The film erred in insisting that the count was still in love with Mercedes. He cared for the memory of an old love, Mercedes was just a memory. In Uznik Zamka If, the film did not make that mistake.
The count sought revenge without realizing that happiness was to move on and forget the past. For long enough he did not realize he could be happy again with Haydee.
"We frequently pass on to happiness without seeing, without regard to it, if we do not see it, yet without recognizing it." (Ch 31).
Dantès declares himself an exile from humanity during the years in which he carries out his elaborate scheme of revenge. He feels cut off not only from all countries, societies, and individuals but also from normal human emotions. Dantès is unable to experience joy, sorrow, or excitement; in fact, the only emotions he is capable of feeling are vengeful hatred and occasional gratitude. It is plausible that Dantès's extreme social isolation and narrow range of feeling are simply the result of his obsession with his role as the agent of Providence. It is not difficult to imagine that a decade-long devotion to a project like Dantès's might take a dramatic toll on one's psychology. Yet Dantès's alienation from humanity is not solely due to his obsessive lust for revenge but also to his lack of love for any living person. Though he learns of his enemies' treachery years before he escapes from prison, his alienation from humanity begins to take hold only when Abbé Faria dies. Until Faria's death, Dantès's love for Faria keeps him connected to his own humanity, by keeping the humanizing emotion of love alive within him. When Dantès learns that his father is dead and that Mercédès has married another man, his alienation is complete. There are no longer any living people whom he loves, and he loses hold of any humanizing force.
This humanizing force eventually returns when Dantès falls in love with Haydée. This relationship reconciles Dantès to his humanity and enables him to feel real emotion once again. In a triumphant declaration of emotion, he says to Haydée, "through you I again connect myself with life, through you I shall suffer, through you rejoice." Dantès's overcomes his alienation, both from society and from his own humanity, through his love of another human being.
Cinema has to remember what feelings may change and after so many years apart from Mercedes, Edmond's feelings have changed. Haydee for having a past similar to Edmond's is the ideal person to understand him and not Mercedes.
Dantès declares himself an exile from humanity during the years in which he carries out his elaborate scheme of revenge. He feels cut off not only from all countries, societies, and individuals but also from normal human emotions. Dantès is unable to experience joy, sorrow, or excitement; in fact, the only emotions he is capable of feeling are vengeful hatred and occasional gratitude. It is plausible that Dantès's extreme social isolation and narrow range of feeling are simply the result of his obsession with his role as the agent of Providence. It is not difficult to imagine that a decade-long devotion to a project like Dantès's might take a dramatic toll on one's psychology. Yet Dantès's alienation from humanity is not solely due to his obsessive lust for revenge but also to his lack of love for any living person. Though he learns of his enemies' treachery years before he escapes from prison, his alienation from humanity begins to take hold only when Abbé Faria dies. Until Faria's death, Dantès's love for Faria keeps him connected to his own humanity, by keeping the humanizing emotion of love alive within him. When Dantès learns that his father is dead and that Mercédès has married another man, his alienation is complete. There are no longer any living people whom he loves, and he loses hold of any humanizing force.
This humanizing force eventually returns when Dantès falls in love with Haydée. This relationship reconciles Dantès to his humanity and enables him to feel real emotion once again. In a triumphant declaration of emotion, he says to Haydée, "through you I again connect myself with life, through you I shall suffer, through you rejoice." Dantès's overcomes his alienation, both from society and from his own humanity, through his love of another human being.
Cinema has to remember what feelings may change and after so many years apart from Mercedes, Edmond's feelings have changed. Haydee for having a past similar to Edmond's is the ideal person to understand him and not Mercedes.