# The Count of Monte Cristo (2002 film)

The Count of Monte Cristo is a 2002 action/adventure film, about the life of Edmond Dantès, a Frenchman falsely accused of collaborating with an exiled Napoleon Bonaparte and sent off to prison in the infamous Chateau d'If, where he concocts a plan to seek revenge on those responsible. Directed by Kevin Reynolds, screenplay by Jay Wolpert, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

## Edmond Dantès

* Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome, "Do your worst, for I will do mine!" Then the fates will know you as we know you: as Albert Mondego, the man!
* Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.
* You didn't think I would make it that easy did you?
* If you ever loved me, don't rob me of my hate. It's all I have.
* How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure.
* You've only got one shot, and it will take more than that to stop me.

## Jacopo

* I swear on my dead relatives, and even the ones who aren't feeling too good, I am your man forever.
* Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?
* Once again, Zatarra, God sees you out of the corner of His eye.

## Fernand Mondego

* Take your vengeance. But know that the blood you spill is noble. Blood that will never run through your veins. You are no more a count than I am a commoner!
* Now I couldn’t live in a world where you have everything and I have nothing.

## Abbe Faria

* Ah! he burned the letter ...
* With two of us, we could dig in the opposite direction. And with both of us together, then of course we could possibly do it in um...oh...8 years. [Edmond laughs] Ohh... and does something else demand your time? Some pressing appointment, perhaps?
* I'm a priest, not a saint.

## Napoleon

* In life, we are all kings or pawns.

## Dialogue

    [Mondego has betrayed Edmond]
    Edmond: Why are you doing this?
    Mondego: Oh, it's... complicated.
    [Edmond grabs a sword and they fight, but Mondego gets the upper hand]
    Edmond: Why? In God's name, why?
    Mondego: Because you are the son of a clerk, and I'm not supposed to want to be you!
    Edmond: Monsieur, I know you must hear this a great deal, but I assure you, I am innocent. Everyone must say that, I know, but I truly am.
    Dorleac: Innocent?
    Edmond: Yes.
    Dorleac: I know, I really do know.
    Edmond: You mock me?
    Dorleac: No, my dear Dantes, I know perfectly well that you are innocent. Why else would you be here? If you were truly guilty, there are a hundred prisons in France where they would lock you away. But, Chateau d'if is where they put the ones they're ashamed of.
    [Dorleac is whipping Edmond]
    Dorleac: And if you're thinking just now 'Why me, oh God?' the answer is: God has nothing to do with it. In fact, God is never in France this time of year.
    Edmond: God has everything to do with it. He's everywhere. He sees everything.
    Dorleac: All right. Let's make a bargain, shall we? You ask God for help, and I'll stop the moment He shows up.
    Edmond: There are 72,519 stones in my walls. I've counted them many times.
    Abbe Faria: But have you named them yet?
    Abbe Faria: In return for your help, I offer you something priceless.
    Edmond: My freedom?
    Abbe Faria: No, freedom can be taken away, as you well know. I offer you my knowledge.
    Abbe Faria: The slot opens twice a day. Once in the morning for your toilet bucket, which is where we hide the dirt. And once more in the evening for your plate. Between those times, we can work all day without fear of discovery.
    Edmond: So neglect becomes our ally.
    Abbe Faria: Here is your final lesson - do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, "Vengeance is mine."
    Edmond: I don't believe in God.
    Abbe Faria: It doesn't matter. He believes in you.
    Luigi: So, mi amici, I would ask who you are, but in view of your shredded clothes and the fact that the Chateau d'If is two miles away, what's the point? As for me, I am Luigi Vampa, a smuggler and a thief. My men and I have come to this island to bury alive one of our number who attempted to keep some stolen gold for himself instead of sharing it with his comrades. Interestingly enough, there are some of his more loyal friends who are insisting that I grant him mercy. Which, of course, I cannot do, or I would quickly lose control of the whole crew. That is why you are such a fortunate find.
    Edmond: Why is that?
    Luigi: You provide me with a way to show a little mercy to Jacopo - that maggot you see tied up over there - while at the same time not appearing weak. And as a bonus, the lads will get to see a little sport as well.
    Edmond: How do I accomplish all this?
    Luigi: We watch you and Jacopo fight to the death. If Jacopo wins, we welcome him back to the crew. If you win, I have given Jacopo the chance to live, even if he did not take advantage of it, and you can take his place on the boat.
    Edmond: What if I win and I don't want to be a smuggler?
    Luigi: Then we slit your throat, and we're a bit shorthanded.
    Edmond: I find that smuggling is the life for me, and would be delighted to kill your friend the maggot!
    Luigi: I must warn you though... Jacopo is the best knife fighter I've ever seen.
    Edmond: Perhaps you should get out more often.
    Luigi: We shall call him... Zatarra.
    Edmond: Sounds fearsome.
    Luigi: It means, "driftwood."
    [Mondego has just killed his mistress' husband in a duel]
    Mercedes: Is Viscount Tourville dead?
    Mondego: Well, unless his heart is situated somewhere other than the left side of his chest, I suspect he is.
    Mercedes: [making the sign of the cross] God grant him peace. He did no more than defend his family's honor.
    Mondego: Much good it did him. His wife and I were happy in our passion. You were happy in your ignorance. Now comes the viscount's valiant defense of his honor, and you are pained, she is ruined, and he is dead.
    Mercedes: Don't flatter yourself, Fernand. I was neither happy, nor ignorant, having known about the last three women before Madame Tourville.
    Mondego: I'm sorry that you are humiliated. The combination of Paris and me is hardly a recipe for fidelity, is it? But since my attempts at discretion have evidently failed, there seems little point in keeping up pretenses. It's actually quite... liberating. Wouldn't you say?
    [Mondego shoots Monsieur Clarion as part of his deal with Clarion's son, Villefort]
    Monsieur Clarion: Young Mondego, why?
    Mondego: Because your son lacked the courage! [shoots and kills him]
    Edmond: If you ever again presume to interfere in my affairs I will, I promise, finish what I started the day I met you. Do you understand?
    Jacopo: I understand you are mad.
    Edmond: Mad? My enemies are falling into my traps perfectly.
    Jacopo: Mad, Your Grace, for ignoring this: You have a fortune, a beautiful woman who loves you. Take the money, take the woman and live your life. Stop this plan. Take what you have won.
    Edmond: I can't.
    Jacopo: Why not? I am still your man, Zatarra. I swore an oath. I will protect you. Even if it means I must protect you from yourself.
    Mercedes: Why did you not come for me?
    Edmond: Why did you not wait?! You married the very man who betrayed m- [Mercedes raises her hand to show the string around her finger]
    Edmond: If you ever loved me, don't...don't rob me of my hate. It's all I have.
    Mercedes: Let it go, Edmond. Let it go. I don't know what dark plan lies within you. Nor do I know by what design we were asked to live without each other these 16 years. But God has offered us a new beginning.
    Edmond: God?
    Mercedes: Don't slap His hand away.
    Edmond: Can I never escape Him?
    Mercedes: No. He is in everything... even in a kiss.
    [Edmond has just stabbed Mondego in the heart]
    Mondego: What happened to your mercy?
    Edmond: I'm a count, not a saint.

## External links

* The Count of Monte Cristo quotes at the Internet Movie Database