I was so looking forward to this movie. I didn't realise however, that this was only going to be 2 parts, D'Artagnan and Milady. I love The Three Musketeers, so much so I have a few copies of the book despite not reading it yet. I think the fancy one is even in French! So to have a version in the original dialect was amazing. This film wasn't all French, it's about the pending war between France and England that the Cardinal is trying to inspire. Instead a war between religion is pushed, but my point is that in some scenes we switch to English which I thought was nice.
Obviously what you should take from the above is that this is another subtitled film, so if you aren't into that sort of media then stop reading now.
I for one actually cannot get enough of foreign film right now, so I am so pleased the Unlimited Screenings at the moment are showcasing subtitled movies. I jumped at the chance to see this last night, why wait a week before the normal release? It was so good I am debating watching it again.
I was surprised actually, with how much of the French language I understood from my studies. I'm not very good at speaking French yet, but listening and understanding I seem to be doing okay-ish. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't look at the subtitles at all, I did quite a lot, but I was a little pleased with myself when I knew what they said off my own back. Something as simple as 'tres bien' or 'bonjour', or when you notice that the translation isn't quite what they said or was missing a little. There's a scene towards the end of the film featuring the King's council where they are discussing Buckingham and the translation misses out his name and just puts 'he' so unless you had listened or had some understanding you wouldn't have known who they were referring to. There were some other bits in the film where I was like no that isn't the right translation, not in that context but I suppose it was close enough. It doesn't need to be exact with subtitles I suppose, and of course the editors know what they are doing.
I was really pleased to see Vincent Cassel in this movie. My first ever foreign film was La Haine which I then saw way too many times as it was one of my A Level Film Studies topics. Cassel plays one of the main characters in that movie and to see him then in another French film, playing Athos (one of my two favourite Musketeers, the other is Aramis) was amazing. He plays the weathered man really well and has just the right amount of defeat in him to make it believable. Otherwise the only other cast member I recognised was Eva Green, who I also adore due to her solitary nature. I respect that. Hold my hands up though, I had no idea she was French until I googled her yesterday.
This film was exactly the swashbuckling adventure I had hoped it would be. Full of action, drama, romance. Ooooh I loved it. The only thing that let it down was the editing during the fight scenes, it might have been the cinema screen but it all went a little blurry/jilted during some of the fights so I couldn't clearly see who was who. The costume didn't help with that either, it was a little difficult to tell the King's men from the Cardinal's men. Dark brown and dark grey are hard to tell apart when you don't have lots of lighting.
Otherwise I thought the casting was perfect. Aramis had the attractive pointed face that I always imagine goes well with the character, Porthos was a little meaty and self indulgent as expected, Athos was pained and grizzled, Milady elegant and mysterious with a threatening underline. Absolute perfection.
I'm not sure if the white cliffs in the English segment was meant to be Dover. Going to assume it was. There's just something special about being in Dover and seeing it on screen at the same time, gives me goosebumps.
This movie gave me the same aesthetic vibes as the most recent TV show, you know the BBC one with all the actors I love from other BBC shows, like Strike, Merlin, and Father Brown. Both got the gritty atmosphere and historical colours spot on. The fights and charm were brilliant, especially in this film and the only thing I wanted to see more of was the dynamic between the Three Musketeers and then more so as D'Artagnan joins them on their adventure. This movie wasn't really about any of them, we focused a little more on the Queen and how her actions were about to cause a war. Of course we followed D'Artagnan's story in order to view this, but the King's men took a bit of a backseat which I thought was nice. I just really miss the banter, it was mostly serious.
This is a far cry from the lighthearted movie staring Logan Lerman from a few years back. This movie was pleasing to the eye, but dark. This was not a kids movie or a young adult film meant to make me fall in love with the man who played Percy Jackson. Very sobering but just as fantastic. I liked the inclusion of the graveyard and forest to duel and fight, I liked the crowded market and English ball. I loved the royal wedding and aftermath of events there. I really dont want to spoil this, but it isn't just the classic tale which has been remade a thousand times, this is an epic and I cannot wait until December for Milady.
Overall I give D'Artagnan a 9/10. It was lengthy but worth it. I do miss the banter between our main characters, but I loved seeing a more vicious take from each of them. Especially the Aramis torture scene, 100% my favourite Musketeer from this adaptation. I want more. I hear there is going to be a few TV series spin offs soon, I hope they keep the winning formula they have here.
So, want to discuss? Has anyone seen this yet or want to? You can even leave a comment on my socials in French, people do on my Disney blog all the time. Can't promise my response will be coherent but I'll try!
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