Alexandre Dumas’ sprawling tale of revenge and redemption has been filmed dozens of times. Those of you of a certain age might remember the mid-Seventies miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain, Trevor Howard and Tony Curtis. Then again, you might not – it wasn’t great.

This version, co-written and co-directed by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte (co-writers of another recent Dumas swashbuckler, The Three Musketeers), comes closer to reflecting the brilliance of its source material.

Carved from the 1,200-page novel into a fast-moving three hours, this superbly realised and powerfully acted film delivers in all the required areas – action, romance, scenery, costume – and does so with intelligence and heart.

It also has a soulful and charismatic leading man in Pierre Niney, star of the recent Yves Saint Laurent biopic and the gripping French procedural thriller Black Box.

Pierre Niney in The Count of Monte Cristo. Image supplied

The film begins in stormy waters in 1815 as our sailor hero, Edmond Dantès (Niney), defies the orders of his captain, the ruthless Danglars (Patrick Mille), and rescues the survivor of a shipwreck. Unbeknownst to Edmond, she is carrying a letter from the exiled...