The Count of Monte Cristo in Malta

I watched the Count of Monte Cristo recently, and while I was watching it, I had a sneaky suspicion that parts of it had been filmed in Malta. Not only did I think it that certain scenes were filmed in Malta, I thought I could actually pinpoint some of the locations.

The Maltese coast, for example, is basically all limestone and only certain sort of plants can actually survive on it, so the coast has this particular texture and colour when you look at it from a distance. And its often scattered with mini-fortresses and castle like buildings, which were built as a result of various attempts of invasions over the ages. There are also a couple of really pretty lagoons where the water is incredibly blue (the particular place I am thinking of is called the Blue Lagoon, funnily enough), as well as some really distinctly shaped rock formations (one of which is called "The Window" - needs no explanation) ... anyway, some of the shots in the film really reminded me of these places. (I'll try put some of our Malta holiday snaps up on my Flickr over the next week or so.)

So I turned to trusty Google to see whether I was actually right and lo and behold...I was : )

This is the best site I found about the Count.

As well as the Count, some of the more "big" movies to make Malta's filmography include:

Popeye (1980);
Cutthroat Island (1995);
Gladiator (2000);
U-571 (2000);
The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (2003);
Troy (2004) - which I did watch and didn't recognise any of the locations...

which I think is pretty impressive for a country that has a total area of 316 sq km, and under 200km of coast line (ie tiny). Apparently, "Malta makes more films per head than LA" ... I actually cant believe I haven't done one of those film tours when I've visited - maybe next time.