The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas https://realini.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-three-musketeerstwenty-years.html - 9 out of 10

 

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas https://realini.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-three-musketeerstwenty-years.html

9 out of 10

Looking at the narrative from a more modern perspective, allegedly

 

 

Once upon a time, in adolescence, this story was an enchantment enchantment to read, only with time and repeated viewing, we could arrive to déjà vu, something that seemed to have happened, when watching the newest adaptation of the classic, with some of the crème de la crème, titans of French and world cinema

 

Vincent Cassel is Athos, and very fast, he is sentenced to death by beheading (which is reserved for nobles at that point, the rest are hanged by the neck) very fast, thus setting the start for one of the threads of the plot, his comrades in arms will try hard to get him off the hook, it is most surely a frameup

They have found a killed woman next to this role model (wait a second, did I say that, but then we need to adapt to the standards of the age, or revise the status of this overrated musketeer, perhaps for all of them, since their habits could be construed as debauchery, that is if we bring the whole thing into the Woke age…the French appear to relish on refuting those new American trends, Catherine Deneuve rejected it some time ago)

 

When brought in front of the judge, Athos is honest - there you are, we have a character strength, the rest, as compiled by the co-founder of positive psychology, Martin Seligman https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/11/flourish-by-martin-seligman-part-1.html can be located on the internet…

The musketeer is asked by the judge if he had committed the murder and the reply, after some thought is that he does not know – now we have that regress, we see that those people would get so intoxicated as to be unable to recall what the hell they have done, on the previous night, or period of inebriation- and hence he is found guilty

 

Nevertheless, there are bigger problems in the ‘grand scheme of things’, for France has a weak, foolish prince, his consort is infatuated (maybe the word is in love) with the Prince of Buckingham, the protestants fight with the Catholics, there are factions, the musketeers oppose the men of cardinal Richelieu

The latter plays the villain, we have a rather schematic, old fashioned, but notwithstanding that satisfying plot, where we know the ‘grand good and the bad, albeit we have some surprises and when – spoiler alert – Athos is helped, but not by the other two -soon to be three – other musketeers, but by new personages

However, Charles d’ Artagnan is the main character, he arrives in the capital and has to fight three duels on the first day, his opponents being…Athos, Porthos and Aramis, some psychology studies have demonstrated that some of the strongest bonds are born out of adversity, especially when it is associated with humor…

 

In other words, if you spill some drink on a guest, at a party, and then you can move forward with felicity and jesting, the chances of this becoming ‘the beginning of a beautiful friendship’ https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/08/casablanca-by-julius-epstein-philip.html just like in the quintessential Casablanca increase manyfold, though it is not something you should try, the reverse effect could be prevalent

‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so ’Hamlet, and thus we could say we have been here before, we see the musketeers fighting with their swords, but we know the result, unless we consider the juveniles that have not heard of this, but would this be their genre, is it good for their short attention spans?

 

Anne d’ Autriche aka spectacular Vicky Krieps, who became a worldwide famous star with Phantom Thread https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/02/phantom-thread-written-and-directed-by.html has problems in escaping the traps set by cunning, villainous Cardinal Richelieu and his stooges, ready to kill and torture

There is a joke on torture, right at the start, when Porthos captures an enemy and he has to make him talk (or was it Aramis aka one of my top favorites, Roman Duris…I think it was the latter actually) and Aramis takes a crucifix, sharpening its end, to transform it into a weapon, which terrifies the target of the process

 

This would be psychological torture, and not just that, for the prisoner is overwhelmed, horrified by this devil, how could he even consider using the symbol of God, Jesus on the cross for such a purpose, this must be some demon with no restrain, and he means it, for he keeps working on the cross, so that it becomes the murder weapon

Outside, Charles d’ Artagnan, with his sensitivity, innocence, munificence, is upset and asks Porthos about what is going one, and that the captive does not like what is going on, and the answer is ‘nobody likes torture, that is why it works’ or words to that effect, again, perhaps defying the new norms, the touchy progressives…

 

The king is very nearly killed (oops, another spoiler might have been needed here, but who reads all the way to the end, if you did, then you would not mind, and furthermore, it is not such a gigantic film, so that chances of someone reading this, and then saying I must go and find it, but this lunatic has just destroyed my halcyon day at the film are infinitesimal) but we could also think good riddance for bad leadership

Last but not least, a classic of psychology divides between Maximizers and Satisfizers and that is The Paradox of Choice https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-paradox-of-choice-by-barry-schartz.html by Barry Schwartz - we need to be Satisfizers, those who choose the very good, but not despair seeking perfection…

 

Now for my standard closing with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world   – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”