The Man in the Iron Mask (I) (1998)

The cruel King Louis XIV of France has a secret twin brother who he keeps imprisoned. Can the twin be substituted for the real king?

Director:

Randall Wallace

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas père (novels), Randall Wallace (screenplay)

Stars:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonardo DiCaprio	...	King Louis XIV / Philippe
Jeremy Irons	...	Aramis
John Malkovich	...	Athos
Gérard Depardieu	...	Porthos
Gabriel Byrne	...	D'Artagnan
Anne Parillaud	...	Queen Mother Anne
Judith Godrèche	...	Christine (as Judith Godreche)
Edward Atterton	...	Lt. Andre
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Raoul
Hugh Laurie	...	King's Advisor
David Lowe	...	King's Advisor
Brigitte Boucher	...	Madame Rotund
Matthew Jocelyn	...	Assassin
Karine Belly	...	Wench
Emmanuel Guttierez	...	King's Friend

Storyline

Paris is starving, but the King of France is more interested in money and bedding women. When a young soldier dies for the sake of a shag, Aramis, Athos and Porthos band together with a plan to replace the king. Unknown to many, there is a 2nd king, a twin, hidden at birth, then imprisoned for 6 years behind an iron mask. All that remains now is D'Artagnan, will he stand against his long time friends, or do what is best for his country?

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Plot Keywords:

king | twin | france | mask | musketeer | 

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Taglines:

For the honor of a king. And the destiny of a country. All for one.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and some sensuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

13 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hombre de la máscara de hierro

Filming Locations:

Château de Pierrefonds, Pierrefonds, Oise, France

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

DEM 3,659,092 (Germany) (17 April 1998)

Gross:

$56,876,365 (USA) (3 July 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Louis XIV did have a brother named Philippe, but he was not a twin. He was several years younger.

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Goofs

The film is said to take place in 1662, which is consistent with King Louis XIV's apparent age as played by Leonardo DiCaprio and with the presence of his mother, Queen Anne of Austria, who in real life died in 1666. But this is inconsistent with references to the war against the Dutch (actually in 1672-78). (According to Voltaire, however, the real-life man was imprisoned in 1661, not 1669 as some sources say, making that part consistent.)

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Quotes

King Louis XIV: There is more of me to love than a crown.

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Connections

Referenced in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

User Reviews

Loved this movie more than a crown! Well, unless the crown is made of diamonds, but you get the idea

The Man in the Iron Mask, fresh off the massive success of Titanic, we got the next movie starring huge heart throb Leonardo DiCaprio along with some of Hollywood's strongest male leads. Including a couple of my favorite actors John Malkovich and Jeremy Irons, so this was a movie I was looking forward to seeing, not to mention I was 13 at the time of this release and was totally in love with Leonardo DiCaprio, oh yes, good times. So of course this movie was love at first site with me, but as I grew up and watched the movie without my crush influence, I still found it to be a good solid movie. Leonardo stays strong as his first duo role as King Louis and Philippe and proves he can stand up with the heavyweights of Hollywood. Jeremy and John together with Leonardo had great chemistry and made The Man in the Iron Mask a really good watchable movie.

France is under the reign of King Louis XIV, 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 adviser, to send them rotten food. Meanwhile, the King wallows in hedonistic luxury while seducing a parade of women. The legendary three musketeers have retired from their posts: Aramis is now a priest of the Jesuit Order; Porthos is running a Parisian brothel; Athos has a son named Raoul who is just back from the war and ready to marry the girl he loves, Christine. At a festival, the two lovers are greeted by an older D'Artagnan, 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, Aramis initiates a plot to overthrow the King with the help of his old comrades. 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. Philippe, the identical twin of King Louis. While he looks indistinguishable from his brother, Philippe is compassionate and gentle and the plan is to replace Louis with Philippe.

While I've expressed my love for John and Jeremy, the true talent comes out in Gabriel Byrne's performance as well as Leonardo DiCaprio. Gabriel as D'Artagnan was just beautiful, charming, dashing, and very charismatic. While the movie could have had a little better direction, in some ways this felt more like a made for TV film at times, just with the big names. I'd say that's the movie's main flaw, but they were not given a big budget to make it into a great movie. Also the fact that Leonardo as Philippe, they take the iron mask off his face and he's still pretty! Eh, still I'd highly recommend it, it's the actors that make this movie very delightful to watch, one for all and all for one… this movie is just tons of fun! Hey, that almost rhymes, I made a funny! OK, there's my cheesy joke, I'm done, just watch the movie.

8/10