cristo", it's the first time we hear him use this title.) Andre is to help the count carry out his revenge, adopting the identity of Andrea Cavalcanti.

Haydee and Andrea plot together with the count, in a heist-like fashion. It's cool and all that, however it's too major of a change for me to be able to just accept it. Over the years, I have become more relaxed about book to screen adaptations, but there are limits. This is one of them. It goes against everything the count is. It's like Jacopo in the 2002 movie, fun to watch, but the count doesn't do friends. He works on his own and doesn't rely on anyone else. That's one thing.

Another thing is: Albert. I hated the casting choice. Nothing against the actor, he was just not a good pick for Albert. He looks like a "softboi" if I get the label right, tall and thin and has blond angelic curls and looks like he would get knocked down by a stronger wind. That's not Albert. Nothing about him screams hold-my-beer-while-I-do-something-stupid himbo. They may as well have cast Timothee Chalamet (I mean, he's part French, isn't he? And at least has dark hair.) Then--and I knew this from the reviews so thankfully was prepared--the count makes Haydee seduce Albert, which she does, and then she falls for him for real. Like, okay, I think it's an idea worth exploring (falling in love with a son of the man who betrayed your father, which resulted in you being sold into slavery), but it needs proper time and effort to develop. It's got to either be another story of its own, or be a part of limited series. It looks like the screenwriters, giving Maximilien and Valentine the chop, still wanted their star-crossed lovers, so they did Haydee x Albert instead. I think some of Albert's lines were taken from Maximilien in the book. And we're just expected to believe that Haydee has fallen in love with Fernand's son, without her showing any conflict over her feelings. A walking dry white slice of bread of a man, who do you think Haydee is, Katniss fucking Everdeen? I'd sooner buy that she was in love with Andrea. She is certainly fond of him and is devastated by his death--he gets shot after stabbing Villefort.

Haydee is also angry at Edmond when Albert challenges him to a duel. Why, I can't answer--it was Albert who threw the glove. The duel does go ahead, though the night before, Mercedes comes to Edmond to plead for her son's life, and says the same line as in the book ("Edmond, you will not kill my son."). Edmond shoots away from Albert on purpose, then Albert raises his gun and stars crying. It was not shown exactly whether he fired or not, but obvs they both survived. The real Albert would not hesitate to shoot. Like I said, a complete milksop.

So anyway, Haydee and Albert run away together, with the count's blessing, Mercedes leaves Fernand and Fernand comes to confront Edmond and they have a sword fight. Haydee doesn't even get to accuse him!

The film ends with Edmond sailing away on his own, and Mercedes reading his letter. Although the letter includes the words "wait and hope", it doesn't quite land the same. The phrase was never used in the film previously.

It's open to interpretation whether they get together later or not.

I wonder if they made Mercedes a noblewoman bc they wanted to give her a nicer ending. She has a stronger network to fall back on after everything goes down. But idk, honestly, I might be wrong. I don't really care, tbh. I care more about the fact that abbe Faria was completely forgotten after Edmond found the treasure.

One last tidbit: there is a guard? a butler? working for the count, who looks a bit sinister (in a good way!) and I thought it was maybe their version of Ali. (I think he may have been of North African origin, though I might have got it wrong and will get in trouble now.) But the count called him Jacopo.

So yeah, that is that.