Why doesn't D'Artagnan recognise Milady?
It seems odd that D'Artagnan doesn't recognise Milady - was being hit on the head meant to make him forget? Or was he suffering from potato-induced amnesia? Very strange.
shareThe question I was asking myself is: why was Athos not recognising her? He knew her when she was younger and he had a relationship with her. In the end of part one their paths crossed... so - does somebody know?
Anyhow - aren t these two great Swashbucklers?
Milady is surprised to see Athos, as well. However, I can't remember - do they actually *see* each other? I know they're both at the celebrations at the end where d'Artagnan is made a Musketeer, but it's noth clear if Athos and Milady come face-to-face.
Anyway, this doesn't detract from them being two of my favourite films for as long as I can remember. It's just that it's a fairly gaping plot-hole.
I rented both DVDs (3 Musketeers & 4 Musketeers) at the same time, and watched the first one last night. Then I re-watched the final scene this morning, just to try to answer this question.
At the investiture/tournament, Milady sees them all but doesn't react to the presence of Athos; she probably just isn't paying attention to the Three. Then she walks over to cross paths with D'Artagnan and Constance, and flirts with D'Artagnan with her eyes. Probably she is testing D'Artagnan's reaction to see whether she has any power of attraction over him -- if so, he may be susceptible to her charms in the future -- and she's scoring a jealousy point against Constance by attracting Constance's man.
At that point, the Three are joshing around together and don't look directly at her. She was running a serious risk of being recognized by Athos, but she does not seem to have recognized HIM, and she was lucky because Athos didn't look in her direction at the crucial moment.
THAT relates solely to the final scene of The Three Musketeers. I haven't watched The Four Musketeers yet.
Moreover-- Athos had written her off so many years ago and probably considered her dead (or close enough to dead that he'd never see her again.) Then so many years later he sees her in an entirely different kind of context; I doubt if he'd recognize her right away. (But in the final scene of 3 Musketeers, he doesn't look in her direction at all.)
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Pretend something clever is written here.
I am watching TFM as I write, as I too am intrigued by this loophole.
Reed is telling York about his previous courtship with Milady, and remarks that they married. But then Milady had a fall from her horse revealing a branded motif burnt into her shoulder denoting her as a dishonourable murderer and thief.
on seeing this mark Reed is disgraced and we see him strangle Milady but not to the point of actually killing her. So Athos didn't kill her and assumes she is still alive spreading her poison. Why he didn't kill her in that scene is never explained. And another plot hole here is why Athos never spotted the mark much sooner! I mean since they are married it would be safe to assume they had sex at some point: surely he would have spotted the mark then!?
Anyway, I am still watching the film, so hopefully I may learn a few more answers.
And I looked & I beheld a pale horse & the name that sat on him was Death & Hell followed with him.
It's not a loophole and I would recommend reading the book.
She lost consciousness and Athos imposed his own self exile from his estate/title due to his own perceived disgrace. While Athos would have slept with his wife, it was mentioned even in the movie that he saw the mark for the first time in the daylight. Being man and wife did not mean they slept together in the same room every night.
But what about d'Artagnan?? Milady is the main enemy in the first film, granted he doesn't see much of her but Constance would have filled him in on their fight, for example.
Yet he's totally fine with having an affair with her in the second movie. Does he not realize what a terrible person she is, or is he so blinded by her that he just doesn't care?
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"The best kind of fairytale is one where you believe the people" -Irvin Kershner
If I remember right, when Milady confronts D'artagnan at the end, she is covering the lower half of her face with her fan so he never got a good look at her
shareReading the book, you will find out that d'Artagnan actually suspects Milady most of the time, but lets his privates do the thinking for himself and ignores all signs of danger.
shareReading the book, you will find out that d'Artagnan actually suspects Milady most of the time, but lets his privates do the thinking for himself and ignores all signs of danger.
d'Artagnan: I love her with my head!
Me: No, you love her with your privates!
You gotta love the fact that, even when d'Artagnan overhears Milady's murderous plans regarding himself and Constance, and burts in to confront her, he makes sure to have sex with her first..
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"The best fairytale is one where you believe the people" -Irvin Kershner share
Just watched the movie and Milady has a garter, or something like it, covering her mark while she's in bed with D'Artagnan; I guess she covered the mark, too, when she was with Athos.
shareIn the book 'twenty years later'reveals the Athos and Milady when they were a couple even had a son. (He is chaged to a daughter fathered by Rochfort in the movie)It is possible that as Athos is a heavy drinker he might have been drunk at the time
shareFor people who have never read Alexandre Dumas' original Musketeers novels but may in future read this thread, I offer a correction to the above post from wristwatchraver-1.
In the first Musketeers sequel Twenty Years After, Milady's son Mordaunt has inherited his mother's capacity for evil and proves himself an even deadlier adversary than she was, as he stalks the four companions from the shadows, littering both England and France with corpses as he seeks revenge for what he considers the assassination of his mother. However, Mordaunt is NOT the son of Athos but rather of a titled Englishman named de Winter, whom Milady both married and murdered. (The important Three Musketeers subplot of the two de Winter brothers, the survivor of whom befriends d'Artagnan during the adventure in England, is always omitted from film adaptations.)
On my first reading, when Twenty Years After revealed Mordaunt's identity as the vengeance-seeking son of Milady, I had been disappointed to think that the author had resorted to a lazy, unworthy ruse (inventing an evil son, after the fact) to replicate the drama and thrills of the brilliant original tale. But when I returned to the de Winter section of Three Musketeers, I was delighted to discover that the initial novel did in fact state -- although only in passing -- that Milady had had a son with her British husband. So Dumas did not cheat; and he built his sequel fairly upon material which he already had put in place. I appreciated that highly, as it reinforced my feeling that Twenty Years After was the finest and least derivative sequel I had ever read.
However, Dumas' TRULY best sequel (and in my opinion the greatest and most powerful novel I've ever read) is the third and irrevocably final entry in the Musketeers trilogy: The Vicomte de Bragelonne. At roughly 2,500 pages, this brilliant and elaborately structured story can never be reduced to a movie of conventional length. Multiple screen versions have tackled roughly the final quarter of Bragelonne, but even the best of those -- Allan Dwan's The Iron Mask (1929) and James Whale's The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) -- never come near the force of Dumas' full tale.
But despite the rise of "binge watching" in an era of iPhones, iPads, and e-books, I don't expect very many people will ever again experience the rewards of actually reading Alexandre Dumas' masterpiece: his complete, unabridged chronicles of these four valiant heroes.
Most great films deserve a more appreciative audience than they get.
The book also mentioned that she routinely covered the mark with makeup.
share