Napoleon Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Rupert Everett, Tahar Rahim, Paul Rhys, Edouard Philipponnat, Miles Jupp, Sinead Cusack, Sam Troughton, Julian Wadham, Ian McNeice.
Ridley Scott is, arguably, the best contemporary filmmaker still working today who has never won an Oscar, which is surprising considering his body of work that includes classics like The Duellists, Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator. He is a visionary filmmaker whose work spans various genres from sci-fi to historical epics, from war dramas to crime dramas to biopics. And with his latest film Scott tackles an epic biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most famous and celebrated and also controversial figures from French history.
Napoleon spans some 30 years, from his rise as a Corsican-born military officer during the French Revolution through his ascension to power, crowned as Emperor of France, through the wars he waged across Europe, and his eventual fall from grace and lonely exile to St Helena and his death in 1821, but it skips over some of the key events and this gives it a disjointed and episodic feel. The pacing over the overly generous running time of 158 minutes is also uneven and leads to some dull patches. Apparently though Scott has a four-hour director’s cut waiting in the wings, and this should fill in some of the gaps when released via Apple’s streaming service in 2024.
But the film concentrates on some of the key battles that established his reputation as a brilliant strategist, including his campaigns at the siege of Toulon and Austerlitz as well as his defeat in Russia when the Russians employed a scorched earth strategy to deny the French troops food and shelter, and the decisive battle at Waterloo in 1815. The set pieces are quite spectacular as Scott stages the epic battle scenes with gusto, and they are exhilarating and superbly choreographed without too much in the way of CGI augmentation. The battle scenes are visceral and violent and graphic, especially with the depiction of the carnage wrought by cannonballs ripping through both cavalry and infantry soldiers alike. A footnote reminds us that during the course of the Napoleonic wars some three million soldiers perished. Regular cinematographer Darius Wolski captures the enormous scope and chaos of these bloody battle scenes which are shot in widescreen and from wide angle to give us a better perspective of the carnage. He also employs a rather dull brownish colour palette and uses natural lighting for much of the film.
The script from David Scarpa (who also penned Scott’s All The Money In The World) takes some licence with history and comes across more like an abridged Wikipedia version of his life that doesn’t give us much insight into his complex character or indeed many of his achievements in rewriting much of France’s social and political landscape of the time. Some of his campaigns, such as his 1798 campaign in Egypt are given little screen time. Scarpa also spends far too much time exploring Napoleon’s turbulent and volatile relationship with the older aristocratic widow Josephine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby, from Mission: Impossible: Fallout, etc) and the shifting power dynamics between the couple. Despite Josephine being the love of his life, he divorced here over her inability to produce an heir, although they still remained close until her death.
Napoleon boasts Scott’s signature visual flair, and the production values are superb, from David Crossman’s period costumes to the production design from Arthur Max that captures both the squalor of revolutionary France to the sumptuous interiors of Napoleon’s home, and brings this era alive.
Bonaparte has been previously portrayed on screen memorably by Rod Steiger in the 1970 epic British/Russian co-production Waterloo, and even Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper and Ian Holm have played him. Here Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix steps into the role and delivers another commanding performance in the title role, capturing his hubris, his driving ambition, his glum personality and also his flaws. However, he also plays him as unrelentingly dour, aloof and taciturn, insecure and lovesick, and colours him with flashes of neurosis and paranoia. Kirby is memorable and strong-willed and seductive as the manipulative Josephine and she more than holds her own against Phoenix. But surprisingly the pair never really share a convincing sexual chemistry. And Rupert Everett leaves his mark as a foppish Duke of Wellington.
With this historical biopic Scott swings for the fences with great ambition. But like the character it depicts Scott’s epic Napoleon is a flawed and complex film and its historical inaccuracies may upset historians and purists, while the film itself will entertain the less demanding with its exciting and visceral battle sequences.
★★★☆
