A review of the new blockbuster movie “Napoleon”
Veteran British director Ridley Scott is now 85 and “Napoleon”, his 29th work, is a fine addition to a wonderful canon that stretches in time-setting from “Gladiator” to “Alien”.This is a hugely ambitious production, stretching from the execution of Marie Antoinette in 1793 to the death of Napoleon in i821. In that time period, he fought some 70 battles (winning about 60 of them) and this film concentrates on just four: Toulon, Austerlitz, Borodino, and of course Waterloo. The story is seen through the prism of his relationship and correspondence with wife and then ex-wife Josephine. This is a good deal to cover in just over two and a half ours (we are promised a four hour version on Apple TV+) – and that is without any significant coverage of Napoleon’s statecraft which still underpins the France of today.
The battle sequences are simply stunning and I was pleased that I chose to see the movie in IMAX on Britain’s biggest screen (the BFI in London). The sex is hurried and selfish – like his battle victories – but there is no doubt that Josephine had a genuine hold over his emotions. The French couple are portrayed by the American Joaquin Phoenix (a masterly and brooding performance) and the English Vanessa Kirby (coquettish and captivating). The costumes and sets are splendid and the locations (mainly England and Malta) glorious.
Some historians and the French have criticised the film for its inaccuracies, of which there are plenty (for instance, Napoleon and Wellington never met), but this is a work of entertainment, not a documentary, and a degree of artistic licence is permissible. “Napoleon” may not have have the emotional tug and memorable tunes of “Gladiator”, but it is a magnificent epic, the like of which we see very rarely these days.