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 91裸聊视频� more icon of history than a real character 91裸聊视频� mostly only pops up in time-traveling odysseys like 91裸聊视频淭ime Bandits91裸聊视频� or
The party, though, is finally on in Ridley Scott91裸聊视频檚 starring Joaquin Phoenix. Scott doesn91裸聊视频檛 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 don91裸聊视频檛 mistake 91裸聊视频淣apoleon91裸聊视频� 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, he91裸聊视频檚 visibly terrified, even panting. He looks more like Phoenix91裸聊视频檚 anxious protagonist in than the man who would become France91裸聊视频檚 Caesar. Napoleon doesn91裸聊视频檛 storm the gates so much as lurch desperately at them.
And for the rest of Scott91裸聊视频檚 film and Phoenix91裸聊视频檚 riveting performance, Napoleon91裸聊视频檚 actions are never much more complicated than that. He assumes power cavalierly. His coup d91裸聊视频櫭﹖at against the French Directory in 1799 is a ramshackle farce. He flings his armies around the continent without the slightest concern. He91裸聊视频檚 prone to petulant rages, screaming at the British: 91裸聊视频淵ou think you91裸聊视频檙e so great because you have boats!91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淣apoleon91裸聊视频� subscribes more to the Not-So-Great Man theory of history. This Napoleon isn91裸聊视频檛 extraordinary nor is he much of a man. He91裸聊视频檚 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: 91裸聊视频淣o dessert for you.91裸聊视频�
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 91裸聊视频渢roublesome to God.91裸聊视频� Tolstoy, in 91裸聊视频淲ar and Peace,91裸聊视频� was less impressed, calling him, 91裸聊视频渢hat most insignificant instrument of history.91裸聊视频�
In 91裸聊视频淣补辫辞濒别辞苍,91裸聊视频� which begins with Marie Antoinette at the guillotine and ends with Napoleon on St. Helena where he died at age 51 in 1821, it91裸聊视频檚 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: 91裸聊视频淒estiny has brought me here! Destiny has brought me this lamb chop!91裸聊视频�
Here is a sweeping historical tapestry 91裸聊视频� no one does it better today than Scott 91裸聊视频� with a damning, almost satirical portrait at its center. That mix 91裸聊视频� Scott91裸聊视频檚 spectacle and Phoenix91裸聊视频檚 the-emperor-has-no-clothes performance 91裸聊视频� makes 91裸聊视频淣apoleon91裸聊视频� a rivetingly off-kilter experience.
It91裸聊视频檚 not always a smooth mix. Phoenix91裸聊视频檚 characterization may at times have more in common with some of his past depictions of melancholy loners (91裸聊视频淭he Master,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淭he Joker91裸聊视频�) than any factual record of Napoleon. A quality like ambition, you91裸聊视频檇 think, would be prominent in depicting Napoleon. He was a notorious workaholic, meticulously organized and an energetic intellectual 91裸聊视频� little of which is present here, making Napoleon91裸聊视频檚 rise to power sometimes hard to fathom.
But that91裸聊视频檚 also part of the point of 91裸聊视频淣补辫辞濒别辞苍,91裸聊视频� 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 Scott91裸聊视频檚 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 Scarpa91裸聊视频檚 screenplay, the real through line in 91裸聊视频淣apoleon91裸聊视频� isn91裸聊视频檛 the string of battles leading up to the downfall we all know is coming at Waterloo. (There, Rupert Everett91裸聊视频檚 sneering Duke of Wellington enlivens the military tactics.) It91裸聊视频檚 Napoleon91裸聊视频檚 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 91裸聊视频淣apoleon.91裸聊视频� 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. 91裸聊视频淵ou are nothing without me,91裸聊视频� she tells him, as he cowers, happily. 91裸聊视频淪ay it.91裸聊视频�
There91裸聊视频檚 a version of the film that could be wholly focused on their dynamic. Jos茅phine is omnipresent for a long stretch 91裸聊视频� he writes her constantly from the battlefront in letters narrated to us 91裸聊视频� but 91裸聊视频淣apoleon91裸聊视频� never quite finds its balance in cutting between their life together and the military exploits. Scott is expected to release a four-hour director91裸聊视频檚 cut on Apple TV+ after the film91裸聊视频檚 theatrical run, which may offer a more calibrated version.
But the 85-year-old Scott 91裸聊视频� himself a symbol of ceaseless ambition 91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频� including 91裸聊视频淕ladiator,91裸聊视频� with an Oscar-nominated Phoenix as the Roman emperor Commodus.
But even though not everything in 91裸聊视频淣apoleon91裸聊视频� coheres, it91裸聊视频檚 appealing destabilizing. In one of the film91裸聊视频檚 final images, Napoleon and his hat are in silhouette as he slumps to his death like a keeling ship, going down.
91裸聊视频淣补辫辞濒别辞苍,91裸聊视频� 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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