» The Man In The Iron Mask

» Synopsis

The young King Louis XIV becomes intrigued with the beautiful Christine and sends her suitor, Raoul, to the front for an almost certain death. When he is killed, Louis earns the hatred of Raoul's father, the former faithful musketeer Athos. Athos is not alone in his hatred of the king as the entire country has grown weary of his excesses. Louis depends upon another former musketeer, D'Artagnan, to kill the ringleader of the rebellion. What Louis does not know is that D'Artagnan is also his mother's lover. Things are getting out of hand when the king's trusted priest, Aramis, another former musketeer, gathers together his former collegues with a plan to change the course of history. Athos and Porthos join in a plot to spring out of prison a man who, for six years, has lived in his cell with his head in an iron mask. The man is, in fact, Philippe, the younger twin of Louis XIV.

» Information

Director: Randall Wallace Writers: Alexandre Dumas père (novels), Randall Wallace (screenplay) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio ... Phillipe/ King Louis XIV John Malkovich ... Athos Andrew Wallace ... Peasant Boy Jeremy Irons ... Father Aramis Gérard Depardieu ... Porthos Gabriel Byrne ... D Artagnan Anne Parillaud ... Queen Anne Judith Godrèche (II) ... Christine Balfour Edward Atterton ... Lieutenant Andre Peter Sarsgaard ... Raoul--Son of Athos Hugh Laurie ... King s Adviser David Lowe ... King's Adviser Brigitte Boucher ... Madame Rotund Matthew Jocelyn ... Assassin Karine Belly ... Wench Emmanual Gutierrez ... King's Friend Christian Erickson ... Ballroom Guard Francois Montagut ... Blond Musketeer Cecile Auclert ... Serving Woman Sonia Backers ... Serving Woman Vincent Nemeth ... Customer Joe Sheridan ... Fortress Keeper Olivier Hemon ... Fortress Head Guard Michael Morris ... Bastille Gate Guard Emmanuel Patron ... Fortress Guard Leonor Varela ... Ballroom Beauty Michael Hofland ... Ruffian Laura Fraser ... Bedroom Beauty Brigitte Auber ... Queen Anne's Attendant Jean-Pol Brissart ... Monk Released on: 13 March 1998

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» Trivia

Aramis' statement, "I am a genius, not an engineer," is a pun in the original French ("Je suis un génie, pas un ingénieur").

MGM discovered the audience the movie attracted was "directly related to appeal of Leonardo DiCaprio", being 55% female and 46% under the age of 25.

This is the third in a trilogy of the Alexandre Dumas père novels about the adventures of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, which also include 'The 3 Musketeers' and 'Twenty Years Later'.

Alexandre Dumas père, the author of the book for which this is based, adapted his novel on a historical account of a mysterious prisoner in the Bastille who was forced to wear a leather mask for the two years between his imprisonment and subsequent death.

There was a real masked prisoner at La Bastille, but rather than a twin brother, most recent investigations indicate he was possibly Louis XIV's real father. The official story of Louis' conception was that almost 20 years after the King and Queen married the King was going to a different castle and had packed stuff that he would need. It started raining and since the Queen had the only bed suitable for the King they slept together. There are rumors that Cardinal Richelieu convinced the Queen to have an affair with a man, who then was sent off to Canada, but it is just hearsay and probably not true. Queen Anne might have had an affair, but she and Richelieu did not work together because they hated each other.

The character D'Artagnan also appears in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, which has also been filmed with Gérard Depardieu.

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

Alexandre Dumas's novel The Vicomte of Braggelone, on which this film is based, has also been filmed as The Fifth Musketeer (1979). Jeremy Irons role of Aramis was played in that film by José Ferrer, whose surname, appropriately, is derived from ferrum, the Latin word for Iron. Ferrer also preceded Gérard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac.