The endurance of The Three Musketeers is not due to its mix of action, romance and political intrigue. It is because Alexandre Dumas 1844 novel is part of the public domain. There have been countless adaptations of how the young, brave D’Artagnan ingratiates himself with three of the king’s bodyguards. Aside from the 1921 Douglas Fairbanks version, notable entries include the comic 1993 Disney version and the 2011 Paul W.S. Anderson version that focused on steampunk spectacle. Each modern adaptation tries a new spin on the material, and yet somehow there has never been a French-language version that plays it straight. The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan does exactly that, and the most surprising about it is how involving it becomes.
Director Martin Bourboulon knows the details of the plot are almost incidental. Yes, the story involves a labyrinth of double-crosses and betrayals, and yet the personalities of the characters – along with the clashing of swords – are what draw in an audience. The cast includes a veritable who’s who of international stars from France: Vincent Cassel plays Athos, Romain Duris plays Aramis, Louis Garrel plays the King and Eva Green plays the mysterious Milady de Winter. You may not recognize all those names, and yet their faces will be familiar, a wordless way to draw credibility to the material. The cast all relish the opportunity to play these characters, and yet Duris has the most fun as Aramis. Dashing and a mess of contradictions, he has the best lines and casts a heroic silhouette (an abundance of eyeliner goes a long way).
The relative unknown François Civil plays D’Artagnan, and while he may not have name-recognition to American audiences, an opening action sequence develops our affection for him. Bourboulon relies on practical effects and long takes, an internal understanding that the best action makes everything look hard, not easy. Civil careens around a muddy courtyard, using whatever weapon he can, until someone shoots him in the heart. His bible stops the bullet of course, and moments later he literally rises from the dead and heads into Paris. All this happens before D’Artagnan famously gets challenged into three separate duels in one morning, the inciting incident for the Dumas novel. In other words, Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière add more sinewy suspense, while preserving the story’s most essential components.
The production value is top-notch, and rival what you might expect from Hollywood. Bourboulon shoots in actual palaces and courtyards, taking literal museums and bringing them to life. Some scenes are teeming with extras, and unlike the 1993 Disney version, these musketeers have grease and grime on their clothes that you might expect from the 17th century. Only the King and his Queen (Vicky Kreips, another recognizable face) look immaculate, a shrewd way of delineating a hierarchy. The frequent swordplay also has an air of desperation to it: these are not merely bodyguards, but men who are desperate to vanquish their enemy. Maybe there is a touch of John Wick to these action sequence, a respect for kinetic movement that keeps enough a distance so you can actually see what everyone is doing.
There may be a subplot with D’Artagnan’s wooing a queen’s handmaiden (Lyna Khoudri); The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan is also romantic in the classic sense of the word. These characters have values, and although the film is frequently funny, it never sneers at honor or chivalry. When Athos announces he would rather die than betray his King, we believe him. Above all things, D’Artagnan is a man of his word, and he is heroic because of the lengths he will go in order not to break it. Chivalry and romance are mostly a cheap joke nowadays, and it is refreshing to see a set of characters who act bravely not because the plot requires them to, but because they believe in something greater than themselves. “All for one, one for all” is only spoken once in the film, and it’s just as well because the film shows – rather than tells – what that slogan means.
The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan is only the first half of the story, and a sequel is already complete. While the dastardly Cardinal Richelieu (Éric Ruf) is in the film, he is not the primary antagonist, and the musketeers only discover one part of the complex plot to depose the King. That is just as well, since many adaptations rush through the plot, and this version gives the characters and palatial intrigue time to breathe. So many public domain adaptations are half-assed, an attempt to make a quick buck out of something familiar. Here, at last, is a filmmaker who takes an old story and decides to give it the attention, budget and thought it deserves. Maybe more filmmakers will follow Bourboulon’s example, and we will get versions of King Arthur or Robin Hood that treat the material with honor, not unlike the romantic heroes who deserve more than name recognition.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
The post The Three Musketeers: Part 1 – D’Artagnan appeared first on Spectrum Culture.