My name is d'Artagnan,
lieutenant in the musketeers serving the little boy King of France.
His life is now threatened by rebels.
The Queen Regent Anne and her minister Cardinal Mazarin
have commanded me to reunite my old friends,
the three musketeers to help protect him.
But they have left the service.
Where to find them?
COURTIERS: God save the King!
God save the King!
I like these loyal demonstrations, Maman.
But I think, Your Eminence, that my people are still angry.
Madame de Beauvais, take His Majesty to the gardens.
I obey you, Maman.
Eminence.
Shall we go riding today, Your Majesty?
-I think I'll try Achilles. -For a while.
(DOOR CLOSES)
-Well, the riot is still dangerous. -I have imposed a curfew.
You will find now the lion has roared, it will lie down.
-Good. Let there be no more disorder. -Madame, we are still in grave danger.
Already we have had a warning.
(DOOR OPENS)
(WHISPERING) Ma'am.
Here is a man whom we must cultivate.
Monsignor.
-Madame. -Monsignor de Gondy,
you requested an audience?
To assure Your Majesty of my loyalty in these troublous times.
-It is your duty to be loyal. -Truly, Madame,
but I also have the power to help.
I hear that you aspire to promotion.
To wear the red hat of a cardinal.
Your Majesty's recommendation to the Vatican would...
But you're already deputy to the Archbishop of Paris.
-You will take his place when he dies. -That may not be for years.
-The throne needs support now. -I do not buy loyalty.
Your Majesty, could you...
Monsignor.
Be sure Her Majesty will heed your request.
I trust so, Your Eminence.
-Anne! -(SOBBING)
-That man is both powerful and dangerous. -I detest him.
We have put down the mob. What more have we to fear?
Nothing. So long as we have the King.
Who holds the King, holds France.
-I speak for the people. -And I for the nobility.
This is an affair for men, Madame de Longueville.
-Hardly for grand ladies. -My dear count,
we can make excellent use of Madame's receptions.
Oh, stop fussing, Nanette.
Now, please be good. I promise not to catch cold.
Now!
Parliament, the nobility, the church.
-Under this emblem, all France is united. -No, Monsieur Broussel.
Not while the Prince de Beaufort is still in prison.
He alone will be followed by all parties.
-Then what are we doing to rescue him? -We are not idle, Madame.
-If I may offer counsel... -So the church is with us.
The church is above party, Monsieur. I go where I'm needed.
But if you wish to know how the Prince may be released, Monsieur de Rochefort,
come and see me at Notre-Dame.
How intriguing.
A plan to rescue the Prince De Beaufort from the castle of Vincennes.
(DOOR OPENING)
(MAN LAUGHING)
-Another game for me, Monsieur de Beaufort. -It's a wonder I can play at all
with armed guards glued to my heels.
-My orders, Prince, are to guard you closely. -Are not these walls security enough,
Monsieur La Ramée?
You! Down there!
There's one more ball.
Throw it up, will you?
Do you hear me?
Never mind, Prince.
You'll have plenty of time to improve your tennis.
You have too trusting a nature, La Ramée.
Surely you don't think this prison is going to hold me for very long.
With these walls and a 60-foot drop into the moat,
that door, and a full company of guard?
Shall I tell you something?
I've already thought of more than 40 methods of escape.
-(DOOR OPENS) -Ah.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(RAMEE LAUGHS)
I'd say you'd do better to keep your mind on your tennis.
Who knows, you might beat me someday.
-I shall beat you. -Mmm?
I shall beat you before many days have passed.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
(SIGHS)
Find Athos, Porthos and Aramis.
If we four were united once more, we could conquer the world.
But where in all France do I start, Monsieur Cardinal?
WOMAN'S VOICE: Monsieur?
Devil taken, Planchet, Madeleine has disguised you well.
-Perhaps I can help you find them, sir. -No, you do not know where they are.
Well, I can tell you where Bazin is.
-Bazin? -He used to serve Monsieur Aramis.
Perhaps he could lead you to the others.
You devil, Planchet, you devil!
-Where is Bazin? Where is he? -(WINCES)
(CHURCH BELLS RINGING)
(CHOIR SINGING)
(SINGING CONTINUES)
(PRIEST SPEAKING LATIN)
Where is Monsieur Bazin, the beadle?
(PRIEST CONTINUES SPEAKING LATIN)
(CHILD SPEAKING LATIN)
(CHOIR SINGING)
This is no place to settle our account.
(CLAPS HANDS)
My dear Bazin.
-Monsieur d'Artagnan. -Bazin!
Get thee behind me, Satan.
I've conveyed our message to the Prince.
Please, Monsieur, I have my work.
What, is this the way to greet an old friend, Bazin?
Monsieur, you nearly led my poor master to damnation
by keeping him in the musketeers when his true vocation was for the church.
True, Bazin, but if only I could meet him,
so that he might help me find my own salvation.
Where is Monsieur Aramis?
Unfortunately, Monsieur, I do not know where.
How, you do not know?
Monsieur, we are in a holy place, I should not dare to tell a lie.
Look, Bazin, Bazin, here, um...
Drink to my health, be my friend.
Monsieur, I do not drink. That is for the laity.
-Monsieur? -Hmm?
Bazin, he borrows the butcher's horse three times a week.
-Do you know anything else? -I followed him.
-I thought I might catch him with a lady. -And did you?
-No, sir! He goes to a monastery. -It is a monastery!
-Where, lad, where? -It's in a little village, sir.
-Called? -Racines.
Ah.
(BRANCH BREAKS)
(MAN YELLS)
Right.
Aramis.
-D'Artagnan! -I have found my old comrade.
-It's just like old times. -(LAUGHS) But why the...
Let's be off. I'll explain later.
-Ah. -Hmm?
Who lives in that great house we passed?
It belongs to Madame de Longueville.
De Longueville? I know that name.
She's a rebel.
Is she a friend of yours?
Well, no, no, no, no, uh...
-A communicant. -A communicant?
Yes, her family do not understand, hence those vulgar men who tried to kill me.
My visits are purely spiritual, of course.
Well, of course.
(LAUGHS)
Now, tell me, my dear Aramis,
where the devil did you come from, when you jumped on my horse?
Why, you saw it. From heaven.
You are as little likely to come from heaven as you are to go there.
Let us say, then, from paradise?
Which from Aramis means, a lady, hmm.
I see you're inspecting my little den.
Oh, forgive me, I'm lodged like a hermit.
Comfortable then.
Oh, yes, the Monsignor has obtained for me a special dispensation from fasting
on account of my health.
And I have an excellent chef.
When you were a musketeer, you mounted guard as seldom as possible.
Now you are a priest, how often do you say mass?
As seldom as possible.
May I ask you a question?
Of course, we're old comrades.
There could be no secrets between us.
Do you live on what you receive as a priest?
-No, not entirely. I pick up a little extra. -Extra?
Well, yes, some 15... Um, 12,000 livre a year.
Not your poems.
-(LAUGHS) -(LAUGHING) No.
I write sermons for ambitious and wealthy colleagues.
Bazin.
Monsieur d'Artagnan.
My dear Bazin, I'm happy to see how well you tell lies even in church.
Well, the good fathers teach us that one may lie in a good cause.
Bazin is a well-drilled servant.
You're expecting someone?
You my dear fellow, you. Bazin warned me you were coming.
He thinks you are a danger to my soul.
Bazin rides fast.
My dear Aramis,
you asked me why I was seeking you?
No, I did not ask, but I'm waiting for you to tell me.
I've come to offer you power and freedom,
and even greater riches.
Please.
Do you recall the good old days?
The days of laughing, singing, fighting.
Ah, happy time.
(SPEAKS LATIN)
Well, my mission is to renew those days.
To find my old comrades, and I began with you, the soul of our brotherhood.
Oh, to lead me back into the arena?
But, you see, I'm very comfortable here.
And we have tasted the ingratitude of the great.
Perhaps the great may repent for their ingratitude.
Oh, possibly.
Certainly, if one wished to plunge into affairs of state, this is the time.
What makes you think so?
I mix with informed people.
Oh, people like Madame de Longueville? Rebels?
Tell me, what is the purpose of your visit?
Come with me to Paris.
Oh, now, why should I?
To save the King,
which is also the duty of a gentleman.
But the King is with Cardinal Mazarin, my dear fellow.
He is his first minister.
Oh, yes, but the King is a little boy. He should find himself a better man.
The Prince de Beaufort, he is in prison.
If he got out, it could mean civil war.
Mazarin is an upstart, a man of no birth.
The people are against him, the parliament is against him, the nobles are against him.
Besides he has no money for you, me, or anybody.
True, my dear friend, but he has the Queen.
And the Queen holds the King, and who holds the King holds France.
Agreed, but for how long?
Some more wine?
My dear old friend, why not the Cardinal?
He can offer us adventure in defence of our King.
It'll be like the old days,
four valiant knights.
Four hearts beating as one.
Ah, you're right, d'Artagnan, you always were.
(BELL RINGING)
But I'm a priest.
My world is the cloister.
It is the hour of my devotions.
Of course.
-So, we are just old friends... -Musketeers.
Now, where are you journeying?
I thought I might visit Porthos.
Ah, you're going to Noyon.
-To hunt on his estate. -Noyon.
Precisely.
Well, don't let me detain you, old fellow.
But another time.
Do let me know you're coming. The monastery rule is very severe.
But you will always find me here.
Or up a tree.
D'ARTAGNAN: Goodnight, my friend.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(HORSE NEIGHS)
(HORSE SNORTS)
Psst.
(BAG CLATTERING)
(BOARD CREAKING)
-(GIGGLES) -Oh, you're so brave.
So adventurous.
Oh, darling Geneviève.
No sword can kill me when I come to you.
Devotions.
Not for Porthos.
But you do not only belong to me,
you belong also to the party.
You must be careful, my love.
(GIGGLES)
Oh, how exciting is love
-when it's spiced with rebellion. -(GIGGLES)
How exciting is rebellion when it sends me to your arms.
I'm not your first visitor this evening.
Oh, an old friend.
A man, I hope.
(LAUGHING) Of course.
You come on business, Madam.
I adore this kind of business.
I bring a message which fills my heart with fear for you,
and pride in you.
The Prince de Beaufort is to be rescued at once.
You are called to your post.
PORTHOS: Up!
Here you are, my dear.
-Monsieur Porthos. -What is it, Mousqueton?
D'Artagnan.
D'Artagnan!
(BOTH LAUGHING)
My dear d'Artagnan!
My dear friend!
-So you've not forgotten me? -Forgotten you?
-Porthos. -Monsieur du Vallon, now.
-My dear du Vallon. -Du Vallon!
De Bracieux,
-de Pierrefonds! -A splendid name.
Oh, Mousqueton, are you still my friend's valet?
-Steward now, Monsieur. -But where is...
Oh, alas, I lost my dear wife two years ago.
-Alas. -Oh, she left me 40,000 livre a year.
I have two chateaus.
And this wonderful estate.
Wonderful.
I have the hare, the boar, the roebuck!
And the swiftest greyhounds in the province.
Really?
(SIGHS)
Oh, wait till you taste the produce of my vineyards,
and my own mutton.
Thank you, my friend, the morning air has given me an appetite.
Yes, my air is excellent.
Your will.
Me?
I could kill an ox with one blow of my fist.
-Family trouble. -Family? I have only myself in the world.
D'Artagnan, I will be frank with you.
I am not happy.
-But you have all your possessions. -I am lonely.
I...
I have no society.
But you have your neighbours.
Gah! A pack of conceited aristocrats.
So, because I have no title, they will not recognise me.
I've killed two of them, but still they won't speak to me.
Ah, if only...
If only you were a baron, eh?
Ah, yes, if I were a baron.
Well, my dear friend, the title you long for I bring you today.
But how?
But where?
What? You have the papers?
In time my dear friend, in time, but it means giving up all this comfort, all this luxury.
All this boredom?
-It means adventures risking your skin... -Mousqueton!
My armour! Clean my pistols!
Sir, we're so happy and peaceful here.
(SHOUTS IN FRENCH)
-Porthos, do you follow public affairs? -Not in the least.
Are you for Mazarin or the rebels?
-I, I'm for myself. -That means you are for us.
Very well my dear friend, I will tell you, I come from the Cardinal.
Oh, ho! And will he make me a baron?
-You have my word. -(GROWLS)
You have no idea how I long for a fight.
Sometimes on a Sunday,
coming home from mass,
I ride over the fields of my neighbours to pick up some good little quarrel,
but I find nothing. Nothing, my dear.
Will our old friends be with us?
Aramis, I've seen.
He's become a monk or a hermit,
when he lives like a bear.
That is a loss.
He was a man of talent.
-And Athos. -Where do I find him?
A bishop at the Bragelonne.
Comte de la Fère, will you go to him?
I fear to, my friend, I fear to. That man was my ideal but he drank.
Yes.
It was the past that haunted him.
It will be worse now that he has such a dark deed on his mind.
But what deed?
The execution of m'lady.
Faith! I'd forgotten it.
What has it done to him, I wonder.
-I must go at once. -We shall meet in Paris.
I will come see Cardinal Mazarin, but...
-But? -He must make me a baron!
You have my word.
A little coronet would grace that carriage well.
-(LAUGHS) -Adieu!
And long live the Cardinal!
D'ARTAGNAN: Find the three musketeers, the King is in danger.
You know, dear friend, I would put my money on the rebel.
PORTHOS: Oh, ho!
And will he make me a baron?
MUSKETEERS: All for one,
one for all.
D'ARTAGNAN: And now Athos, dearest of my friends,
will I find a man or a drunken ruin?
A comrade or a foe?
My Athos.
Athos.
So, all is ready, Monsieur Athos.
Excellent, Grimaud.
Excellent.
In two days we rescue the Prince de Beaufort.
Then we save our King
from low born Mazarin.
Death to all cardinalists!