Napoleon: A Complex Man in a Grand Production
By John Kirk
Rating: A-
Napoleon Bonaparte is a significant figure on my list of historical personalities.
It wasn’t just that he selfishly took France through a revolution against its monarchy only to replace it with himself on the throne. Or his genius-level military victories. Or that he almost managed to place Europe under one rule. Oh, and the accidental advances in archeological studies of Egyptian history.
OK, I’m talking way too much about the man’s complex history, and not director Sir Ridley Scott’s film about him.
But Napoleon’s history is a careful collection of strange accidents, selfishly awkward moments, and curious coincidences, and that’s pretty much what we see in Scott’s presentation of the enigmatic conqueror. But it’s an abbreviated one.
History buffs might deliver a scathing judgement of the accelerated expedition through Bonaparte’s life, but the story has to start somewhere, and while an examination of his origins on his native island of Corsica might have been interesting, Scott begins with the rise of the French Revolution where we meet Napoleon (Joaquin Phoenix) in his first command as an artillery officer in the Revolutionary Army, taking the fortress of Toulon in 1793.
More than an introduction to Napoleon’s career, this first look into his past gives the audience an amuse-bouche of the intense and spectacular battle sequences that Scott has included in this film. All accomplished without CGI, the smoke, cannon fire and the portrayal of chaotically visceral damage on the battlefield serve well in reminding the audience that Napoleon was a gifted disciple of the art of war. Scott outperforms himself in the other portrayals of some of Napoleon’s most celebrated military victories.
Napoleon was also reputed to be well-loved by his troops and there are moments in the film where this certainly shines. He was a man of deep but self-consciously expressed passions. He wanted to serve France but was not culturally French.
He was despised by the heads of other states for his revolutionary origins, and this accounted for his diplomatic failures, despite having another genius for a diplomat in his service, Charles Talleyrand (Paul Rhys). Though these contradictions in his personality are made well-visible, the simplistic and hurried timeline doesn’t allow for an understanding of his motivations.
Consistent throughout the film is his relationship with the older and widowed Joséphine de Beauharnais. This is where seeing the film with a Napoleon fan might be helpful.
Bonaparte was a socially awkward man with a very provincial upbringing. Though his family was of minor nobility on the island of Corsica (nationalistically Italian, but technically French), he was gifted in mathematics and this allowed him to attend prominent military schooling in France at a young age, earning an artillery commission. He had very little experience with women and detested social gatherings where he was painfully uncomfortable.
The moment in the film when the young Bonaparte, fresh from his victory in Toulon, encounters Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby) for the first time and is immediately smitten with her is certainly worthy of the love they shared.
His devotion to her children, Eugene (played by a young Benjamin Chivers) and Hortense (Isabella Brownson) was respected and when he was forced to divorce her to find a younger bride of royal descent — Marie-Louise of Austria (Anna Mawn) who could provide an heir — their pains of separation are felt palpably by the audience.
However, the intimate scenes he shares with Joséphine fall short of achieving relatable and quirky moments of humour and instead are reduced to cringe-worthy encounters that detract from the sense of gravitas associated with Bonaparte. They’re not tenderly uncomfortable but laughably comedic and somewhat unbelievable. It’s a delicate thing to bring a historic personality down to earth, and sadly, this aspect of portrayal fails to hit the mark.
Still, other than that, the spirit of the close love they shared is certainly given due honour and Kirby’s performance as the widowed countess who rose to become an Empress is hardly comedic.
Another stand-out performance is Rupert Everett’s portrayal of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. Though we only see Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo in this film, it should be noted that Wellington was a considerable sore to Bonaparte in what was known as the Spanish Campaigns.
In fact, those battles were regarded by Bonaparte as the “Spanish ulcer.” While the time constraints of the film had to be observed, it would have been an enjoyable backstory for Everett to have contributed to.
Phoenix’s intensely minimalist performance captures the audience. His dialogue is briefly delivered with very little complication. His expression is limited but the audience understands his motivations.
Bonaparte was a juxtaposition of traits: confident in his abilities but doubtful of his resolve; a man of intellect and reason, infatuated with his adulterous Joséphine; unable to see that peace in Europe under his rule meant conquest to other nations. Phoenix grasps this and delivers a fascinating historical character performance. This will be his most memorable role.
It’s a tall order to deliver a portrayal of such an auspicious historical character. Little effort is made to glorify him, and Scott makes sure that the audience renders their own judgement on his significance in history.
The number of men who died in his service is certainly staggering, but in the end, the audience is left to render judgement on the man. That’s what the presentation of the selected curious and timely events in his life is supposed to do. Was Napoleon a saviour of the revolution or just a man out to gain power and further his own conquering ambitions?
Good question.
Napoleon. Directed by Sir Ridley Scott. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Rupert Everett, Matthew Needham, Paul Rhys, Ian McNeice, and Tahar Rahim. In theatres November 22.