The Count of Monte Cristo is a great example of someone going from a zero to a hero (in their terms). I see a lot of the symbols as metaphors contained within the film for a journey into personal change in filmmaking.

It’s an incredible story and an incredibly useful metaphor. I won’t go into too much detail on how the various parts of the story relate to our own personal journeys into filmmaking. Just check this film out!

Self-development is an important overall part of our education in filmmaking. Our “inner game” is massively important. I use the phrase “inner game” from many sources, but it seems like it was first used in W. Timothy Gallwey’s landmark 1974 book The Inner Game of Tennis.

Back to the film. There are many different versions of this classic story. There is a book originally written in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas. I don’t want to spoil it for you. Read the book, see the film or both.

Metaphors About Filmmaking

It’s interesting to note that all the metaphors contained within the story can relate to our journey from a beginner to a more advanced filmmaker.

This isn’t woo-woo stuff – everything’s pretty much common sense stuff when you think about it. However, just breaking down the metaphors is really interesting.

One of my favorite ones is the information we have out there (whether it be on shooting, editing, budget making, etc) being the character of The Priest in the story. The Priest teaches Edmund nearly everything he needs to know to grow into Monte Cristo and exact his revenge – everything from book smarts to street smarts like sword fighting.

Start seeing the mentors and teachers you meet along the way as being The Priest in this famous story. Along the way, you’ll learn etiquette and important distinctions that will help you as you move forward on your filmmaking journey.

I hope this was helpful to you. Thanks for reading!