'Napoleon' is here - Ridley Scott's answer to superhero movies

'Napoleon', the biopic by Ridley Scott on the famous French emperor, was released in theaters across the world on November 22, 2023.

And who other than Joaquin Phoenix could play the difficult role of Napoleon? More than 20 years after they worked together on 'Gladiator', the actor (49) and the director, almost 86 years old, came together for a new historical piece.

The cast is completed by first-rate actresses and actors, such as Vanessa Kirby in the role of Joséphine de Beauharnais, Tahar Rahim to play Paul Barras, and Ben Miles to play Armand de Caulaincourt.

The film mainly focuses on the meteoric rise of the ambitious Bonaparte, a brilliant officer who climbed all the ranks of power in just a few years.

This biopic also focuses on Napoleon's first marriage to Joséphine de Beauharnais, allowing us to discover this iconic figure in a more intimate light.

As Napoleon specialist David Chanteranne said on the French 'Europe 1': "Joséphine is essential to understanding Napoleon's meteoric rise," because she allows him to "enter the circles of power" and because she " knows all the codes of both this Directory but also of the Ancien Regime."

The feature film recounts the strongest moments of the Napoleonic epic, from the siege of Toulon in 1793 to the final defeat at Waterloo, including the Battle of Austerlitz.

As 'Europe 1' reports, the battle reconstructions are impressive, especially that of Austerlitz, where we see "the Austrian and Russian armies drowning in a frozen lake shelled by French artillery."

Image: 'Napoleon' (2023)

Interviewed by 'France Info', Ridley Scott said Napoleon was a fascinating character. He was, at the same time, a "leader, diplomat, warrior, politician, bureaucrat, and of course, inevitably, a dictator." Historians estimate that Napoleon's battles caused the deaths of two million soldiers and many civilians.

The filmmaker told 'Europe 1' that he wanted to make "an epic and historical film…" which may be "a little 'old-fashioned'," he said. His comment about 'old-fashioned films' was a soft punch in the direction of the big, popular superhero productions which he considers 'quite stupid'.

Ridley Scott did not aim to make a documentary film, but rather a fictional drama in which Joséphine gets a lot of attention. She was the 'Achilles heel' of Napoleon, Scott said.

Yet, the director received a lot of criticism because of the film's historical inaccuracies. They occur in his depiction of the battles or in the presence of Napoleon at events that he did not actually attend.

In general, however, Scott received support. Quoted by '20 Minutes', the chief curator of heritage at the Army Museum, Émilie Robbe, emphasized that it is most of all a movie and that Scott logically "compiled certain events so that the plot is more fluid."

His colleague Grégory Spourdos also contested criticism that the movie would be anti-French. "I was actually surprised that a British filmmaker would elevate Napoleon to this extent," he told 20 Minutes, pointing out that the Duke of Wellington looks "much more unsympathetic" than Napoleon in the film.

Annoyed by criticism of the historical accuracy of his film, Ridley Scott retorted on BBC News that "the French don't like themselves."

After the British historian Dan Snow had commented negatively about the film, Ridley Scott said in the New Yorker: "Let him buy himself a life."

French press reviews are very divided on the biopic, with an average of 2.9 stars out of 5 (out of a total of 11 reviews), as of November 21, 2023.

Elle magazine praised it as a "great show with flamboyant aesthetics", while 'Public' spoke of the "impressive war scenes" which "make us forget the historical inaccuracies."

Other reviewers were less enthused, like 'Télérama' which saw the film as a "heavy biopic," and 'Le Figaro' which deplored that it gave "a reductive vision of history".

The film will be released worldwide on Apple TV at the end of 2023. The channel participated in the production of the blockbuster.

Will this 'Napoleon' in the guise of Joaquin Phoenix live up to the public’s expectations? Curious viewers can give their opinion this week!