Ben Oliver

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Napoleon

You think you’re so great because you have boats!
10 October 2024

A biopic of the French emperor (Joaquin Phoenix), focusing on his battles at war and his relationship with his wife Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby).

This is somehow too long (I watched the 3½ hour director’s cut) and not broad enough in its scope. A whole load of shit went down in Napoleon’s life and here we have a Wikipedia summary of some of the hits and misses. It’s interspersed with scenes from his marriage and the power dynamic between them as they fail to have children, and also tries its hand at political satire a few times. So in the end it’s quite confused and self-contradictory in tone.

I do have to applaud Scott’s attempt to balance the man with the legend, and that is furthered by Joaquin Phoenix’s odd but compelling performance. Yes Phoenix makes choices that might offend French people, but it’s unexpected and it’s one of the elements of the film where creative licence is surely required. He is at once pathetic and yet commands a room with gravitas, and it’s an interesting take on the man.

The battle sequences are where Scott is back in his element, shooting action coherently and getting the audience immersed.

It’s no surprise Kubrick spent so much of his life trying to make a film about Napoleon and ultimately failed. Even details of his year long exile on Elba—where he set up an army and small navy, escaped, marched through France and somehow seized back command—could fuel a two hour epic. But much like Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s film wants it all and in the end comes a cropper.

In spite of all my misgivings with Napoleon, the sheer ambition and weirdness of the film just about won me over.

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