Ridley Scott knows exactly how to bring a monumental film to the big screen. After all, he has done this very successfully several times throughout his career, from Gladiator to Kingdom of Heaven to Exodus: Gods and Kings. However, his latest work from this corner comes across met with a lot of resistance.
With Napoleon, Scott dedicates himself to one of the most famous figures in world history. In an epic 158 minutes he delves into the past and, together with the main actor Joaquin Phoenix, brings the Corsican-born man to life Napoleon Buonaparte to live. Napoleon was best known for his large-scale military campaigns.
Problematic historical epic: Ridley Scott’s Napoleon film with Joaquin Pheonix is being dismantled in France
Even before the film’s release, several voices were raised on the Internet: the Scotts cinematic approach to the historical person Napoleon criticized. The epic, which is marked by major battles, is a controversial topic, particularly in France. To discuss the situation in more detail, Variety asked two local experts.
You can watch the trailer for Napoleon here:
Napoleon – Trailer 2 (German) HD
In conversation with columnist Romain Marsily and historian Patrice Gueniffey, it turns out that despite strong numbers, the French audience is not enthusiastic across the board. With his Representation of the general In the eyes of many French people, Scott has obviously made a big impression, analyzes Marsily.
This film is, like spitting in the French people’s facesbecause it feels like Ridley Scott has ridiculed both Napoleon and the history of France.
Even Napoleon critics don’t feel impressed by Scott’s film.
Napoleon holds great fascination in France, even among people who hate him for reintroducing slavery in the French West Indies and for his abuse of power after becoming Emperor of France, but even these people are disappointed with the filmbecause he fails at it, [Napoleons] Legacy, whether good or bad, to be addressed substantially.Napoleon gets another chance: Ridley Scott has promised Director’s Cut with significantly more material
Napoleon has been running in German cinemas since November 23, 2023. In addition, one should four-hour director’s cut appear on the streaming service Apple TV+. It is currently not clear when this will be the case. We are curious to see whether the extended version can counteract the criticism.