What you think of when you hear “Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers” is dependent on your age. Since 1916 with director Charles Swickard’s cinematic adaptation, Dumas’s swashbuckling tale of loyalty, friendship, religion, and revolution has seen so many cinematic versions, each with their own style and spin on the 700-page (depending on edition) tale to enchant audiences with an adventure that sits in their heart. For this reviewer, it’s the 1993 Stephen Herek version for Disney featuring a veritable who’s who of talent that continues to delight to this day. Now, a new adaptation seeks to unseat that film, one directed by Martin Bourboulon (Eiffel) and co-written by Matthieu Delaporte (Renaissance) and Alexandre de La Patellière (Renaissance), one that doesn’t dare to one-shot the entire novel into a single film, but splits it in two, offering audiences a more complete interpretation of Dumas’s grand tale. Though Part I already screened in France with Part II set for a December 2023 release, the first half, dubbed Part I: D’Artagnan, comes available through Samuel Goldwyn Films in the U.S. ready to add a little intrigue to your holiday entertainment.
François Civil as D’Artagnan in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
There’s a war brewing between Protestants and Catholics in France which threatens to push the country into a war with England, something King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel) would prefer to avoid. What he doesn’t realize is that his advisor, Le Cardinal de Richelieu (Eric Ruf), places his own ambitions and faith above those of the King, working in the background to sow seeds of mistrust via the work of an operative he calls Milady (Eva Green) that will not only disrupt the King’s inner circle, but also that of his protective force, the Musketeers. What Richelieu couldn’t account for is a young man set to join the ranks of the King’s guard, a young man named D’Artagnan (François Civil) whose entire existence may be the difference between all-out war and peace.
Eva Green as Milady in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Clocking in at just over two-hours, Bourboulon’s D’Artagnan is the kind of film that starts at a gallop and never really lets up. This isn’t just metaphorical as, after a brief text-based setup, the film kicks off with a figure riding a horse headed to somewhere, their identity and destination unknown. We presume it’s D’Artagnan as he’s the last person mentioned, thereby creating the sense that he’s urgently headed to try out for the Musketeers. From this moment, Bourboulon is constantly pushing the momentum forward, never quite letting up on the throttle so much as dialing back on the intensity as necessary. It’s a rare film in which we have no sense of how much time is passing between scenes, yet one never gets the sense of characters acting without an awareness of stakes or the life-or-death nature of what’s going on at any given moment. As the audience, we know more than D’Artagnan or any of the notable three Musketeers whom he first famously offends, then befriends, and by jumping between perspectives, Bourboulon easily keeps the intensity at a steady pitch, even when allowing for moments of intimacy. What’s fascinating is that, ordinarily, when the audience is watching the characters catch up to them, the film can be considered a bit of a bore, yet, here, through the nature of the story and Bourboulon’s approach to it, so much of the thrill comes from seeing just how D’Artagnan and friends get out of whatever sticky situation they’ve found themselves in.
Pio Marmaï as Porthos in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Between the source materials and the screenwriters, one might think that a Three Musketeers adaptation is easy to execute, but it really does come down to the inhabitation of the characters. Part of the reason that the ‘93 tale remains cherished to me is in-part due to its quotable nature (the number of times myself or my wife have followed up yelling for a child with “D’Artagnan!” is innumerable), but in the way that Keifer Sutherland (Young Guns), Charlie Sheen (Young Guns), Oliver Pratt (The Ice Harvest), Michael Wincott (Nope), Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business), and Tim Curry (Clue) portrayed their respective characters. Don’t get me wrong, Chris O’Donnell (Scent of a Woman) as D’Artagnan is delightful, but the 1993 version gives more shine to the rest than he. Here, perhaps due to splitting up the tale, each of the central cast is given a moment to shine, demonstrating an ensemble feel despite this very much being Civil’s film. As far as Part I goes, D’Artagnan is the lynch pin in all that goes well and sideways, with the rest emblematic of a larger world that he’s stepping into, unaware of how much his determination and naiveté are his strength and potential downfall. Civil is captivating in this way, balancing these sides of the noble and well-meaning young man who quickly ends up in over his head by virtue of trying to do the right thing always. For their part, any time we’re gifted with Vincent Cassel (Brother of the Wolf) as Athos, Romain Duris (Final Cut) as Aramis, or Pio Marmaï (Happening) as Porthos, the energy just crackles, starting with their fateful first meeting with D’Artagnan and the ways in which each demonstrate their arrogance and eagerness to brawl, whether they are in the right or not. Green (Casino Royale) as Milady is as deadly charming as one expects, a performance that’s not surprising given the actor’s prior work, but is no less fun, thrilling, or devilishly captivating. In short, there’s no shortage of actors who seem to be having an absolute ball (in one form or another) inhabiting these characters. Because of this, it’s hard not to feel drawn into Dumas’s world.
L-R: Vicky Krieps as Anne d’Autriche and Lyna Khoudri as Constance Bonacieux in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Aiding in this is the double-edged sword that is Nicolas Bolduc’s (Enemy) cinematography. There’s not a shot in the film that doesn’t feel natural, helped, of course, by what appears to be a great deal of on-location shooting, enabling the whole of D’Artagnan to feel authentic and grounded, even in its exceptional amount of political intrigue. There’s a reliance on natural looking colors within the frame, helping to anchor this sensation, enhancing the illusion of the stakes from the plight of the fictional to a perhaps-possibly real world. Bolduc also uses a shoot style that keeps things close to the actors, creating the sensation that we, the audience, are secret conspirators alongside the characters, just as one might feel reading the novel. This works wonders in aiding that aforementioned intimacy. However, this becomes a hindrance in some of the actions scenes as chaos reigns and it becomes difficult to track who is doing what to whom. This sort of shoot style does enable a wonderful tracking shot to occur most naturally when D’Artagnan joins the three Musketeers in battle against Richelieu’s men who’ve interrupted their duel, a sequence that helps highlight just how fearsome these four truly are. Unfortunately, the camera is so close to the action that one tends to get lost in the chaos of battle, rather than feeling enthralled by it. There’s a later sequence where this shoot style is modified slightly and works so much better to not only capture the fury of combat but the dangers that accompany it. This combined with a strange filter applied inconsistently that frays the corners of the screen on some shots leads one to be a little shaken out of the adventure when Bourboulon would, perhaps, prefer we not.
L-R: François Civil as D’Artagnan and Romain Duris as Aramis in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
If all you want from a Three Musketeers tale is action and adventure, you’re going to get all you can handle and more in Bourboulon’s D’Artagnan. So much so that the runtime flies by and leaves one clamoring for Part II – Milady. It’s the rare film where one prefers that the story not be sliced in half if only so that the experience can continue on. At this time, no U.S. release date is known for the second half, so we’ll just have to delight ourselves with D’Artagnan for now. Thankfully, it’s so satisfying on its own that the wait is simultaneously tempered by it and entirely painful as the ending elicits a desire to fulfil the gratification of the completed story post-haste. Maybe the distribution gods will be kind of release Milady in early 2024.
In theaters and on digital December 8th, 2023.
For more information, head to the official Samuel Goldwyn Films The Three Musketeers – Part I: D’Artagnan webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
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