Film / The Three Musketeers (2023)

"Musketeers, you're soldiers destined to die... I'll take you where men die."

— Capitaine de Tréville, in Part II

The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a 2023 French historical adventure/swashbuckler film duology directed by Martin Bourboulon (Eiffel) and written by Mathieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière. It is based off the eponymous novel by Alexandre Dumas. While there have been a number of faithful and loose adaptations of the novel prior to it, it is the first nationally made big screen one for France since 1961.

In the early 17th century kingdom of France, Charles D'Artagnan, a young man from Gascogne, dreams of joining King Louis XIII's Musketeers corps. Once he reaches Paris (after being left for dead in his attempt to save a woman from being kidnapped), he joins the Musketeers as a cadet and befriends Athos, Porthos and Aramis. D'Artagnan's dedication to help his newfound friends and serve his king will lead him at the heart of a war where the future of France itself is at stake.

The films star François Civil as D'Artagnan, Vincent Cassel as Athos, Romain Duris as Aramis, Pio Marmaï as Porthos, Eva Green as Milady de Winter, Éric Ruf as the Cardinal Richelieu, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as the Duke of Buckingham, Vicky Krieps as Queen Anne, Louis Garrel as King Louis XIII, Lyna Khoudri as Constance Bonacieux and Ralph Amoussou as Hannibal.

The first part, D'Artagnan, was released on April 5, 2023. The second part, Milady, was released on December 13, 2023. The creators also have plans for television spinoffs focusing on the characters of Milady and Hannibal. The screenwriters also worked on an adaptation of Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo with a similar treatment, to be released in 2024.

Not to be confused with the British film that was released the same year.

Previews: Trailer (both films), D'Artagnan Trailer, Milady Trailer.

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This version of The Three Musketeers provides examples of:

Tropes in both parts

• Adaptation Deviation: Several things are not from the novel:
  • In Part I:
    • D'Artagnan doesn't have his early duel with Rochefort (who's not even named in the film and barely appears) on the way to Paris, he instead joins a fight against multiple henchmen, trying to save a noblewoman who's being kidnapped by Milady (whose face is obscured during the fight). He gets non-fatally shot by Milady for his trouble and ends up Buried Alive (which is not in the novel either). Also, his recommendation letter for Mr. de Tréville is not stolen.
    • Mr. Bonacieux is nowhere to be seen, removing the Sympathetic Adulterer aspect of Constance from the novel.
    • Athos being Protestant. His religion is never brought up in the novel, he's assumed to be Catholic in it. However, the real life musketeers that Aramis and Porthos are based on came from Protestant families.
    • Athos being framed for the murder of a countess and the other Musketeers working to clear his name.
    • The Protestant rebels subplot, in order to provide more impetus for The Siege of La Rochelle in Part II. Includes the Assassination Attempt by the Protestant rebels on the wedding of Gaston de France at the end, which isn't in the novel.
    • The Queen is forced to wear her diamonds at the Echevins Ball in the novel. Here, it's at the wedding of the King's brother, Gaston de France.
  • In Part II:
    • Mathilde d'Herblay (the sister of Aramis) and Hannibal are Canon Foreigners.
    • The film basically works the historical Chalais Conspiracy into the story, while Dumas never did.
    • Gaston de France as Big Bad is not from the novel either.
    • Milady attempts herself to kill the Duke of Buckingham, while in the novel she convinces John Felton to do it.
    • Constance being put to safety at the Duke of Buckingham's palace instead of a convent.
    • Constance being hanged in the place of Milady, while in the novel she's poisoned by Milady.
    • Milady being Spared by the Adaptation, instead of being judged and executed by beheading, and kidnapping Athos' son.
• Adaptation Drift: While both parts feature significant deviations from the source material, Part 1 mostly sticks to the general plot of the novel, while Part 2 tells an almost entirely original story with only some elements taken from the novel.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Milady de Winter is blonde in the novel, she's the brunette Eva Green here. She does put a blonde wig on at one point, as a disguise.
• Adaptational Diversity: Since the original novel is populated by 17th century French whites and there was little-to-no implications of anything but heterosexual relationships.
  • Constance Bonacieux is played by the Algeria-born Lyna Khoudri.
  • The addition of the Canon Foreigner Musketeer of black African descent Prince Aniaba "Hannibal" of Assinie in Part II. A man with his name and overall background did exist (and even became the first recorded black officer in the French armies), but under Louis XIV, not Louis XIII.
  • Porthos is portrayed a bisexual.
• Anachronism Stew:
  • In Part I, the music played during Buckingham's costume party is distinctly late-Baroque, which wasn't a style written until the late-17th/early-18th century.
  • One of Part II's shooting locations is the castle Fort la Latte (also known as Château de la Roche-Goyon in French) in Brittany (it also appeared in The Vikings). That castle has existed since The Late Middle Ages, but it was heavily fortified under the reign of King Louis XIV by his war minister Sébastien Le Prestre, Marquis de Vauban. Louis XIV wasn't born when the Three Musketeers story takes place (in the 1620s), and Vauban's additions are visible.
  • Part II's forts of Saint-Malo (which stands in as La Rochelle), named Petit Bé and Grand Bé, were also built under Vauban in Louis XIV's era, and some Vauban modifications on the ramparts of Saint-Malo are visible.
  • In a case of Black Vikings for Part II, the Musketeer Aniaba of Assinie (nicknamed "Hannibal" in the film) existed under the reign of Louis XIV, not Louis XIII.
• Casting Gag: Eric Ruf (Richelieu) played Aramis in 2004's Milady.
• Divided for Adaptation: Two films to adapt the (massive) novel instead of a single one. This is far from being the first time, as this was already the case for at least the 1932, 1961 and 1973 versions.
• Epic Movie: The budget for the whole production is over €70 million (about the same in dollars), which is quite big by European standards, and it adapts one of the best known epics there is in literature with two films in four hours, and boasts some big French acting names.
• Movie Multipack: Like the 1932, 1961 and 1973 versions of The Three Musketeers (and Vincent Cassel's own Mesrine diptych), this adaptation has been divided into two films made back-to-back.
• Race Lift: Constance Bonacieux is assumed to be white in the novel. She's played by the Algerian-born Lyna Khoudri in the films.
• Real Is Brown: There's all sorts of shades of brown in the costumes, the Color Wash etc.

Part I: D'Artagnan

• Actor IS the Title Character: The trailer has "François Civil is D'Artagnan", "Vincent Cassel is Athos", "Romain Duris is Aramis", "Pio Marmaï is Porthos" and "Eva Green is Milady".
• Adapted Out:
  • Mr. Bonacieux doesn't appear.
  • The Musketeers' servants (Planchet, Grimaud, Mousqueton and Bazin) don't appear either.
• Adaptation Name Change: D'Artagnan's father is never named in the novel, and the father of Real Life Charles de Batz D'Artagnan was named Bertrand de Batz. In the film, the name of D'Artagnan's father is mentioned as being "Achille".
• Adaptational Sexuality: Porthos is bisexual here. First, he's heard saying "I'd put anything in my bed and in my plate so long as I enjoy it", then he's seen sleeping with a woman and a man by his side.
• Allohistorical Allusion: At one point in the film, the Cardinal Richelieu says "The Queen prefers dishonour to war. She will have dishonour, and we will have war." It clearly invokes a much later historical quote, Winston Churchill's "You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war." to Neville Chamberlain following the Munich Agreement in 1938. Futher underlined by Louis XIII's "They don't want my peace. Let them have my war."
• Artistic License – History:
  • The choice of not having the Musketeers wear the traditional blue casaque of the Musketeers corps (in a manner not dissimilar to the series The Musketeers) was deliberate, but still makes little historical sense.
  • The name of D'Artagnan's father is mentioned as being Achille. The Real Life one was named Bertrand de Batz (the real D'Artagnan took his mother's name when he went to Paris).
• Bad Habits: In the climax, the Protestant rebels kill the monks of the wedding ceremony and replace them for their Assassination Attempt.
• Bloodstained Glass Windows:
  • Queen Anne and the Duke of Buckingham are Lured into a Trap in an abbey and a fight erupts between Buckingham and the Cardinal's guards, soon joined by D'Artagnan, Aramis and Porthos.
  • The climax with the Protestant rebels attacking the wedding of Louis XIII's brother inside a cathedral and the Musketeers defending the royals.
• Bond One-Liner: When Milady meets the Cardinal after kidnapping the countess (and after plenty of people and some of her own men got killed in the action and buried).
  Richelieu: Milady! Any difficulties?
  Milady: Dead and buried.
• Buried Alive: D'Artagnan is left for dead after the fight where he attempted to save the noblewoman from Milady and her goons, and the tavern owner with a peg leg is tasked to bury the bodies. Fortunately for D'Artagnan, he's not in a coffin nor buried too deep and has no body over him, and thus gets out of the ground pretty easily.
• Church Militant:
  • The Protestant rebels of La Rochelle are willing to fight the King and Richelieu to retain their privileges.
  • Louis XIII is surrounded by some Catholic nobles who want to besiege La Rochelle so France can be "one country, one god".
• Clear Their Name: When Athos is framed for the murder of a noblewoman, D'Artagnan, Aramis and Porthos investigate to clear his name.
• Cliffhanger: The Queen gets her diamonds back, but Constance is kidnapped, and Milady is up to no good.
• Death Row: On the day of his Public Execution, Athos is in a prison waiting to be taken to the Place de Grève to be beheaded. The Protestant rebels then attack the prison carriage transporting him and free him.
• Demoted to Extra: Rochefort has very few screentime and no line in this version.
• Fleur-de-lis:
  • A red one is used on a sword's hilt in the French title on promotional material, piercing the "O" and "Q".
  • Milady was iron-branded one on the back of her shoulder after murdering her abusive husband (since he was from the nobility).
• Following in Relative's Footsteps: D'Artagnan wants to become a Musketeer in service of the King like his father once was.
• Frame-Up: For a good part of the film, Athos is imprisoned for the murder of a noblewoman, which was actually committed by Milady.
• Gun Twirling: Porthos will sometimes fire one of his wheellock pistols and flip it upwards.
• Guns Akimbo: Porthos usually fights with a wheellock pistol in each hand.
• High-Dive Escape: When D'Artagnan catches up with Milady and takes the Queen's diamonds back from her, she lets him know that they will meet again and jumps from a cliff into the ocean.
• I Like Those Odds: When the guards of the Cardinal interrupt the duel between Athos and D'Artagnan, Porthos points out there's only three of them (the Musketeers) against seven enemies. D'Artagnan says it seems to him that they're rather four, on a tone indicating he takes the situation more positively than the others.
• I'm Not Here to Make Friends: The Cardinal Richelieu has this to say about the King:
  Richelieu: The King has no friends! Only subjects and enemies.
• In the Hood: Milady dons a hood in several instances.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Aramis doesn't hesitate to torture the peg-legged tavern owner who buried the bodies of the fight when Milady kidnapped the countess in order to hand over the rings which were cut from the hands of said bodies.
• Masquerade Ball: The Duke of Buckingham throws a masquerade ball when D'Artagnan has to get the Queen's diamonds back from him. Both Milady and D'Artagnan infiltrate the ball wearing masks.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The first movie's trailer contains scenes from the second movie.
• Motivated by Fear: Aramis says "You'd be wise to be afraid" the first time he meets D'Artagnan.
• The Musketeer: The three Musketeers and D'Artagnan are seen using both rapiers and guns in the film, but particularly Porthos with his wheellock pistols.
• Pocket Protector: During his first skirmish against Milady's men, D'Artagnan gets shot point-blank with a musket. Luckily, he had a Bible in his coat's pocket that stopped the bullet.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • Even hough he's Protestant at a time when the French Crown clamps down on majority Protestant cities and didn't get a royal pardon upon facing execution for a crime he didn't commit (from which he's saved by Protestant rebels), Athos is still loyal to King Louis XIII and helps protecting him in the climax.
  • D'Artagnan voices out his loyalty to his king several times and makes good on his words.
• Wedding Smashers: A group of Protestant rebels infiltrates the wedding of the King's brother in the climax to kill as many royals as they can with muskets and swords, Red Wedding-style. They Kill and Replace the monks, but the three Musketeers and D'Artagnan are swift and lucky enough to stop them.

Part II: Milady

• Adaptation Expansion: Most of the novel's main plots are covered with the two films, but then there's the matter of the Cliffhanger, with Milady being Spared by the Adaptation and kidnapping the son she had with Athos.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Musketeers have brought down The Conspiracy, but Constance Bonacieux has died thus leaving D'Artagnan heartbroken, and Athos' son has been kidnapped by Milady.
• Cliffhanger: The son of Athos is kidnapped by Milady at the end. This is presumably a setup for the planned Milady-centric series.
• Dies Differently In The Adaptation:
  • Henri de Talleyrand-Périgord, Count of Chalais, is suffocated to death by Gaston de France because He Knows Too Much, while in Real Life he was executed by beheading with an axe (and quite messily at that, the executioner was inexperienced and it took twenty-nine axe strikes to separate the head from the body, and Chalais died only at the twentieth).
  • In the novel, Milady poisons Constance to hurt D'Artagnan when she ends up in the same convent. Here, she dies by hanging as a result of the ill-advised switcheroo she did with Milady at the palace of the Duke of Buckingham, who ordered the guards to cover Milady's face and ignore what she has to say, which they tragically do with Constance (they seem to have a pretty poor photographic memory).
• Disney Death: By the end of D'Artagnan's fight against Milady in the stable she put on fire, Milady is seemingly buried under flaming debris that fell on her. Except she survives, as the Cliffhanger with the kidnapping of the son she had with Athos can attest.
• Give the Baby a Father: By the end, Porthos proposes to Aramis' sister Mathilde d'Herblay, who's been impregnated by a soldier who then got killed at the siege of La Rochelle.
• Murder by Mistake: Constance has the idea of switching clothes with Milady in her cell the very day she's to be executed, to free her out of pity. Then the guards come to seek Milady, with orders from the Duke of Buckingham to cover her face and not listen to her, take Constance to the gallows (they seem to have a very poor photographic memory) and hang her just as D'Artagnan arrives and recognizes her voice.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: This line by Milady.
  Milady: All I have done, all I am about to do, I do it for the glory of France.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: After Aramis (much to his dismay) learns that his sister Mathilde has become pregnant, he and Porthos confront the would-be father, who is another soldier on campaign in La Rochelle. The man declares his refusal to marry Mathilde, but after he is blown up by a lucky cannon (the blast strikes the would-be father but just knocks Porthos and Aramis back without injury), Aramis and Porthos claim to Mathilde that he died saving Aramis’s life.
• Refuge in Audacity: The musketeers clear themselves of potential charges of treason by returning after rescuing Athos's brother and claim that they did everything on the Cardinal's orders, using the signed note he gave to Milady.
• Right-Hand Attack Dog: While D'Artagnan and Milady are trying to escape from the castle of Chalais, their pursuers punch a hole in the door D'Artagnan is holding and send an attack dog after them through said hole. D'Artagnan is too scared to do anything against the animal and it's Milady that disposes of it.
• Sequel Hook: The Cliffhanger, that is, Milady's Disney Death and her kidnapping of her own son to hit Athos hard.
• Shotgun Wedding: The "Marrying the girl you knocked up" sort, with Aramis wanting the soldier who impregnated his sister to marry her, threatening him of a Duel to the Death if he doesn't. Things are rather quickly resolved when the soldier is immediately killed by a lucky cannon shot from La Rochelle.
• The Siege: It's one of the few Three Musketeers adaptations to actually work the historical siege of La Rochelle (1627) into the story like the novel did.
• Stock Scream: The Wilhelm Scream, from a man who falls to his death after an explosion during the fight at the ramparts of La Rochelle.
• Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Aramis throws one of his gauntlets at the face of the soldier who made his sister Mathilde pregnant when the man makes it clear he has no intention to marry her, to provoke him in a duel. It's cut short when a cannon shot from La Rochelle kills the soldier.
• Witness Protection: Constance was kidnapped by the Cardinal's men because she knows who's behind The Conspiracy, both in order to know who that person is and to protect her.

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