DOUBLE IMPACT

Teen heart-throb, Leonardo DiCaprio, will soon be seen in a double role in Randall Wallace’s ambitious romantic costume drama, The Man In The Iron Mask...

He may have sunk with the Titanic but memories of his sunshine hair and sunny smile refuse to fade away. Women all over the country, rather all over the world, have been Leonardo struck. He’s left them swooning, sighing, sometimes sobbing, sometimes smiling. This DiCaprio sure is devastating, so it’s not surprising that the query uppermost on everyone’s mind is: When will the Titanic hero rise from the depths of the ocean again? Soon, we can promise. And this time he’ll reign as Louis XIV, the Sun King who ruled France in the golden era with the tyranny of the chosen one. It’s a double role actually, because DiCaprio also plays the title role of the mysterious masked crusader in Randall Wallace’s ambitious romantic costume drama The Man In The Iron Mask.

Leo, as he is known among friends, couldn’t have chosen better. This epic extravaganza, inspired by Alexander Dumas’ much-read 19th century novel, is a worthy prologue to his Oscar winning misadventure. Although Leo is quite obviously the star...or should we say stars...of the show, the film boasts of other mega-stars like Jeremy Irons who plays Aramis, Gerard Depardieu who was Wallace’s first choice for Porthos and Gabriel Bryne as d’Artagnan. Judith Godreche is Christine in her first English film, and Anne Parillaud of Nikita fame returns to make an irresistible Queen, while John Malkovich, who was bowled over by Wallace’s “passion” and “enthusiasm” to give the nod, is an awe-inspiring Athos. At the end of a 14-day shoot in some of France’s finest castles and chateaus, he was the first to pay the debutant director his first compliment, “I had a better time on this than I’ve had in a long time.”

Randall Wallace is a karate kid who studied religion and started his career as a novelist. He has published five novels and has also penned the screeplay for Mel Gibson’s ambitious Braveheart. This is his first attempt as a writer-director and it is obvious that Wallace doesn’t believe in small beginnings. He has started BIG with a period which has long fascinated this writer with a special penchant for Dickens, Dumas, Tolstoy and Pushkin. The film is set in 1660, when the age of chivalry and the codes of honour, which dominated the lives of the people, are slowly being eroded by the combined onslaught of pragmatism and cynicism, fostered by Louis’ tyrannical reign. Faced with the decay of all that they hold in high esteem, Aramis, Athos and Porthos, the three musketeers now well past their prime, are forced to come out of retirement and fight to save the dreams that are fast disappearing. The film is sure to result in a wave of nostalgia for the once much loved Wild Bunch of the 17th century. The trio, who return to challenge the throne, looking older, greyer and so much more wiser.

The event that triggers off their spirited comeback is the death of Athos’ son Raoul in the battlefield. He has been deliberately sent to his death by his dictatorial monarch, who lusts after Raoul’s fiancee Christine (Judith Godreche). Athos manages to elicit the support of two allies, Aramis and Porthos, but d’Artagnan continues to swear allegience to the king, bound to him by a mysterious allegience. Athos’ plan is to abduct the monarch and replace him with his twin, who soon after his birth, has been spirited away to a fortress on the coast of Brittany, and hides his existence behind an iron mask. What makes this tale of deceit and deception all the more intriguing and interesting, in that the existence of the man in the iron mask is historically testified by a record discovered when the Bastille was stormed in 1798. “Prisoner Number 64389000,” it said, “The Man in the Iron Mask.” His identity was never revealed, but that historical fact perhaps resulted in Dumas’ speculation in his novel that maybe, he was the royal twin of Louis XIV, who was removed from Paris to prevent factional in-fighting over succession to the throne. Randall Wallace borrows this idea from Dumas, and adapting freely has come up with what Irons’ describes as a “thundering good tale”.

It is an unusual and complex tale of tales which quickly hooked DiCaprio too, because as he points out, “there are not a lot of movies like this.” Leo goes on to explain that the story is about “valour and passion and honour, as opposed to this machismo thing that’s going on right now. It has so many twists and turns and you really get wrapped up in what’s happening. When I read the script, I couldn’t put it down”.

Like the Titanic a lot of effort has gone into recreating history this time too. Chateaus were reconstructed or dressed down. Hundreds of 17th century costumes were assembled for a major fete scene shot at Vaux-le-Vicomte, a magnificent estate built by the same team that later recreated Versailles. The costumes were designed by James Acheson who has earlier won Oscars for The Last Emperor, Dangerous Liasons and Restoration. The plumed hats, the eloborate suits, the froth of lace at the neck and the wreathes of gold will no doubt look just “tailor made” for Leo. The iron mask adding to the mystique and mystery. The film, which was shot in France last summer, should cross the seven seas to India soon, and it shouldn’t be surprising if Leo, as the tyrannical Louis XIV and his terrific twin has the women swooning, sighing and smiling again. And this time it’ll be ‘Double Dicaprio, Single Rate.’