The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film)

The Man in the Iron Mask is a 1998 American action drama film
The Man in the Iron Mask
directed, produced and written by Randall Wallace, and starring
Leonardo DiCaprio in a dual role as the title character and villain,
Jeremy Irons as Aramis, John Malkovich as Athos, Gérard Depardieu
as Porthos and Gabriel Byrne as D'Artagnan.[3] The picture uses
characters from Alexandre Dumas's D'Artagnan Romances and is
very loosely adapted from some plot elements of his 1847-1850 novel
The Vicomte de Bragelonne.

The film centers on the aging four musketeers, Athos, Porthos,

Aramis and D'Artagnan, during the reign of King Louis XIV and
attempts to explain the mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, using a
plot more closely related to the flamboyant 1929 version starring
Douglas Fairbanks, The Iron Mask, and the 1939 version directed by
James Whale, than to the original Dumas book. Like the 1998
version, the two aforementioned adaptations were also released
through United Artists.

Theatrical release poster

Contents Directed by Randall
Plot Wallace
Cast Produced by Randall
Production Wallace
Russell Smith
Differences between versions
Screenplay by Randall
Historical inaccuracies
Wallace
Reception
Based on The Vicomte of
Critical response
Bragelonne:
Accolades
Ten Years
Soundtrack Later
References by

External links Alexandre

Dumas
Starring Leonardo
Plot DiCaprio
Jeremy Irons
The Kingdom of France faces bankruptcy from King Louis XIV's
wars against the Dutch, causing French citizens to starve. As the John Malkovich
country moves toward revolution, King Louis prepares for war. At Gérard
this point, the four musketeers have gone their separate ways; Aramis Depardieu
is now a priest, Porthos is a womanizing drunkard, and Athos has
Gabriel Byrne
retired to his farm. Only D'Artagnan has remained loyal to the
musketeers and is now the captain. Music by Nick Glennie-
Athos' only son, Raoul, aspires to join the musketeers. At a palace Smith
festival, Louis sets his eyes on Christine Bellefort, Raoul's fiancée. He Cinematography Peter
immediately plots to send Raoul to the battlefront, where he is killed
Suschitzky
soon after. Aware that Louis orchestrated his son's death, Athos
renounces his allegiance to the king. After an assassination attempt on Edited by William Hoy
Louis by the Jesuit order is foiled by D'Artagnan, Louis instructs Production United Artists
Aramis to hunt down and kill their leader. In response, Aramis company
summons Porthos, Athos, and D'Artagnan for a secret meeting in
Distributed by MGM
which he reveals he is the Jesuit's secret leader and has a plan to
Distribution Co.
depose Louis. Athos and Porthos agree to join him, but D'Artagnan
refuses. Athos brands him a traitor and threatens him with death Release date March 13, 1998
should they ever meet again. Meanwhile, Louis seduces Christine, (United States)
who now suspects his part in Raoul's death.
March 20, 1998
The musketeers infiltrate the Île Sainte-Marguerite prison and free a (United
prisoner wearing an iron mask. The prisoner is taken to the Kingdom)
countryside, where Aramis reveals he is Philippe, King Louis' brother. Running time 132 minutes
Their mother, Queen Anne, gave birth to identical twin sons. Louis
XIII, to avoid dynastic warfare between his sons, sent Philippe to live Country United States[1]
in the countryside while naming Louis XIV as heir. After Louis XIII Language English
died, Anne revealed Philippe's existence to Louis XIV. He was too Budget $35 million
superstitious to have his brother killed and instead imprisoned him in
the iron mask to conceal his identity, an act that Aramis executed. Box office $183 million[2]
Aramis wishes to redeem himself and save France by replacing Louis
with the more benevolent Philippe. The musketeers tutor Philippe in courtly life and how to behave like Louis.
Meanwhile, Athos develops paternal feelings for Philippe.

At a masquerade ball, the musketeers lure Louis to his quarters and subdue him. They dress Philippe in Louis
clothes and return him to the festivities while taking Louis to a waiting boat in the dungeons. D'Artagnan,
however, sees through the ruse after Christine publicly accuses Louis (Philippe) of the king's role in Raoul's
death. He forcibly escorts Philippe to the dungeons. Musketeer soldiers intervene before Athos, Porthos, and
Aramis can escape with Louis. The king is rescued as the three musketeers get away. Though Louis is
prepared to kill Philippe, D'Artagnan begs that he be spared. Louis orders Philippe back to the Bastille to wear
the iron mask. Soon after, a grieving Christine commits suicide.

D'Artagnan contacts the musketeers to help rescue Philippe from the Bastille. Louis, suspecting an attempt,
ambushes them at the prison. Louis offers D'Artagnan clemency in exchange for surrender. D'Artagnan
refuses, privately telling his comrades that he is Louis and Philippe's father from an affair with the Queen, and
is the reason for his loyalty to Louis. As they charge one final time at Louis and his men, they are fired upon;
their bravery compels the soldiers to close their eyes before firing and all miss. Louis attempts to stab Philippe
but fatally wounds D'Artagnan. Philippe nearly strangles Louis to death but D'Artagnan's dying words halt
him. D'Artagnan's top lieutenant, Andre, angered by his mentor's death, swears his men to secrecy and sides
with Philippe. They switch the twins again and Philippe orders Louis locked away, then names Athos,
Porthos, and Aramis as his closest advisors.

At a small graveside service for D'Artagnan, Philippe tells Athos that he has come to love him like a father,
which Athos reciprocates. Philippe issues Louis a royal pardon and confines him to the countryside to live in
seclusion, then goes on to become one of France's greatest kings.

Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio as Philippe Bourbon/King Louis XIV
 Jeremy Irons as Aramis and Narrator
John Malkovich as Athos
Gérard Depardieu as Porthos
Gabriel Byrne as D'Artagnan
Anne Parillaud as Queen Anne of Austria
Judith Godrèche as Christine Bellefort
Peter Sarsgaard as Raoul, son of Athos
Edward Atterton as Lieutenant Andre, D'Artagnan's second in command
Hugh Laurie as Pierre, Advisor to King Louis XIV
David Lowe as Advisor to King Louis XIV

Production
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. The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte acts as the primary residence of
the king as Versailles was still early in its construction and years away from Louis establishing residence there.

Differences between versions

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

In Alexandre Dumas's The Vicomte de Bragelonne, although the plot to replace King Louis XIV with his twin
brother is foiled, the twin 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 - and the Musketeers themselves are split, Aramis (with assistance from
Porthos, who is ignorant and easily duped) siding with the prisoner, D'Artagnan with King Louis, and Athos
retiring from politics entirely. D'Artagnan, foiling the plot of the others, is tasked with capturing his friends,
who have taken refuge in a fortress in Bretony: he resigns his command, knowing that he will be arrested and
his subordinate will open fire anyway. Without D'Artagnan's command and his tactical knowledge of his
friends-turned-foes, Aramis's fortress refuge is taken by the king's men but at great loss of life, while Porthos
dies in a heroic last stand and Aramis escapes to take political asylum in Spain (and later return as a member of
the Spanish embassage, to ensure their neutrality should France and Holland come to blows.) D'Artagnan
explains himself to the King, and is pardoned and restored to his position, and told that if he wants the final
promotion he was on the point of earning, he had better go and win it on a foreign field: in the later war
against Holland, he is finally awarded promotion to the supreme command, only to be killed while reading the
notice of his promotion at the siege of Maastricht.

In the 1929 silent version, The Iron Mask starring Douglas Fairbanks as D'Artagnan, the King is depicted
favorably and the twin brother as a pawn in an evil plot whose thwarting by D'Artagnan and his companions
seems more appropriate.

In the 1998 film, the King is depicted negatively while his twin brother is sympathetically portrayed.
D'Artagnan's loyalties are torn between his King and his three Musketeer friends. He is also revealed as the
father of the twins, as well as being dedicated to the interests of France.

Finally the 1998 film shows a clear inspiration from the biblical story of King David and Uriah in dealing with
Raoul's fate, which lacks in the novel.
Historical inaccuracies
Many historical persons and events depicted in the film are heavily fictionalized, as declared in an opening
narration.

A portrait of Louis XV can be seen in Louis XIV's apartments. Louis XV was the great-grandson
and successor of Louis XIV. He was born in 1710, and the events of the film take place about
half a century before his birth.
D'Artagnan's death is inconsistent with biographic fact. The character is based on Charles de
Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, a captain of the Musketeers of the Guard, who was killed in battle
during the Siege of Maastricht (1673) - an event that concludes the Dumas novels, in which
D'Artagnan is killed while reading the long-awaited notice of his promotion to the supreme
command.
Louis XIV had a real-life brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, who is not depicted in the film and
was not the King's twin. Louis XIV was born in 1638. Philippe I was his younger brother, born in
1640. Philippe was the founder of the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the House of
Bourbon. He appears in the original Dumas novels - as a foppish, probably homosexual dandy
- but is not involved in the Iron Mask plot on either side, having little more than a reference that
he is the only brother Louis is prepared to acknowledge.
Set in 1662, the film portrays the king as unmarried. The historical Louis XIV married his first
wife, Maria Theresa of Spain, in 1660. They remained married until her death in 1683.
Notwithstanding the peace and prosperity alluded to at the film's conclusion, Louis XIV spent
most of the remainder of his reign at war.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 32% based on 41 reviews. The site's critical consensus
states, "Leonardo DiCaprio plays dual roles with diminishing returns in The Man in the Iron Mask, a cheesy
rendition of the Musketeers' epilogue that bears all the pageantry of Alexandre Dumas' text, but none of its
romantic panache."[4] On Metacritic it has a score of 48% based on 18 reviews.[5]

Accolades

The film was nominated for the Best Original Score for an Adventure Film by the International Film Music
Critics Award (IFMCA).[6]

Depardieu was nominated for the European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award for his role
as Porthos.[6] DiCaprio won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple for his interactions as twins
in the film.[6]

Soundtrack
Music for this film was written by the English composer Nick The Man in the Iron Mask
Glennie-Smith. The figure skater Alexei Yagudin became a gold (Original Soundtrack)
medalist skating to this music in the 2002 Winter Olympics. He won
Soundtrack album by Nick
Glennie-Smith
with the program The Man in the Iron Mask, based on the movie Released March 10, 1998
soundtrack.[7] Genre Soundtrack

1. "Surrounded" Length 50:34

2. "Heart of a King" Label Milan Records
3. "The Pig Chase" Nick Glennie-Smith chronology
4. "The Ascension"
Home The Man in The Lion
5. "King for a King" Alone 3 the Iron King II:
6. "The Moon Beckons" (1997) Mask Simba's
7. "The Masked Ball" (Original Pride
8. "A Taste of Something" Soundtrack) (1998)
9. "Kissy Kissie" (1998)
10. "Training to Be King"
Soundtrack
11. "The Rose"
12. "All Will Be Well" Review scores
13. "All for One" Source Rating
14. "Greatest Mystery of Life"
link (https://www.allmusic.
15. "Raoul and Christine" AllMusic
com/album/r341970)
16. "It is a Trap" link (http://www.filmtracks.
Filmtracks
17. "Angry Athos" com/titles/man_iron.html)
18. "Raoul's Letter"
19. "The Palace"
20. "Raoul's Death"
21. "Queen Approaches"

References
1. "The Man in the Iron Mask" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090207064659/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.u
k/sift/title/568072). British Film Institute. London. Archived from the original (http://ftvdb.bfi.org.u
k/sift/title/568072) on February 7, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
2. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=1998&wknd=1&p=.htm Box Office
Mojo Weekend Charts for 1998, weekend 1 to 52
3. Olthuis, Andrew. "The Man in the Iron Mask" (https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-man-in-the-ir
on-mask-v160668). Allmovie. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
4. "The Man in the Iron Mask Awards" (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1082400_man_in_the_
iron_mask). Rotten Tomatoes.
5. "The Man in the Iron Mask Awards" (https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-man-in-the-iron-mas
k). Metacritic.
6. "The Man in the Iron Mask Awards" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120744/awards). IMDb.
7. See his costume for this program at www.olympic.org (http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/profile
s/bio_uk.asp?heros=98498)

External links
The Man in the Iron Mask (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120744/) at IMDb
The Man in the Iron Mask (https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v160668) at AllMovie
 The Man in the Iron Mask (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=manintheironmask.htm)
at Box Office Mojo
The Man in the Iron Mask (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1082400-man_in_the_iron_mas
k) at Rotten Tomatoes
The Man in the Iron Mask (https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-man-in-the-iron-mask) at
Metacritic

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