THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK: 4K UHD Blu-ray (United Artists, 1998) Shout! Select

 Exceptionally loose in its adaptation of the immortal novel by Alexandre Dumas, director, Randall Wallace’s The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) is an entrancing escapade, rarely to take itself seriously. This is all to the good, as the complexities of Dumas’ romantic swashbuckler have been skillfully distilled to allow some of Hollywood’s leading thespians an exercise of their creative muscle and artistry without ever having to concern themselves with going over the top. The Man in the Iron Mask is a tale of survival; of a brother, unjustly exiled by his jealous and enterprising identical twin, and of the ‘all for one and one for all’ nobility exuded by the King’s royal guard, to right this wrong and thus, steer France to prosperity by trading one King for another. Wallace’s flick romanticizes the hell out of Dumas’ already vibrant characters, ably assisted by Nick Glennie-Smith’s bombastic underscore, François de Lamothe and Albert Rajau’ eye-popping and colorful art direction, Philippe Turlure’s opulent set decoration and elegant costumes by James Acheson; all of it, splendidly emphasized in Peter Suschitzky’s exquisite cinematography. The picture features Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrnes as Aramis, Athos, Porthos and D'Artagnan respectively - Musketeers sworn to uphold the law. Alas, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the dual role as King Louis and Phillippe.

It was a banner run for DiCaprio, whose previous starring role in that ‘other’ important picture – James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) somehow, and rather inexplicably, managed to blunt his overall impact in The Man in the Iron Mask – at least, with the critics. The prepubescent sect responsible for falling in love with DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson in Cameron’s movie helped buoy the box office for The Man in the Iron Mask. Not that it needed any help, as Wallace’s direction here is both masterful and swift. The picture’s agility is swift, yet entertaining – the economy in the storytelling offset by its uber-gloss and glamorized backdrop. Alas, Leonardo DiCaprio is ill-suited. It’s DiCaprio’s stunted prepubescence that holds him back. Although he appears to have never shaved in his life, DiCaprio was chronically cast as the much sought-after, sexy leading man. While this may have appealed to very young girls, it’s rather off-putting on the screen, especially since most of his leading ladies exhibit at least a decade’s worth of advanced physical maturity opposite him. Next to Kate Winslet’s stately Rose in Titanic, as example, DiCaprio’s Jack is more the cocky adolescent than the charismatic vagabond who has seen much of life from the wrong side of the tracks.

In The Man in the Iron Mask, DiCaprio must also contend with the effete quality of the period costumes of the French court, to emasculate all but the most robust paragons, and all but making a grotesque pantomime of DiCaprio cherub-esque façade, draped in all those regal brocaded robes and heavy wigs. At one point, Phillippe assures the Muskateers that “I wear the mask, it does not wear me.” And yet, tricked out in James Acheson’s period garb, DiCaprio very much appears the clotheshorse caught in an odd pretend, like a child trying on his dad’s hat for the first time. The whole point of Dumas’ novel was there were two ‘men’ of varying temperament, yet balanced masculinity to spar: one, spoiled by the luxuries of his privilege, the other, made stout-hearted with humility by the fateful circumstance of an unmerited internment. DiCaprio fails to carry off the refined piss elegance of a King corrupted by absolute power and a wanton disregard for his people. His crawling out of bed with a cocky, James Bond-ish denial that the previous night’s sexual escapades with an ever-evolving roster of courtesans, who appear to be emotionally wounded by his rejections, smacks of a simpering silliness rather than the lustful farewell of a true rogue in royal harness. It just doesn’t come off, and, in fact, leans more towards an unintended, homoerotic undercurrent.

Denied access to shoot in Versailles, Randall Wallace makes the most of the positively stunning and stately grounds of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte instead. Vaux-le-Vicomte was actually the prototype for Versailles, and, the private residence of Nicolas Fouquet, Superintendent of Finances for Louis XlV. So, the substitute is forgivable as it is noteworthy. As history relates, at a 1661 ‘fête de Vaux’ to inaugurate the chateau the cursorily otiose Louis XlV became acutely sentient that his own palatial digs paled in opulence. Hence, the fête led to Fouquet’s falling from favor. It also concluded with Louis commissioning construction on the Palace of Versailles. In re-inventing Dumas’ novel, Wallace, who also wrote the screenplay for The Man in the Iron Mask was to take many liberties. Indeed, in the novel the plot to replace Louis is foiled. And while his twin is initially presented as the more altruistic, as the chapters progress, we learn about a King who is intelligent, mature and sorely misunderstood, in short, ideally suited and deserving of the throne he presently occupies. This Man in the Iron Mask bears no earthly comparison to that story. The characters and situations are used indiscriminately by Wallace to suit a far more traditional swashbuckling scenario. In the novel, the Musketeers remain divided in their opinions. Aramis and Porthos side with the prisoner. D'Artagnan holds steadfast to his fidelity to the King. This leaves Athos as the arbitrator. Rather cowardly, chooses instead to retire from the political fray, thus leaving the fate of history to the others.

Sworn to King and country, D'Artagnan exposes his former compatriots for their treason and is ordered by the Crown to bring his one-time friends to justice.  Unable to reconcile his torn loyalties, D’Artagnan instead resigns his command. In absence of his expertise, Aramis’ fortress is stormed by Louis’ men, but at great loss of life, including Porthos. Aramis takes political asylum in Spain and D'Artagnan begs for mercy. The King does pardon him. But it is bittersweet as, in the King’s service, D’Artagnan is later cut down at the battle of Maastricht. Interestingly, The Man in the Iron Mask was only attempted on screen once before, as a 1929 silent, starring a robust Douglas Fairbanks as D'Artagnan. In this version, Louis is still depicted favorably, the twin – as evil and a pawn in an insidious plot until D'Artagnan and his companions foil the threat. Conversely, Wallace chose to render Louis the villain in this 1998 reboot. Adding impetus to action, D’Artagnan is also implicated as the father of the twins, having long ago dallied with Queen Mother Anne (Anne Parillaud) behind closed doors.

Furthermore, his death at the end of the picture is not in keeping with history itself. D’Artagnan is actually based on Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, a captain of the musketeers killed during the Siege of Maastricht in 1673. And, while Louis XIV, already wed to his first wife by 1660, did have a brother, the effete Philippe I – Duke d’Orléans – he was neither conspiratorial against the Crown nor the King’s actual twin.  Finally, Wallace’s movie illudes to a peaceful France’s following the events as depicted in this movie. In reality, Louis spent the rest of his years at war. Liberally mining Dumas’ back catalog of authorship, adding characters and plot elements from several of his other romantic stories, including The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Wallace's revisionist takes on The Man in the Iron Mask heralds a time-honored tradition in American movies, treating world history and literary masterworks as mere fodder for a far more improbably glamorous affair. It helps that Wallace has the opulence of location work in France as his luminous backdrop. Candle-lit to sumptuous perfection, ‘this’ Man in the Iron Mask never falters in its own mythology. The screenplay quickly escalates into one hell of a good roller coaster ride at a clipping pace, peppered in marvelous performances that mostly translate to grand entertainment.

We begin in 1662 – a kingdom cruelly divided between the haves and have nots.  France teeters on the cusp of financial ruin, escalated by Louis’ wars against the Dutch Republic. The nation’s largely agrarian serfdom is impeded by crippling taxation, its citizens living off rotten food. Seemingly oblivious to his country’s woes, or perhaps merely disinterested in them, Louis indulges in plans for yet more combat abroad while casually pursuing his carnal lusts at home with a bevy of beauties. Meanwhile, the once proud musketeers have disbanded. Aramis has renounced his past glories and become a priest. Deprived the structure of their male comradery, Porthos has since devolved into a philandering drunk. Athos is retired, living with his only son, Raoul (Peter Sarsgaard) who aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps. Only D'Artagnan remains in service to the King. At a festival, Aramis learns of a Jesuit order having declared Louis’ wars unjust. Louis personally instructs Aramis to secretly hunt down and kill the Jesuit leader, unaware the man entrusted with this task is, in fact, the one he seeks to destroy. Also, in attendance are Raoul and his fiancée, Christine Bellefort (Judith Godrèche) for whom Louis has set his own cap to conquer and possess. Recognizing Christine’s fidelity cannot be broken – at least, not while Raoul remains - Louis sends his competition to the battlefront where he is almost immediately killed in action. Bitter, and knowing his son’s loss was deliberately plotted by his King for purely superficial reasons, Athos angrily warns D'Artagnan; Louis is now his sworn enemy. An uprising over spoiled food is quelled by D’Artagnan, who promises to address the mob’s concerns. While Louis smugly vows to handle this situation, he instead orders his chief adviser, Pierre executed for distributing the rotten food he earlier promoted, and furthermore, decries all rioters henceforth are to be shot.

Athos’ attempt on Louis’ life is thwarted by D'Artagnan. Bitterly, Athos must retreat in exile. Meanwhile, Louis seduces Christine on the pretext he deeply cares for her. Furthermore, he advises his personal doctor to treat Christine’s sick mother and sister, who have fallen ill from their grief. Aramis summons Porthos, Athos and D'Artagnan for a secret meeting. He confides his true identity as the Jesuit leader and shares his plot to oust Louis from the throne. While Athos and Porthos concur, the King is corrupt, D'Artagnan refuses to partake, citing his oath of honor to the Crown. In reply, Athos brands D’Artagnan a traitor and threatens him with death should they ever meet again. Now, the three remaining musketeers enter a remote prison and smuggle out an unnamed prisoner in an iron mask. Ushering the boy to a private chateau in the country, and freeing him from his restraints, Aramis reveals to all that he is Philippe, Louis's identical twin brother.

Aramis regales his cohorts with a terrible tale: Queen Anne, having given birth to twins, but told one died by her husband, Louis XIII, eager to avoid a dynastic war between his sons, thus exiled the latter, Philippe to a country estate.  However, on his deathbed Louis revealed Philippe's existence to both Anne and his heir apparent. The Queen hoped to restore Philippe’s birthright. Instead, Louis, too superstitious to condemn his own brother to death, nevertheless devised a fate ‘worse than’, imprisoning Philippe in a mask made of iron to keep his true identity a secret; a plan, Aramis very reluctantly carried out. Determined to redeem himself and save France, Aramis plans to replace Louis with Philippe on the throne. Hence, the musketeers begin to groom Philippe in the ways of court life, even as Athos develops fatherly feelings toward him. At a masquerade ball, the musketeers lure Louis to his quarters and overtake him. He awakens, dressed as Philippe and is hastened to the dungeon. Swiftly, D'Artagnan uncovers the ruse, after a distraught Christine confronts a bewildered Philippe, the King orchestrated her beloved Raoul’s death.

The real King would not have stood for such a public rebuke. But Philippe – as Louis – comforts the girl with his own inimitable compassion. D’Artagnan takes Philippe to the dungeon. They are confronted by the musketeers with Louis in tow.  D’Artagnan orders Louis’ return. In the resultant struggle, Louis is restored to D’Artagnan, who also manages to hang on to Philippe as the musketeers escape by boat. Startled by Philippe’s uncanny resemblance to the King, D’Artagnan begs mercy from Louis, as does Queen Anne. Wounded by what he perceives as their betrayal towards him, Louis instead mercilessly orders Philippe put back into the mask and to ‘wear it until he loves it’.  Mad with revenge, Louis also commands D'Artagnan to bring him the severed heads of Athos, Porthos and Aramis or Louis will have his own as his trophy. Distraught over Raoul, Christine hangs herself outside Louis’ bedroom window, a blatant reminder of the dark side to his passion.

Recognizing Louis’ instability to rule at last, D'Artagnan conspires with the musketeers to free Philippe from the Bastille once again. Suspecting as much, Louis orders his remaining guards to ambush the musketeers at the prison.  D'Artagnan is slyly offered clemency by Louis in exchange for his surrender and Philippe’s return.  Instead, D'Artagnan reveals to all Philippe and Louis are, in fact, sons born of his passionate affair with Queen Anne. Reunited in this last stand, the musketeers charge the King and his guards. Unable to commit murder – even for the Crown, the King’s guards spoil their shots, allowing the musketeers and Philippe to prevail.  Overcome with insane jealousy, Louis charges Philippe with his sword; D’Artagnan placing himself between his two sons and Louis’ blade, thus mortally wounded.  Philippe is prevented from retaliation against Louis by Queen Anne.  As he lays dying, D’Artagnan forgives Athos his loyalty to the King – his son too. Louis is exiled and replaced on the throne by Philippe – the whole affair silenced. In the movie’s epilogue, we learn Philippe – whose identity was forever more kept France’s most carefully guarded secret – ruled justly and brought his nation through a golden reign of immense prosperity.

Capped off by this ‘sort of’ fictionalized ‘happily ever after’, and teeming with full-blooded melancholy, oft representing the very best in cinematic swashbucklers, ‘this’ Man in the Iron Mask may not be true to Dumas’ immortal tale, but it certainly weighs sincerely on the time-honored cliché of ‘all for one and one for all.’ DiCaprio’s casting remains the movie’s Achilles’ Heel, although he does fare respectably as the empathetic and more soft-spoken Philippe. However, as the devious sovereign, DiCaprio is quite simply out of his depth. His cynical declaration for Philippe to wear the mask until he loves it, comes across as a petulant whimper than seasoned-in-bitterness, seething with open animosity and fitful rage. Ironically, each of DiCaprio’s characterizations is threadbare and the least delineated of all the characters. The biggest fault remains in DiCaprio, as his costars, given far less time in dialogue and situations to fulfill their commitments to the story, nevertheless manage, through sheer strength of craftsmanship and inimitable screen presence, to establish their potency. The movie’s salvation is to be unearthed in the lusty interactions between Malkovich, Depardieu, Byrnes and Irons. Any one of these monumental talents could have elevated the stature of The Man in the Iron Mask. Combined, they are a brilliant ensemble, capably picking up the plot when the ‘star’ invariably falters and, on occasion, falls apart completely.  In the final analysis, The Man in the Iron Mask is enjoyable and splendid. It works on a more superficial level than the Dumas classic; its overall storytelling arc, a wan ghost flower of the novel. Nevertheless, there is lots here to admire and revisit nearly 30 years later.

Having already released The Man in the Iron Mask on standard Blu-ray back in 2018, under their Shout! Select marketing banner, Shout! again, now under their newly christened Shout! Studio’s ‘select’ banner re-releases it in 4K.  The results are gratifying. MGM, the custodians of this catalog release have done an excellent job scanning this at native 4K. The results speak for themselves. Employing an original camera negative, we get a gorgeous palette of ripe colors, boldly saturated. Fine detail abounds. Contrast is superb. Film grain looks indigenous to its source and SFX are beautifully rendered with refined crispness. But the most drastic improvement here is in flesh tones. For some odd reason, all previous DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Man in the Iron Mask have suffered from an unhealthy ‘piggy pink’ cast on human flesh, in some cases, even to appear as if a hefty dollop of Pepto Bismol had been blended into the make-up. In 4K, flesh appears softly to glow with a more natural pinkness. The 5.1 DTS has been directly ported over from the original Blu and sounds excellent. There are no extras on the 4K. But Shout! has included their old Blu-ray in this set, padded with extras: two ‘interview’ puff pieces, the first, with producer, Paul Hitchcock, the latter, featuring Production Designer Anthony Pratt. Each has some good points and astute reflections on the making of the movie. Shout! has also ported over extras from the old MGM/Fox disc – including Randall Wallace’s comprehensive audio commentary and 3 featurettes made at the time The Man in the Iron Mask was in production: Myth and The Musketeers, Director’s Take, and finally, a superficially cobbled together ‘making of’.  We also get alternate mask prototypes and the movie’s original theatrical trailer. Bottom line: Shout!’s remastered 4K easily bests all previous home video releases of The Man in the Iron Mask. If you are a fan, you will want to upgrade with this reissue – hopefully, for the last time.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

5

EXTRAS

3