The Man in the Iron Mask

The Man in the Iron Mask
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Randall Wallace
Produced by	Russell Smith Randall Wallace
Written by	Novel: Alexandre Dumas, père Screenplay: Randall Wallace
Starring	Leonardo DiCaprio Jeremy Irons John Malkovich Gabriel Byrne Gérard Depardieu Anne Parillaud Judith Godrèche
Music by	Nick Glennie-Smith
Cinematography	Peter Suschitzky
Editing by	William Hoy
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	March 13, 1998
Running time	132 min
Country	United Kingdom  United States
Language	English
Budget	$35,000,000
Gross revenue	Domestic: $56,968,902 Worldwide: $182,968,902

The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) is a film directed by Randall Wallace. It uses characters from Alexandre Dumas' D'Artagnan Romances, and is very loosely adapted from some plot elements of The Vicomte de Bragelonne. It also bears several similarities with the 1939 film version. The movie centers on the aging Musketeers Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan and the reign of King Louis XIV of France. It attempts to explain the mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, using a plot most similar to the 1939 film. Although a critical failure, scoring a 31% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes,^[1] it was successful financially, and is notable for ending Titanic's (also starring Leonardo DiCaprio) four month stay at the summit of the U.S. box office.^[2]

Plot

France is under the reign of the militaristic King Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is bankrupting the country with his unpopular wars. When starving peasants in Paris start to riot for food, he responds by ordering his chief advisor, Pierre (Hugh Laurie), to send them rotten food - although he later unjustly orders Pierre executed for this. Meanwhile, the King wallows in hedonistic luxury and seduces a parade of women. The legendary three musketeers have retired from their posts: Aramis (Jeremy Irons) is now a priest of the Jesuit Order; Porthos (Gérard Depardieu) is a frequent visitor to Parisian brothels; Athos (John Malkovich) has a son named Raoul (Peter Sarsgaard) who is just back from the war and ready to marry the girl he loves, Christine Bellefort (Judith Godrèche). At a festival, the two lovers are greeted by an older D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne) and wished luck, but just before Raoul can propose, the King's eyes fall on Christine. He arranges for Raoul to be returned to combat and killed in a suicidal charge.

In the wake of Raoul's death, Louis invites Christine to the palace where she sleeps with him, grateful for the medical assistance his doctors have given to her mother and sister. When Louis orders the death of the secret leader of the Jesuit order, Aramis initiates a plot to overthrow the King with the help of his old comrades for he is the secret leader of the order of Jesuits. Only Athos and Porthos agree to the plan; D'Artangan refuses to betray his oath of allegiance. The three musketeers sneak into an island prison and arrange the escape of a mysterious prisoner: a man in an iron mask. They replace him with a corpse in a matching iron mask so the guards will not know. They take the young man to a safe house in the countryside and unmask him: he is Philippe (Leonardo DiCaprio), the identical twin of King Louis. While he is identical to his brother, Philippe is compassionate and gentle. Aramis reveals that he was sent away by his father, King Louis XIII, to save France from dynastic warfare. Later, Louis XIV was too superstitious to have his brother murdered; instead, he devised a way to keep him hidden: the iron mask. Aramis was the one who took Philippe away to prison, an act which has haunted him ever since.

Meanwhile, King Louis succeeds in seducing Christine completely, claiming that he ordered Raoul to be placed far from the battlefront. Later, Christine receives a letter from Raoul, predicting his death and saying that he forgives her for becoming the King's mistress.

Athos, Porthos and Aramis teach Philippe how to act like royalty, so he may replace Louis as King. Together they abduct Louis during a fancy dress ball, telling him that Judgment Day has come. Before his absence is revealed, Philippe takes his place. Unfortunately, Philippe's good nature gives him away (when he helps a lady up from the floor when she falls over) and spares Christine's life when she storms in and accuses him of murdering Raoul, promising to make amends for wronging her. D'Artagnan realizes something is amiss and forcibly escorts Philippe outside. They arrive at the docks just as Athos, Porthos and Aramis are about to sail for the Bastille with Louis. The men collectively decide to make a trade for the brothers' lives; however, Philippe is re-captured in the ensuing struggle.

However, D'Artagnan is stunned to learn that Philippe is Louis's brother and pleads with Louis to spare his life. Louis at first refuses, but Philippe, knowing his friends will come for him, bluffs that he is more terrified of the iron mask than death itself. Therefore, Louis orders him returned to it and placed within the Bastille. In the meantime, a distraught Christine is found hanging from her bedroom window.

Athos, Porthos and Aramis brush off their old uniforms from their days of glory and (with D'Artagnan's help) break into the Bastille and escape with Philippe. Louis, however, has prepared an ambush. However, the narrowness of the corridor (and the guards' respect for D'Artagnan, their captain) prevents them from overwhelming the four musketeers with their numbers. Determined to save his friends, Philippe offers to give himself up in exchange for their lives. D'Artagnan refuses, saying that he could never give up his son. He explains that he is the twins' father from having an affair with Queen Anne (Anne Parillaud), and that it was out of fatherly devotion that he served Louis, not loyalty. He adds that Philippe has made him feel pride as a father for the first time.

The four musketeers and Philippe then charge at Louis's front line. The soldiers are so amazed by their "magnificent valour" that they close their eyes before firing their muskets. The smoke clears to reveal the five men still standing; all the shots, barring a few flesh wounds, missed.

An enraged Louis lunges toward Philippe and tries to stab him. However, D'Artagnan jumps between them, and is fatally wounded. A devastated Philippe knocks Louis down and begins to strangle him. D'Artagnan, with his dying breaths, reminds Philippe that Louis is his brother. Philippe embraces his father as he dies, commenting that D'Artagnan was the one wearing a mask. D'Artagnan's right-hand man, Lieutenant Andre (Edward Atterton), furious at Louis for killing his mentor (he notes, "All my life, all I ever wanted to be was HIM."), is stunned to learn that Philippe is Louis's brother. He orders his men to leave and swears them to secrecy. By the time another battalion breaks into via another door, the three musketeers and Lieutenant Andre have made Louis and Philippe swap clothes and locked Louis in the iron mask. Philippe introduces Athos, Porthos, Aramis as his royal council and truest friends. Posing as the King, Philippe orders the guards to take Louis away to a place where no one can hear his insane rantings but to feed him well; a fitting punishment for a man who has hurt so many without compassion or remorse.

The next day, Philippe, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Queen Anne attend D'Artagnan's funeral, in which the three musketeers are finally redeemed. With Louis (whom Philippe, for the sake of their blood relation, granted a royal pardon) now living peacefully in a country house, France is now at peace under the reign of Philippe.

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio ...King Louis/Philippe
• Jeremy Irons ...Aramis
• John Malkovich ... Athos
• Gabriel Byrne ...D'Artagnan
• Gérard Depardieu ...Porthos
• Peter Sarsgaard ...Raoul
• Judith Godrèche ...Christine
• Anne Parillaud ...Queen Anne
• Edward Atterton ...Lieutenant Andre
• Hugh Laurie ...Pierre, King's Advisor
• David Lowe ...King Louis XIV's Advisor

Soundtrack

Music for this film was written by English composer Nick Glennie-Smith. Figure skater Alexei Yagudin became a gold medalist skating to this music in the 2002 Winter Olympics. He won with the program The Man in the Iron Mask, based on the movie soundtrack.^[3]

1. Surrounded
2. Heart Of A King
3. The Pig Chase
4. The Ascension
5. King For A King
6. The Moon Beckons
7. The Masked Ball
8. A Taste Of Something
9. Kissy Kissie
10. Training To Be King
11. The Rose
12. All Will Be Well
13. All For One
14. Greatest Mystery Of Life
15. Raoul And Christine
16. It Is A Trap
17. Angry Athos
18. Raoul's Letter
19. The Palace
20. Raoul's Death
21. Queen Approaches

Differences between versions

The novel and the filmed versions of the tale have some differences in how they portray the Royal Twins and in how they present the plot to switch them.

In Dumas' The Vicomte de Bragelonne, although the plot to replace King Louis XIV with his twin brother is foiled, the twin brother is initially depicted as a much more sympathetic character than the King. However, in the last part of the novel, the king is portrayed as an intelligent, more mature and slightly misunderstood man who in fact deserves the throne. In the 1929 silent version, The Iron Mask starring Douglas Fairbanks as d'Artagnan, the King is depicted favorably and the twin brother is depicted as a pawn in an evil plot, so the plot being foiled by d'Artagnan and his Three Musketeer friends seems more appropriate.

But in the 1998 version, the King is depicted very negatively while his twin brother is portrayed with considerable sympathy, with the plot to switch the two brothers being presented as an attempt to save France from a bad king by replacing him with the one man in France who has an equal claim. d'Artagnan finds himself torn between loyalty to his King and loyalty to his Three Musketeer friends; the way in which this conflict is resolved provides much of the dramatic tension in this version.

Furthermore, it is revealed that d'Artagnan himself is the actual father of the twins, as well as being dedicated to the interests of France. His paternal feelings therefore complicate his dilemma, as he hopes that his son will one day prove himself worthy of his role in life, admitting at the end that it is only when meeting Phillippe that he felt true pride as a father.

Historical and literary inaccuracies

All historical persons and events depicted in the film are heavily fictionalized (as mentioned in an opening narration with the voice of Jeremy Irons), even more than in Dumas' original works. Historical blunders also abound:

• A portrait of Louis XV can be seen in Louis XIV's apartments: the film takes place about half a century before Louis XIV's great-grandson and successor was even born.
• The fact that Louis XIV, after being replaced by his own twin brother, was remembered as France's most generous king, is generally viewed as a huge historical error by French audiences^[4]. Louis XIV is considered by the general public in France as an authoritarian, heartless king, if a political genius.
• D'Artagnan's death is inconsistent with the actual character's biography: the real d'Artagnan died in battle more than ten years later, as depicted in The Vicomte de Bragelonne.
• Louis XIV had, in real life, a brother called Philippe: the actual Philippe d'Orléans, who is not depicted in the film, was not, however, the King's twin.
• Set in 1662, the film implies that the king is unmarried; by then he had been married for some two years to Infanta María Teresa of Spain

The film is also inconsistent in its treatment of Alexandre Dumas' fictional universe: the plot reveals that d'Artagnan was Anne of Austria's lover (and hence the father of Louis XIV and of his twin brother), while none of Dumas's works even remotely implied such a relationship.

The character of Christine is comparable to the historical Louise de la Vallière, a mistress of Louis XIV's who, in Dumas's novel, is also loved by both the young king and Raoul. Her name change may have been so as not to create confusion between 'Louise' and 'Louis'.

Production notes

• In this version, the "man in the iron mask" is introduced as prisoner number 64389000 based on the number related to his namesake found at the Bastille.

References

4. Box Office Mojo Weekend Charts for 1998, weekend 1 to 52. Retrieved 2007-09-04

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film)

• The Man in the Iron Mask at the Internet Movie Database
• The Man in the Iron Mask at Allmovie
• The Man In The Iron Mask at Media Magik Entertainment