For such a famed historical figure, has made only fleeting appearances in movies since
Stanley Kubrick had grand designs for a Napoleon epic that went unmade. (Steven Spielberg is ). Napoleon and his bicorne hat 鈥� more icon of history than a real character 鈥� mostly only pops up in time-traveling odysseys like 鈥淭ime Bandits鈥� or
The party, though, is finally on in Ridley Scott鈥檚 starring Joaquin Phoenix. Scott doesn鈥檛 do anything small, not even famously diminutive French emperors. And his two-hour-38-minute big-screen biopic serves up a heaping historical spectacle complete with bloody European battles and massive military maneuvers.
But don鈥檛 mistake 鈥淣apoleon鈥� for your average historical epic. Our first sense that this may not be a grand glorification of a Great Man of history comes early in the film, when a 24-year-old Bonaparte leads the siege on the British troops controlling the port city of Toulon. When Napoleon, then a major, charges forward in the fight, he鈥檚 visibly terrified, even panting. He looks more like Phoenix鈥檚 anxious protagonist in than the man who would become France鈥檚 Caesar. Napoleon doesn鈥檛 storm the gates so much as lurch desperately at them.
And for the rest of Scott鈥檚 film and Phoenix鈥檚 riveting performance, Napoleon鈥檚 actions are never much more complicated than that. He assumes power cavalierly. His coup d鈥櫭﹖at against the French Directory in 1799 is a ramshackle farce. He flings his armies around the continent without the slightest concern. He鈥檚 prone to petulant rages, screaming at the British: 鈥淵ou think you鈥檙e so great because you have boats!鈥�
鈥淣apoleon鈥� subscribes more to the Not-So-Great Man theory of history. This Napoleon isn鈥檛 extraordinary nor is he much of a man. He鈥檚 a boyishly impulsive, thin-skinned brute, careening his way through Europe and leaving battlefields of dead soldiers in his wake. When he, while on a campaign in Egypt, is informed over lunch that his wife, Jos茅phine (Vanessa Kirby), is having an affair back in Paris, he responds curtly to the messenger: 鈥淣o dessert for you.鈥�
For more than 200 years, characterizations of Napoleon have ranged from genius reformer born out of the French Revolution to marauding tyrant whose wars left three million dead. Napoleon, himself, helped shape his legacy while exiled on St. Helena with a self-serving memoir.
Some of the titans of 19th century literature reckoned with him. Victor Hugo wrote Napoleon lost at Waterloo because he had grown 鈥渢roublesome to God.鈥� Tolstoy, in 鈥淲ar and Peace,鈥� was less impressed, calling him, 鈥渢hat most insignificant instrument of history.鈥�
In 鈥淣补辫辞濒别辞苍,鈥� which begins with Marie Antoinette at the guillotine and ends with Napoleon on St. Helena where he died at age 51 in 1821, it鈥檚 startling how much disregard the movie has for its protagonist. Hollywood historical epics have traditionally leaned toward aggrandizement, not the undressing of fragile, deluded male egos who exclaim over dinner: 鈥淒estiny has brought me here! Destiny has brought me this lamb chop!鈥�
Here is a sweeping historical tapestry 鈥� no one does it better today than Scott 鈥� with a damning, almost satirical portrait at its center. That mix 鈥� Scott鈥檚 spectacle and Phoenix鈥檚 the-emperor-has-no-clothes performance 鈥� makes 鈥淣apoleon鈥� a rivetingly off-kilter experience.
It鈥檚 not always a smooth mix. Phoenix鈥檚 characterization may at times have more in common with some of his past depictions of melancholy loners (鈥淭he Master,鈥� 鈥淭he Joker鈥�) than any factual record of Napoleon. A quality like ambition, you鈥檇 think, would be prominent in depicting Napoleon. He was a notorious workaholic, meticulously organized and an energetic intellectual 鈥� little of which is present here, making Napoleon鈥檚 rise to power sometimes hard to fathom.
But that鈥檚 also part of the point of 鈥淣补辫辞濒别辞苍,鈥� which surely has some contemporary echoes. There are plenty of enablers along the way (a highlight of the supporting cast is Paul Rhys as the scheming diplomat Talleyrand) as the film marches through major events like the fall of Robespierre, the 1799 coup, Napoleon making himself Emperor in 1804 and the triumphant Battle of Austerlitz. The last is Scott鈥檚 finest set piece in the film, ending in a rout of the Russian forces as they flee over a frozen pond while the bombardment of cannons plunges them into an icy grave.
But in David Scarpa鈥檚 screenplay, the real through line in 鈥淣apoleon鈥� isn鈥檛 the string of battles leading up to the downfall we all know is coming at Waterloo. (There, Rupert Everett鈥檚 sneering Duke of Wellington enlivens the military tactics.) It鈥檚 Napoleon鈥檚 relationship with Jos茅phine that makes the main thread.
When he first sees her across a crowded party, he stands transfixed. Anyone would be. The slinky Kirby, sporting a pixie cut, rivals Phoenix for most potent presence in 鈥淣apoleon.鈥� She has a complete hold on Napoleon, who turns out to be no more suave in the bedroom than he is among society. When he returns from Egypt furious from the well-publicized rumors of her infidelity, they have a prolonged fight that ends with her turning the tables. 鈥淵ou are nothing without me,鈥� she tells him, as he cowers, happily. 鈥淪ay it.鈥�
There鈥檚 a version of the film that could be wholly focused on their dynamic. Jos茅phine is omnipresent for a long stretch 鈥� he writes her constantly from the battlefront in letters narrated to us 鈥� but 鈥淣apoleon鈥� never quite finds its balance in cutting between their life together and the military exploits. Scott is expected to release a four-hour director鈥檚 cut on Apple TV+ after the film鈥檚 theatrical run, which may offer a more calibrated version.
But the 85-year-old Scott 鈥� himself a symbol of ceaseless ambition 鈥� has made a film that, like his previous is a provocative takedown of male power. Scott has made plenty of brawny, swaggering epics in his time 鈥� including 鈥淕ladiator,鈥� with an Oscar-nominated Phoenix as the Roman emperor Commodus.
But even though not everything in 鈥淣apoleon鈥� coheres, it鈥檚 appealing destabilizing. In one of the film鈥檚 final images, Napoleon and his hat are in silhouette as he slumps to his death like a keeling ship, going down.
鈥淣补辫辞濒别辞苍,鈥� an Apple Studios release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for strong violence, some grisly images, sexual content and brief language. Running time: 158 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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