Alexander Dumas-father wrote his novel “The Three Musketeers” in 1844. It is unlikely that the writer could have guessed how huge a layer for film adaptations he laid in his work for future generations. The number of adaptations is almost hundreds, and among them there are quite extravagant variants like the cartoon “Barbie and the Three Musketeers”. “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan” of 2023 is another attempt to approach the immortal classic. We tell you in the review below how it turned out.
“Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan” / The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan
Adventure genre
Directed by Marten Bourbulon
Starring Vincent Cassel, Eva Green, Francois Civil, Romain Duris, Pio Marmay
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2023
IMDb site
Young man Charles D’Artagnan (Francois Civil) wants to help a young girl who was attacked. But as a result of such a noble calling, the boy is almost killed. Then D’Artagnan goes to Paris to become one of the musketeers – and at the same time take revenge on the wrongdoers. A series of acquaintances and coincidences turn the personal difficulties of the hero into a matter of state importance. D’Artagnan will find himself in the very center of intrigue.
When watching the film, you should understand that this is only the first part of the story. The film crew shot two films simultaneously. The release of the second part called “The Three Musketeers: Milady” is scheduled for December 2023. It may seem to some that shooting two films at once based on such a boring original source is an overly self-confident decision. But in the case of “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan”, no questions arise.
After all, this is a great movie. This phrase alone already sounds quite amazing, because in the years since Dumas wrote the original work, humanity has seen the most diverse adaptations of the story about the three musketeers and everything related to them. Therefore, repetition of previously passed material may seem repulsive to someone.
However, the secret of the film lies precisely in the fact that it does not try to invent anything superfluous. Local history does not turn the original into a postmodern statement or a metanarrative puzzle. Just the opposite.
“The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan” pretty closely follows all the main elements of the novel. Only now he wraps it in such an exciting format that it is impossible to tear yourself away.
Take, for example, local locations. There are almost no artificial scenery created specifically for the film. Instead, we are offered to look at the real beauties of France, which are full of historical monuments and simply beautiful landscapes. And the cinematography and various directorial techniques only emphasize the excellent visual part of the film.
Also, the movie does not skimp on action scenes. They’re deliberately colorful here, which goes against the trend of making every battle “tactile” in movies after years of having the audience feel every blow. “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan” another, more classic road. The battles here are as beautiful as the surrounding France.
The beauty and lightness of what is happening seems to have been put at the mercy of everything. Because of this, the story is full of verbose, slightly unnatural dialogues and various similar moments. All for the sake of immersing the audience in the atmosphere of adventure. Here, the heroes will always be able to reveal all the secrets and achieve justice, and all the villains will be punished.
Such purposeful infantilism of the scenario allows you to relax and detach from real problems. This is what cinematography was once invented for.
However, the subtitle of the second part hints to us that not everything is so simple here either. In the film, Milady (Eva Green) turned out to be the most charming character. The development of her image works for this, as well as the convincing acting of Green herself. Milady beckons to her through all her manipulative techniques.
There is practically no romantic line in the film.
Many American film companies saw D’Artagnan’s story exclusively as a basis for romance, in which all the intrigues and battles were just a background for the close lovers’ hearts. But director Marten Bourbulon decided to move away from stereotypes. He shot a spectacle filled with action and the color of France, which makes you fall in love with yourself and does not let go of the screens for all 120 minutes of the time recording.
It doesn’t matter how old-fashioned the original novel is today. After all, if it produces works of such quality, then this is probably a sign of a true classic. And no less true dignified attitude towards her from the film crew.
Pros: the general sublime atmosphere of a light and pathetic adventure; incredibly beautiful landscapes of France; Eva Green will conquer your heart again with almost one hundred percent probability Cons: if the original source is boring, the film will not show anything new; not everyone will like the stretching into two parts Conclusions:
“The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan” is a somewhat old-fashioned movie, both in appearance and in substance. And it is not Dumas’ primary source that is to blame for this, but the director’s approach. However, the result was so bright and magical that you almost don’t want to complain about what you saw
