With a certain frenzy, but with all the mastery of suspense, Alexandre Dumas wrote in 1844 the masterpiece of the adventure novel “The Three Musketeers”, adapted once again for the big screen, France Press reported.
The film The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, directed by Martin Bourboulon, opens in France on April 5.
The cast includes world film stars, including Eva Green (Milady Winter), Francois Civil (D’Artagnan), Vincent Cassel (Athos), Pio Marmay (Portos), Romain Duris (Aramis), Lina Coudry (Constance), Louis Garrel ( King Louis XIII), Vicky Cripps (Anne of Austria), Eric Rueff (Cardinal Richelieu) and others.
At 41, Alexandre Dumas was one of the most beloved writers in Paris, especially after the triumph of “Henri III and his Court” at the Comedie Française in 1829.
With the appearance of the “Press” in 1836 came the fashion for the novel with a sequel, with readers fascinated by the “Paris Secrets” of his rival Eugene Sue.
Publishing in the daily “Ciècle”, the playwright and novelist puts into this formula his art of suspense, dramatic tension, taste for history, which deeply touches a wide audience,” says Julie Anselmini, professor of French literature at the University of Cannes, Normandy.
In addition to his hectic life, he was a workaholic who recounted in his memoirs that he sometimes deprived himself of sleep to complete a task, she added.
Although a man of extremes who had lovers, formed strong friendships and traveled, Alexandre Dumas was very organized, notes his biographer Sylvain Leda.
“The novel introduces us to the intimate world of the great. The Musketeers are at balls, in the court, near Anne of Austria, in England… In the same way that today we watch the series “The Crown”, at that time people read “The Three Musketeers ” and educate themselves about the history of France,” says Carl Akiki, a Lebanese literary scholar who devoted his dissertation to the novel.
Almost two centuries later, Dumas’ narrative genius continues to work.
The success of “The Three Musketeers” prompted Alexandre Dumas to write two sequels – “Twenty Years Later” and “Ten Years Later” (“Vicomte de Bragellon”).
The author, who is never satisfied and recharges his batteries outside of Paris, also published another famous novel with a sequel – “The Count of Monte Cristo” in 1844. A new film adaptation of the novel is planned for October 2024.
