# Man in the Iron Mask, The (1998)

### reviewed by
Monika Huebner

    The Man In The Iron Mask

    A film review by Monika Huebner
    Copyright 1998 Monika Huebner

Director: Randall Wallace movie Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, Gabriel Byrne, Gérard Depardieu, John Malkovich, Anne Parillaud, Judith Godrèche and others

Most of us are familiar with the story of the Three Musketeers, or rather four. The story of the Man In The Iron Mask, also written by Alexandre Dumas, takes place 25 years later - our musketeers got older and each of them is in a different business now. King of France is no longer Louis XIII but Louis XIV, the man who built Versailles. But in our story Louis is a spoiled brat, an arrogant adolescent who only cares about his own pleasure while the people are starving in the streets of Paris.

D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne), Athos (John Malkovich), Porthos (Gérard Depardieu) and Aramis (Jeremy Irons) all have their own good reasons to want to get rid of the king. A carefully guarded secret works to their advantage: Louis XIV has a twin brother who was taken away right after he was born so as not to endanger the succession. He does not know about his true identity and has been kept in a dungeon for the last six years. An iron mask covers his face so no-one will notice how much he looks like the king. The four musketeers conspire to exchange Philippe for Louis to free the people of France from their despotic monarch.

Even if THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK has nothing new to offer this remake is worth watching, especially because of its top notch cast. The "elderly gentlemen" seemed to have fun as musketeers. The women's job in this movie is to look pretty, but that's just the nature of the story.

Leonardo DiCaprio may be a surprising but nevertheless good choice for the part of Louis XIV. He masters two very different parts. His arrogant Louis reminds me of Jaye Davidson as Ra in Roland Emmerich's STARGATE, but maybe that was just the similar hairdo. One thing's for sure: There can only be one. It's either Louis or Philippe, one of them must disappear.

The strangest character in the movie is Gérard Depardieu as Porthos, although if you know the book you can hardly think of a better actor for the part. The aging Porthos lost his peace of mind, thinks about suicide and gets on his friends' nerves. They don't take him seriously, but still they make a saw-cut in a beam in the barn to prevent him from killing himself. Why Porthos has to be naked when he tries to hang himself remains a mystery. Maybe because Depardieu likes to drop his clothes. That doesn't mean that we all would like to see him that way. After seeing him climb out of a bathtub in GERMINAL I decided that I like cave bears better at the museum, but once more I was given this very special treat. So what.

THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK isn't very original, but makes for two hours of pleasant entertainment if you enjoy pretty costumes and don't expect too much.

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