THE THREE MUSKETEERS PART 1: D’ARTAGNAN Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Martin Bourboulon
Stars: Francois Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmai, Eva Green, Vicky Krieps, Lyna Khoudri, Eric Ruf, Louis Garrel, Marc Barbe, Julien Fison.
Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling novel depicting the adventures of Louis XIII’s titular musketeers was first published in 1844, and it has been adapted multiple times for film and television. One of the earliest versions was a silent 1921 film starring Douglas Fairbanks. There was a version from Hollywood in 1948 that starred Gene Kelly, Van Heflin, Angela Lansbury, Vincent Price and Lana Turner, and even a “young guns” version with Charlie Sheen, Chris O’Donnell and Keifer Sutherland in 1993.
This French adaptation from Martin Bourboulon gives Dumas’ novel the epic sweep, scope and sense of derring-do that it deserves. As scripted by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patelliere, this adaptation has a boy’s own adventure feel to it. But rather than release the film in a four-hour version, the producers felt it better to release it in two parts, much as Richard Lester did with his star-studded epic 1973 film which was released in two parts. “Two films for the price of one,” as its star Charlton Heston famously opined at the time. Part 1, subtitled D’Artagnan, introduces the main characters and sets up much of intrigues of the story, while Part 2, due to be released later in the year, will bring the story to its conclusion. This film ends on a cliffhanger, which nicely sets the scene for Part 2, fittingly subtitled Milady.
The film is set in 1627. Young D’Artagnan (Francois Civil, from The Stronghold, etc) heads to Paris determined to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the musketeers, Louis XIII’s legendary armed guard. On his arrival though he runs afoul of the veteran musketeers, insulting and butting heads with Athos (Vincent Cassel, from La Haine, etc), Porthos (Pio Marmai, from Happening, etc) and Aramis (Romain Duris, from The Spanish Apartment, etc). He also falls in love with his beautiful landlady Constance (Lyna Khoudri, from The French Dispatch, etc), who is also a handmaiden to Queen Anne (Vicky Krieps, from Phantom Thread, etc). He is accepted and begins to serve his cadetship under Captain de Reville (Marc Barbe). Soon after though he finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy to destroy the reign of Louis XIII.
King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel, recently seen in The Innocent, etc) sits on the throne but he is a fairly weak man who is easily manipulated by his chief advisor. He is a Catholic and his reign is troubled by conspiracies and internecine power struggles between Catholics and Protestants. The powerful and manipulative Cardinal Richelieu (Eric Ruf) wants to start a war between France and England and overthrow Louis and install his younger brother Gaston (Julien Fison) on the throne. He wants to undermine queen Ane and diminish her influence. Working alongside Richelieu is the scheming and enigmatic Milady de Winter (Eva Green, from Casino Royale, etc), a spy in his employ. Their plot involves the theft of a valuable necklace, which D’Artagnan and the musketeers have to retrieve to prevent a war. D’Artagnan makes his way to England.
The Three Musketeers is one of the most expensive films produced in France but its $130 million budget can be seen on the screen. This is a lavish and handsomely mounted production which has been superbly shot by cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc (La belle Epoque, etc). Thierry Delettre’s costumes and Stephane Taillasson’s production design brilliantly capture the historical era. The superb stirring music score from Guillaume Roussel underpins the drama nicely.
Borboulon has assembled a solid cast to bring the characters to life and they deliver. Civil brings energy and youthful enthusiasm to his portrayal of D’Artganan. Cassel brings a cynical and world-weary quality to his role as the veteran musketeer. Green chews the scenery and nicely steals her scenes. Khoudri makes for a feisty Constance.
Bourboulon’s robust direction keeps things moving along at a fast pace and delivers plenty of well-choreographed sword play and swashbuckling action. He also gives it more of a gritty edge than most previous adaptations.
★★★☆
