167 - Ridley Scott’s Napoleon Isn’t About Napoleon
Napoleon is a hot, incomprehensible mess of a film, but you should still watch it. After learning these important historic facts.
Join us in a dissection of Ridley Scott's Napoleon. We’ll peel back the layers of this cinematic enigma to uncover a grandiose depiction of Napoleon Bonaparte, and pit the actual historic French Emperor against Ridley Scott's vision of a bumbling man-child. We’ll explore the film's ambitious attempt to blend the tumultuous romance between Napoleon and Josephine with the epic scale of the Napoleonic wars, revealing a narrative filled with creative liberties and historical omissions. Which looks more like a dot-to-dot drawing of Napoleon, rather than a full portrait.
We’ll also delve into the specifics of Napoleon's military genius, most notably his abilities as a wizard of artillery. Then we’ll cover the significant battles that shaped his reign, including the important PR coup (which the film conveniently leaves out) and we’ll shed light on the nuanced realities of Napoleonic warfare, contrasting it with the film’s dramatized battles and its portrayal of Josephine as a pivot around which the emperor's wars turned.
Finally, we’ll read interviews with the director and the screenwriter, and tease out answers to Ridley Scott's decision-making process in choosing which elements of Napoleon's life to highlight, and which to throw in the dumpster and willfully forget. Spoiler alert: the writer wanted a love story, the director wanted an epic biopic, the public wanted a war spectacle, and somehow we got all at once, shoved in a blender and left on puree.
Links:
https://www.vulture.com/article/napoleon-ridley-scott-battle-of-austerlitz-behind-the-scenes.html
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/13/ridley-scott-director-profile