''The Man in the Iron Mask'' is a 1998 American

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written, directed, and produced by Randall Wallace in his directorial debut. It stars

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

in a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

as the title character and the

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

, Jeremy Irons as Aramis, John Malkovich as Athos, Gérard Depardieu as Porthos, and

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...

D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the Fr ...

. Some characters are from

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

's '' D'Artagnan Romances'' and some plot elements are very loosely adapted from his 1847–1850 novel '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne''. The film centers on the four aging

musketeer A musketeer ( ) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare, particularly in Europe, as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a precursor to the rifl ...

s, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan, during the reign of King Louis XIV. It explores the mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, with a plot closer to the flamboyant 1929 version starring

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

, '' The Iron Mask'', and the 1939 version, directed by

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...

, than to the original Dumas book. The film received mixed reviews but was a financial success, grossing $183 million worldwide against a budget of $35 million.

Plot

The

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

faces bankruptcy from King Louis XIV's wars against the Dutch. As the country moves toward revolution, King Louis prepares for war and orders that rotten food be distributed to save money, all the while a renegade faction of the

Jesuit Order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

attempts to assassinate Louis for starving France's citizens. Louis instructs former Musketeer Aramis to find and kill the Jesuit leader, whose identity is unknown. At a palace festival, Louis sets his eyes on Christine Bellefort, the fiancée of Raoul, who is the son of former Musketeer Athos and attempts to seduce her.

, captain of the king's guard, foils an assassination attempt on Louis by a disguised Jesuit during this. Louis plots to send Raoul to the battlefront, where he is killed soon after. Aware that Louis orchestrated his son's death, Athos renounces his allegiance to the king. Aramis summons Athos and D'Artagnan, along with former Musketeer Porthos, for a secret meeting in which he reveals that he is himself the Jesuits' secret leader and has a plan to depose Louis. Athos and Porthos agree to join him, but D'Artagnan refuses. Athos brands him a traitor and threatens him with death should they ever meet again. However, D'Artagnan does not disclose his secret meeting to Louis. Meanwhile, Louis seduces Christine, who eventually begins to suspect his part in Raoul's death. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis infiltrate the Île Sainte-Marguerite prison and free a prisoner wearing an iron mask, taking him to the countryside. There, Aramis introduces him as Philippe, Louis' identical twin brother. Their mother, Queen Anne, gave birth to identical twins.

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

, to avoid dynastic warfare between his sons, ordered that Philippe be raised in the country with no knowledge of his true identity. While dying, Louis XIII revealed Philippe's existence to Anne and Louis XIV. Anne wanted to restore Philippe's birthright, but Louis, fearful of losing his throne, forced Aramis to seal Philippe in the iron mask and imprison him for life. Aramis wishes to redeem himself and save France by replacing Louis with the more benevolent Philippe. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis tutor Philippe in courtly life and how to behave like Louis. At a masquerade ball, the trio lures Louis to his quarters and subdues him. They dress Philippe in Louis's 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 accuses Philippe publicly and he fails to dismiss her in Louis's manner. He and his men intercept Athos, Porthos, and Aramis before they can escape with Louis. The king is rescued as the trio gets away, but Philippe is captured. D'Artagnan, upon learning Philippe's true identity, begs Louis to spare his brother. Louis, knowing that Philippe's worst fear is to be put back into the iron mask, does so and sends him to the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...

. Christine then hangs herself, to which Louis shows no grief or remorse. D'Artagnan summons Athos, Porthos and Aramis to help rescue Philippe from the Bastille. Louis, suspecting an attempt, ambushes them at the prison. Louis offers D'Artagnan clemency in exchange for his surrender. D'Artagnan refuses, privately telling his comrades that he is Louis and Philippe's biological father from his affair with Anne, and that was the reason for his unquestioned loyalty. While charging at Louis and his men, they are fired upon; their bravery compels the soldiers to deliberately miss. Louis attempts to stab Philippe, but D'Artagnan shields him and is fatally wounded. Philippe nearly strangles Louis to death, but D'Artagnan's dying words halt him. Lieutenant André, angered by D'Artagnan's death, swears his men to secrecy and sides with Philippe. They switch the twins again, and Philippe orders Louis locked away. He then names Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as his closest advisors. After a small graveside service for D'Artagnan, Philippe issues Louis a royal pardon and permits him to live out the remainder of his life in peace and seclusion. Philippe ultimately becomes one of France's greatest kings.

Cast

as ** King

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, the tyrannical King of France who bankrupts his nation into oblivion to satisfy his lavish lifestyle ** Philippe Bourbon, The Man in the Iron Mask and Louis' twin brother, who shows more compassion and benevolence * Jeremy Irons as Aramis, a veteran musketeer and clergyman, secretly leading the Jesuits, and also serves as the film's narrator * John Malkovich as Athos, a retired musketeer and former nobleman * Gérard Depardieu as Porthos, an aging ex-musketeer and former brigand who is now suicidal *

, a veteran musketeer now Louis' personal bodyguard and Captain, but secretly Louis and Phillippe's father * Anne Parillaud as Queen

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

, the Queen of France, Louis and Phillippe's mother, and D'Artagnan's lover * Judith Godrèche as Christine Bellefort, Raoul's fiancé whom Louis sought to make his mistress * Peter Sarsgaard as Raoul, Athos's son who yearns to be a musketeer * Edward Atterton as Lieutenant André, D'Artagnan's second in command *

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. Fry and Laurie act ...

as Pierre, Food Distributor 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 The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte () or simply Vaux-le-Vicomte is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 ...

acts as the primary residence of the king as Versailles was still early in its construction and years away from Louis establishing residence there.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $17 million on its opening weekend in second place at the US box office behind ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'', another film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It eventually grossed $56 million at the box office in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and $126 million internationally, for a total of $183 million worldwide.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 32% with an average rating of 5.5/10, 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." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a score of 48 out of 100 based on 18 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave it 2.5 out of 4.

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote that while the "production values are not lacking", "Wallace, in his first try at directing, has been unable to unify the film’s disparate elements. There’s

swordplay Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to an ...

and

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

and romance, lots of DiCaprio for all those teenage girls--there’s everything but a consistent style. And events are handled so broadly it’s not surprising to learn that the director’s inspiration was the Classics Illustrated version of the Dumas novel he read as a youth."

Accolades

The film was nominated for the Best Original Score for an Adventure Film by the International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA). Depardieu was nominated for the European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award for his role as Porthos. DiCaprio won a

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John ...

for Worst Screen Couple for his interactions as twins.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was written by the English composer Nick Glennie-Smith. The soundtrack has been used as backing for figure skating routines by Olympic figure skaters, such as Alexei Yagudin.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man In The Iron Mask (1998 film), The 1990s action adventure films 1990s adventure drama films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films 1990s prison drama films 1998 action drama films 1998 directorial debut films 1998 drama films 1998 films American action adventure films American action drama films American adventure drama films American swashbuckler films Cultural depictions of Anne of Austria English-language action adventure films English-language action drama films English-language adventure drama films English-language crime films Fiction about twins Films about adultery in France Films about royalty Films about twin brothers Films based on The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later Films directed by Randall Wallace Films scored by Nick Glennie-Smith Films set in 1662 Films shot in France Golden Raspberry Award–winning films Man in the Iron Mask Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films United Artists films Works about Louis XIV