The cruel King Louis XIV of France has a secret twin brother whom he keeps imprisoned. Can the twin be substituted for the real king?
Paris is starving, but the King of France is more interested in money and bedding women. When a young soldier dies for the sake of a shag, Aramis, Athos and Porthos band together with a plan to replace the king. Unknown to many, there is a 2nd king, a twin, hidden at birth, then imprisoned for 6 years behind an iron mask. All that remains now is D'Artagnan, will he stand against his long time friends, or do what is best for his country?.—Leonardo DiCaprio
Ruling France with an iron fist, two long decades after Queen Anne gave birth to a boy, the cruel young monarch, King Louis XIV, squanders the treasury on war and women, condemning the people to a life of poverty and hunger. As the loyal leader of the king's guard, Captain D'Artagnan, shields Louis from sinister machinations against him, Christine, the beautiful but impecunious fiancé of Raoul, a soldier and only son of Athos, the former musketeer, catches the eye of the debauched aristocrat. Now, Athos along with the retired ex-brothers-in-arms, Aramis and Porthos, have a dangerous mission to accomplish, unbeknownst to them that an unknown twin brother who is left to rot in an impenetrable prison of the Bastille for the past six years, may have the solution to the nation's present problems. Can the man in the iron mask save France?—Nick Riganas
1662. Paris starves while youthful Louis XIV debauches young women and wastes the treasury on war. The captain of his guard, D'Artagnan, protects him from conspirators. Louis casts his eye on penniless Christine, the sweetheart of Raoul, a soldier and only son of retired musketeer, Athos. To have Christine, Louis sends Raoul to harm's way on the front. To kill the leader of the conspirators, the king calls in ex-musketeer Aramis, now a priest, accompanied by the Falstaffian Porthos. The queen mother, in widow's weeds, grieves in her chapel, and in the Bastille rots a solitary prisoner, face locked in an iron mask. Perfidy, silence, loyalty, rage, and guilt are set to collide.—<[email protected]>
In 1638 Queen Anne of France gives Birth to a boy, who will inherit the throne one day. But, only known to few, there is a twin brother born minutes later. 22 years later.
The Kingdom of France faces bankruptcy from King Louis XIV's (Leonardo DiCaprio) wars against the Dutch, causing French citizens to starve (he has rationed all the food for the army). As the country moves toward revolution, King Louis prepares for war. At this point, the four musketeers have gone their separate ways (Of the Musketeers, who had served his father Louis XIII faithfully, only one is still on the king's side); Aramis (Jeremy Irons) is now a priest, Porthos (Gérard Depardieu) is a womanizing drunkard, and Athos (John Malkovich) has retired to his farm. Only D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne) has remained loyal to the musketeers and is now the captain.Louis XIV is having trouble with the Jesuits (who have declared his wars unjust and the source of public hunger). After an assassination attempt on Louis by the Jesuit order is foiled by D'Artagnan, Louis instructs Aramis to hunt down and kill their leader.
Athos' only son, Raoul (Peter Sarsgaard), aspires to join the musketeers. At a palace festival, Louis sets his eyes on Christine Bellefort (Judith Godrèche), Raoul's fiance. He immediately plots to send Raoul to the battlefront (Raoul has already served at the front and knows that he has been recalled on King's orders as his eyes have fallen on Christine), where he is killed soon after. Aware that Louis orchestrated his son's death, Athos renounces his allegiance to the king (& makes an enemy out of D'Artagnan in the process). After Raoul is killed, Athos wants to attack Louis XIV, but is stopped by D'Artagnan.
Aramis summons Porthos, Athos, and D'Artagnan for a secret meeting in which he reveals he is the Jesuit's secret leader and has a plan to depose Louis. Athos and Porthos agree to join him, but D'Artagnan refuses. Athos brands him a traitor and threatens him with death should they ever meet again. Aramis cannot understand why D'Artagnan chooses to stand up for Louis XIV.Meanwhile, Louis seduces Christine (he invites her to the palace and assigns her an apartment there), who later begins to suspect his part in Raoul's death (after she gets a letter from Raoul, which he had posted before his death, in which he forgives her for what he knows Christine would have done).
The musketeers infiltrate the Île Sainte-Marguerite prison and free a prisoner wearing an iron mask. The prisoner is taken to the countryside, where Aramis reveals he is Philippe, King Louis' brother. Their mother, Queen Anne (Anne Parillaud), gave birth to identical twins. Louis XIII, to avoid dynastic warfare between his sons, sent Philippe to live in the countryside and grow up without knowing his true identity. When Louis XIII died, he revealed Philippe's existence to Anne and Louis XIV. Anne wanted to restore Philippe's birthright. Instead, Louis was too superstitious to have his brother killed and, to preserve his power, imprisoned him in the iron mask to conceal his identity, an act that Aramis executed. Aramis wishes to redeem himself and save France by replacing Louis with the more benevolent Philippe. The musketeers tutor Philippe in courtly life and how to behave like Louis. Meanwhile, Athos develops paternal feelings for Philippe.
At a masquerade ball, the musketeers lure Louis to his quarters and subdue him. They dress Philippe in Louis's clothes and return him to the festivities while taking Louis to a waiting boat in the dungeons. D'Artagnan, however, sees through the ruse (Anne also visited Philippe at the ball, in a major departure from protocol) after Christine publicly accuses Philippe of Louis's role in Raoul's death (instead of dismissing her, the King bends down to comfort her). He forcibly escorts Philippe to the dungeons. Musketeer soldiers intervene before Athos, Porthos, and Aramis can escape with Louis. The king is rescued as the three musketeers get away, but Philippe is captured. Though Louis is prepared to kill Philippe, D'Artagnan, upon learning Philippe's true identity (as Louis's brother), begs that he be spared. Louis instead orders Philippe back to the Bastille and into the iron mask. Soon after, a grieving Christine commits suicide.
D'Artagnan contacts the musketeers to help rescue Philippe from the Bastille. Louis, suspecting an attempt, ambushes them at the prison. Louis offers D'Artagnan clemency in exchange for surrender. D'Artagnan refuses, privately telling his comrades that he is Louis and Philippe's father from an affair with the Queen, and that that was the reason for his loyalty to Louis. As they charge one final time at Louis and his men, they are fired upon; their bravery compels the soldiers to close their eyes before firing, and all miss. Louis attempts to stab Philippe but fatally wounds D'Artagnan. Philippe nearly strangles Louis to death, but D'Artagnan's dying words halt him. D'Artagnan's top lieutenant, Andre (Edward Atterton), angered by his mentor's death, swears his men to secrecy and sides with Philippe. They switch the twins again, and Philippe orders Louis locked away. He then names Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as his closest advisers.
At a small graveside service for D'Artagnan, Philippe tells Athos that he has come to love him like a father, which Athos reciprocates. Philippe later issues Louis a royal pardon and confines him to the countryside to live in seclusion, while he goes on to become one of France's greatest kings.
