NAPOLEON - Movie Review

[tparm]

"the soufflé didn't rise" I'm stealing that.

[itstheweather]

Mel Gibson should remake Napoleon... it would be a block buster hit.

[thebestwingsfan]

Glad you mentioned Wikipedia articles because so many biopics these days are very surface level that Wikipedia articles are more interesting and emotionally engaging.

[LilPitch-]

I'm so impressed by both your knowledge and ability to articulate....

[johnnybakblast]

Every movie about Napoleon is always about Napoleon and Josephine, without Napoleon Josephine wouldn’t be a comma in the footnotes of history.

[stanleyrogouski]

I can't get over Phoenix being far too old to play a man who was a general at age 23. It's much easier for a young man (Orson Welles in Citizen Kane) then for a 50 year old to play a young man.

[Tolstoy]

At the start, Phoenix is playing Napoleon in his early 20s. That's just silly. But it's funny you mention Barry Lyndon since Ridley Scott's first feature film, "The Duellists" was a full on imitation of BL.

[briangronberg]

Scott is such an atmospheric director that often characters are indistinguishable from the set. Gladiator and Prometheus are both solid examples.

[Ruimas]

Well....
The real Napoleon and Josephine was way more a clash between equals.
They were both outliers. Likely both a bit narcisistic. They both cheated on each other heavy.
But in ways, there is something in their letters where you get that they understood each other. Maybe precisely because there was more in common between them at the core. Which is what explains why such apparently awkward relationship did last. And despite constantly cheating on each other, they always came back together. They always had some place deep down where they really understood each other and were team mates.

It would have been interesting for instance how Napoleon actually supported her kids A LOT. He very much ensured her kids would have some of the best opportunities ever. There was a surprisingly good relationship between them. Which is obviously something you could not have in this movie because it would not fit the movie characters.

Yes, Napoleon was narcisistic and quite a tirant. He was! He could be ruthless. In real life, he had no big issues sidelining Josephine when he found out she could not get pregnant and he could. He would sacrifice anyone to his greatness / career. He would gladly send his best friend on a suicide charge if need be. That was real Napoleon. But he would also support his friends and family whenever he could. And he was also an amazing administrator. He was genius. Very few people in history come even close to his skills in administration. The way in which he reorganized his armies is still relevant today.

I get the feeling that most people will leave the theatre not understanding anything about Napoleon. And asking themselves how and why did he achieve the things he did.

[jackvan]

I miss (historical epics). They are by far one of my favorite genres. I want all of them to be successful because that might draw more directors/producers to pick them up. Shame this does not sound like win.

[dennyawright]

The film is called Napoleon. Too much Josephine. Ugh. More war. Lol.
Your sound and pic are excellent.
I read the historical tome Napoleon by Roberts.
Napoleon sucked with women but once he was emperor and Josephine was obvious about cheating and she couldn’t bear him kids he moved on.
Plus the victors write history so every chance they got England would document Napoleon as pathetic.
We definitely have a skewed view of history. France was the upstart republican nation and all the European monarchies had to put it down for their own existence. Napoleon threatened their status quo. Sounds familiar….
Of course Napoleon’s downfall was his pride and ego. Weaknesses that seem to take all humans.

[jalbertking]

Just watch Waterloo 1970. Its really good.

[Philliben]

Napoleon, like Hitler, is a historical figure who's almost been reduced to a comedic caricature in the Anglo mindset. It's no coincidence the best movies about Hitler are European. Might I suggest Napoleon would be better served cinematically outside the US/UK.

[newhorizon]

First, some helpful hints: Never trust a movie that employs loud, thundering soundtrack as cue for its "epic-ness." Or underlit cinematography to hide more than it shows. Or flash editing to camouflage lousy action or CGI. Or clueless acting for profundity. Or script that lacks story continuity (or simply story telling for that matter.) And so forth.

Second, in this particular case, there's the elephant in the room, ie R. Scott: The older sir Scott gets the more he veers towards the visual, his mind losing grip on the mechanics of story telling (not that he cares much to begin with, his bread and butter "moving images" business lie in the realms of commercials/tv spots.) This movie is basically a 2 1/2 hour trailer of the 4 hr "movie" to be streamed later on. Expect more of the same: underlit cinematography, trickling dialog, and story continuity/exposition taking a vacation. Maybe some would appreciate the "acting" of those hired to do the job but left to their own device. Oh yes, and the washed out, colorless costumes.

[ericpeck]

I'd much prefer watching this reviewer than sitting through Napoleon again.

[filmprincess]

Fun fact- Napoleon and TE Lawrence had the same birthday.

[lordofthejungle]

Isabella Rosselini's depiction of Josephine in the 2002 French Napoleon tv mini-series does much better justice to her character (but Napoleon is weaker than Phoenix). In my head canon now, it's Rosselini and Phoenix that make the best 'marriage' of the couple. I also think Scott was afraid of retreading Rosselini's Josephine with Kirby and avoids some of the more revealing attitudes she is known to have held - deep fear of the Guillotine, of being seen as another Marie Antoinette, and deeply superstitious about her and Napoleon's fortunes as the Imperial couple and the fragility of the state they sat in power over. Great review, nailed it again.

[Paulmatthew]

The movie was almost completely devoid of the political backgrounds that presented alott of the drama and intrigue in his life~

[louisblackforester]

The tagline: "He came from Nothing.He conquered Everything."
Is wrong on so many levels.

[isengrim]

Imbalance between the comedy and the drama resulting in a tonally inconsistent film is just everywhere in cinema today, I feel. But that happening in stuff like the MCU or other works of pure fiction is less bad than in a historical drama, imo. It makes it come across as disingenuous or fake, which a historical film obviously should never feel.
Btw, what do you think about Kingdom of Heaven?