Waterloo - I did not usurp the crown

Napoleon composes a letter, defending his legitimacy as Emperor.

[shusterandy]

Yeah I agree what everyone is saying here. Steigers performance here is hypnotic and brilliant. Some have said it may be a little to scenery chewing and Shakespearean. But he really captures the kind of passion and charisma that you expect Napoleon to have.

[jackrussell]

Its to Prince Alexis but its like he is talking to all past, present and future historians who paint him as a great dictator, mainly british historians.

[Gramscifreedom]

This film is such a masterpiece. Almost the best of both worlds - western acting and Soviet film making.

Steiger’s performance is so underrated too - especially his internal monologues which often go at odds with the outward arrogance and ego of Napoleon.

[PeterSmith-goef]

What an actor he was. The finest Napoleon on celluloid.

[ZAV]

The Monarchs of the coalition didn't like Napoleon mainly as he was not of royal or noble descent and that did not sit well with them as it cast doubts on their own legitimacy and right to rule.

[jackmanson]

I want to see a modern world where he won.

[frankism]

Just watched Napoleon with Joaquin Phoenix and a similar line about picking up the crown from the gutter. The power of Steiger's delivery in the movie Waterloo is beyond comparison.

[Falconlibrary]

Napoleon was larger than life, Nietzsche's Superman made flesh. Napoleon was conscious of his own greatness and willed it into existence.
Napoleon's legacy lives on not in his conquests, all of which were undone by 1815, but in his legal and societal reforms, which shape France to this day.
Judging Napoleon as good or evil is irrelevant; According to Nietzsche, the Superman is an individual who has surpassed both the Christian morals and values of humanity and transcends pure rationality. The Superman is beyond good and evil.

[andrewwynne]

Technically he didnt find it in the gutter, he found it on the King's head. And he didn't pick it up with his sword, as much as taking it off said king and putting it on himself.