For some people, Ridley Scott will forever remain a director with a tarnished reputation. And all because of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, which made far from the best impression on the world audience. So “not the best” that it made some people forget about the greatness of Blade Runner 2049 and Alien. Against this background, the fact that Scott also likes to make historical dramas and epics fades somewhat. He decided to remind us of this side of his work with the movie Napoleon with Joaquin Phoenix. In our review, we tell you how the movie turned out.
At the beginning of the film, Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) is a young officer who sees the French Revolution as the perfect opportunity to realize his ambitions. The political changes in France have become the perfect ground for Napoleon to make his way to power. To do so, he used his connections and successes in battles. At the same time, the future emperor meets a girl named Josephine (Vanessa Kirby), with whom he falls in love. The whole film is based on the parallels between Napoleon’s complicated life and his equally complicated relationship with his beloved.
Even though Napoleon is a historical drama, Scott doesn’t go too hard for authenticity. Quite the contrary. He uses the image of Napoleon and some well-known historical facts about him to tell a coherent story with its own morals and motives, which are unique to feature films. So, don’t get too excited with the phrase “that never happened!” when Napoleon, for example, fires cannons at the pyramids in Egypt. We all understand that this did not happen, and everything was filmed for the sake of a beautiful picture.
And the picture here is not just beautiful – it is as luxurious as possible. Not just expensive, attractive or aesthetically pleasing. Just watch the trailer for the movie first – it is luxurious, fully in keeping with the luxury of French palaces and emperors.
Pathos and pomp are present separately in local battles. They are large-scale and extremely brutal. The cruelty, by the way, in Napoleon is naturalistic and shown without any modesty. This only enhances the overall chaotic atmosphere in France at the time of Napoleon’s achievements.
The local clashes are too blurred, as if the camera doesn’t know what to show you. Of course, this can also be mistaken for a director’s trick. But you should take this fact into account before watching.
The battles also work to reveal Napoleon’s character. After all, he believes that he is always right in everything. And as long as he is successful, everyone else thinks so too. But the film reveals Napoleon’s selfish character and his ambitions for power as if in the background. The list of losses of the French army at the very end does more for this than the rest of the script.
However, this has its justification. Ridley Scott’s new work focuses on Napoleon’s life through the prism of the emperor’s relationship with Josephine. They are the focus of the story. Even the politics and military achievements of Napoleon are reflected in his endless attraction to Josephine. This attraction is far from mutual, but the girl cannot be called completely cold.
The love storyline does not devalue Napoleon’s other qualities. It is because of this that the film should consider the image of the emperor, even if this decision may seem controversial to some. After all, it turns out that Scott did not make a historical drama, but a very ordinary drama. About two great people who together either extinguished or rekindled their mutual greatness even more.
The two and a half hours of Napoleon pass almost unnoticed. It mixes Hollywood pathos with almost Hellenistic pathos. After all, what is Ridley Scott if he doesn’t flirt with sublime themes? In Napoleon, however, he confined himself to subtexts and halftones, and gave the mass audience a movie that was good in all its key elements.
However, we should hold off on talking about the Oscars. After all, the movie lacks a breakthrough, its most piercing moment. Just like Phoenix’s acting, which is good, but not quite at the same level.
Verdict
Releasing a movie about Napoleon in 2023 is a pretty bold move. Yet here we have a character who has been talked about many times. Ridley Scott has taken this boldness, which has resulted in a great movie. A little strange in terms of its approach to the French emperor, but definitely surprisingly colorful, exciting and just plain interesting.
