Review of The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) by Dawdlingpoet — 28 Nov 2021

This is a historical costume drama with elements of action adventure and it covers themes including secrets, the aristocracy and abuse of power.

It's a film I remember coming out in cinemas in the late 1990s but I avoided watching it at that time as I really didn't like the lead actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. I wouldn't say I'm his number 1 fan, by any means, even nowadays but I have enjoyed some period dramas in the recent past and I thought I'd give this a go with it being available via Netflix. I found the start a bit slow and slightly off putting in as much as just about all the characters seemed particularly snobby and unlikeable. There is a clear case of one upmanship present but I stuck with it. From early on, I found myself comparing it to the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean films - I suppose they also have bright and colourful settings and fancy costumes, being (of course) set in the past.

This film definitely does have a strong sense of morality about it, with the main plot being quite depressing in a way but I liked some of the plot developments. The King is regarded, or, at least to me anyway, came across as something of a dictator and I think its fair to say that this isn't something solely confined to history books. The film seemed quite atmospheric and immersive, with some beautiful settings and fancy costumes shown - it obviously wasn't the cheapest of films to make and it didn't have anything like the feel of a low budget film, so thats a good thing. How accurate an adaptation it is to the original novels by Alexandre Dumas, I don't know.

I found the main character, King Louis, to seem very naive and self important. I was quite taken aback by his response to some of the things he's told by advisors and others around him. He certainly isn't the most likeable of characters, as I say. I suppose there was an element of wanting to watch to see what became of him, if his people turned against him and so on, so in a sense maybe I did want to watch on to see what happened but equally I'd say that he wasn't the most appealing of people, neither did I feel emotionally concerned about him - if anything I was annoyed that he was so arrogant and disregarded important information and I hoped to see him learn the error of his ways. Musically speaking, the film features quite a sombre classical score, with heavy emphasis on strings. Having said that, when the plot pace gathers speed, it becomes more rousing and added to a sense of excitement present at that time.

As I say, cast wise, I'm not usually that keen on Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the main character, King Louis, although in this instance I thought he was well cast in some regards, as I do tend to presume him to be a rather smug type of a guy but thats maybe beside the point(?!). His somewhat thick American accent bothered me a bit, given the film isn't meant to be set in America but I suppose thats to be expected and perhaps thats better than if he were to have attempted an unconvincing French accent(?). As a character, he is quite cunning, quick witted and challenging at times. He is also a very determined and somewhat noble person, which DiCaprio depicts well. DiCaprio aside, the film features a surprising number of other big names, cast wise, some of which include Jeremy Irons as Aramis, John Malkovitch as Athos, Gerard Depardieu as Porthos (the 3 Musketeers), plus Gabriel Byrne as D'Artgnan. As well as this, Hugh Laurie appears as one of the kings advisors. One of the Musketeers also had a strong American accent, which I found distracting, although I did get a bit muddled about who was who, though I imagine it was Athos, being played by John Malkovich. In some scenes, it seemed almost as if it was a stage play with the relevant cast members looking the part but just not sounding right.

Somewhat surprisingly, there was an amusing scene, in which a dark comedy aspect came in to play but I won't provide spoilers by going in to any details. The main story seems so sombre that perhaps that was needed to lighten things up a little bit, if but briefly.

I felt that this film went on a bit too long and it could have done with having a fair bit of it taken out. At just over two hours and ten minutes long, its certainly not the shortest of films and at times its almost painful viewing, seeing how King Louis speaks to his ladies, how he regards himself. Having said that, it made me all the more keen to see things work out favourably for his brother.

Content wise, the film features some moderately strong language, sex references and partial nudity, plus some moderate violence, involving swords and knives. The film carries a 12 rating to reflect this.

This is most certainly not the best period drama, or costume drama, I've seen, although it would be a bit much to say that its awful - I'm sure it does appeal to some people but I didn't think a great deal of it overall.