Napoleon is a huge historic figure. We all surely know him as France’s infamous military leader and later on emperor.
Some of us know that filmmaker Ridley Scott won’t back away to create a huge historic epic for his audience. After working with Joaquin Phoenix for Sir Ridley Scotts legendary film ‘Gladiator’, the two of them worked together again to create a historic biopic about the ups and downs in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) as well as his journey to power and his unhealthy yet passionate relationship to his wife Josephine (Vanessa Kirby).
I fell in love with Ridley Scotts work after seeing Gladiator and knew for sure that he is capable to create huge historic epics that need to be seen on the big screen.
He is incredible in what he does and this film and its brilliant choreographed battle sequences just prove this once again.
While Napoleon isn’t certainly his best film, it is still an adventure and lots of fun to see on the big screen. Two big reasons to support this are the performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. These two have incredible chemistry on screen. Kirby was truly a standout in this one. Josephine was depicted as a strong, complicated yet confident woman and while this relationship surely isn’t healthy (not at all) – I enjoyed the relationship scenes the most. These two really didn’t know what they were doing and it wasn’t clear if they were in love, obsessed or hated one another. Maybe all at once? Their relationship was truly the thing I was most invested in and it seemed like the film wanted us to be.
Phoenix’ Napoleon is hard to crack. He is shown as this strategic guy who knows what he wants and takes what he wants. But only on the battlefield. He desperately loves his country and wants to risk everything to win the battles he faces. Once he is at home though, his insecurities are more visible. He is depicted as this very dismissive guy towards the woman in his life. He loves Josephine so much that he even risks to leave a battle to solve their marriage problems.
Something the film does – which I really enjoyed – is draw a parallel to celebrity couples these days. And the fascination we have with them. Whenever Napoleon and Josephine had a relationship crisis, we could see newspaper articles and doodles where the public made fun of them and their intimate lives. Kind of like the Twitter of the 1800s.
Since it is the 1800s though, a big part of the conflict is the fact that women are often viewed as people whose sole purpose is to bear children – since Napoleon really wants an heir, this marks one of the biggest complications in their relationship.
I enjoyed the drama the characters brought along. Something that would’ve made this film truly great would’ve been a closer insight into Napoleons head. He was often hard to understand, did sudden moves where I wish I had known his inner monologues. Seeing this relationship more from the inside would’ve turned this film into a so much more interesting story, since it seemed to focus on Napoleon and Josephine’s dynamic anyway.
The scenes on the battlefield are compelling and great to look at. It was fascinating to see a film that brought hoards of extras on the screen. It made me realize that I truly enjoy seeing historic epics, especially on the big screen.
While it is not as great as other films Ridley Scott released, it is still worth to check out. It is truly impressive that Ridley Scott is able to create a massive film experience with his 86 Years. He surely knows how to craft a film and how to navigate something as big as the life of Bonaparte. Also whatever he’s taking or doing to create something this big at that age – I really want it.