Film review: ‘NAPOLEON’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
Bringing to life a full-scale biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte has been something of an Ahab-like quest for film directors. Stanley Kubrick had a Napoleon film (at one point with Jack Nicholson as the French Emperor) in the works for many years before shelving it due to studio budget concerns. Russian director Sergei Bondarchuk tackled the subject with mixed results in 1970 with Waterloo starring Rod Steiger. Now, one of the few Hollywood directors entrusted with the historical epic, Ridley Scott has taken on this monumental task.
A key concern some may have going into this film is what sort of biopic this is: the dramatically straightforward historical action film as in Scott’s Gladiator, the sprawling character study of a mercurial figure such as David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia or something more experimental which looks for unexpected features in the character’s psychology and the culture in which they lived such as Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Nicholas Hynter’s The Madness of King George or Todd Haynes Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. This is a Ridley Scott film so we can pretty much jettison hopes for the more Avant Garde approach. Instead, he delivers an old school epic with a massive sense of scale, sumptuous detail and violent action but a lack of real insight into the character.
Beginning in 1789, the film depicts Napoleon’s (Joaquin Phoenix) ascent through the French military and the revolutionary political hiercharchy toward his eventual crowning as emperor. Much of the focus is on Napoleon’s military campaigns, especially the battles at Austerlitz in which he was triumphant, his hideously costly war with Russia which saw half a million soldiers killed and his ultimate defeat at Waterloo. The battle scenes, especially Austerlitz and Waterloo are impressively huge and grandiose, primarily using old school in-camera effects and masses of extras but augmented with cgi. Military history buffs will no doubt be salivating over the minute-by-minute depiction of Napoleon’s chess master-like strategies although some have pointed out that a few fictitious elements have been added along the way. Some of the action is a little cluttered and unclear but for the most part Scott gives audiences a powerful recreation (or at least interpretation) of these fierce conflicts.
The other key aspect of this film is Napoleon’s tempestuous relationship with wife Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). How accurate a depiction this is of their marriage is again questionable but in this film it’s more about two charismatic personalities colliding. A key part of their relationship as depicted here is Napoleon’s jealousy at Josephine getting a bit on the side (something to which he gladly admits doing himself) and bitter resentment at her apparent inability to bear him a son. With so much emphasis on their relationship it’s unfortunate that the chemistry isn’t quite there between Phoenix and Kirby and their scenes together don’t generate the feverish drama that seems to have been intended. A couple of their sex scenes actually generate presumably unintended laughs from the audience.
Intriguingly, there’s almost no depiction of Napoleon as peace time political leader. This feels like a loss as he made vast and important changes to France across a huge range of areas from the law, religion and civic infrastructure.
Also, crucially we don’t gain enough insight into Napoleon’s character and psychology. While his, military genius, ambition and insecurity are clear, Phoenix’s dour, taciturn portrayal still leaves us at a distance from the character and unsure of what really drives this astonishing historical figure. Phoenix often seems better playing fictional characters where he can define the role as in Beau is Afraid and The Master rather than historical figures where he’s constrained by facts and expectations. While the sparks aren’t necessarily there between her and Phoenix’s Napoleon, Kirby’s individual performance as Josephine is still quite potent and she manages to elevate her to something more than ‘Napoleon’s wife’.
Importantly, for a big commercial historical epic, the production design and costuming are sensational. Expert historians may find inaccuracies in clothing and decor but to the regular viewer the film looks stunning and convincing. Napoleon’s ornate coronation in particular looks astonishing with ravishing set design and costumes and magnificent cinematography from frequent Ridley Scott collaborator Dariusz Wolski.
With its limited scope this is not the definitive Napoleon biopic – it’s unlikely that any feature film could be – but this one at least succeeds as spectacle.
Nick’s rating: ***
Genre: Drama/ Action/ Historical.
Classification: MA15+.
Director(s): Ridley Scott.
Release date: 23rd Nov 2023.
Running time: 157 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.