'Napoleon' - Film - UK Release 22nd November

[Raider4]

I think it's meant to capture that post modern truth of the Anglo-Scots relationship rather than anything so de trop as facts.

Billy Connelly said everything that needs to be said about the politics of Braveheart:

"Braveheart is pure Australian sh*te. William Wallace was a spy, a thief, a blackmailer - a c**t basically. And people are swallowing it. It's part of a new Scottish racism, which I loath - this thing that everything horrible is English. It's conducted by the great unread and the conceited w***ers at the SNP, those dreary little pr**ks in Parliament who rely on bigotry for support"

[mollinary]

I really wanted to like "Napoleon".  Forget the historical inaccuracies, I was hoping for a gripping film like Gladiator. Sadly, I didn't get it. I found it boring, two paced, confusing, dominated by a brilliant performance by Josephine and a wooden one by Napoleon, a waste of time and money (both mine and the producers'). I nearly left half way through. By the time we got to Waterloo I wished I had.  Gladiator was a triumph, Kingdom of Heaven, particularly the Director's cut, breathtaking, Napoleon underwhelming, made all the more so by the intermittent sumptuous scenes and images.

[whubble]

Yes, to all you have written, still waiting for the director's cut before I pass a final judgement. I will admit I was willing to pass over the omissions and errors until the 'Battle of Waterloo' - not sure what was going on there.  

[Orcs]

One of the guys from our club has been to see it and said "don't bother"

[steve_holmes_11]

Classic wargamer responses.

[flamingpig0]

Billy Connelly said everything that needs to be said about the politics of Braveheart:

"Braveheart is pure Australian sh*te. William Wallace was a spy, a thief, a blackmailer - a c**t basically. And people are swallowing it. It's part of a new Scottish racism, which I loath - this thing that everything horrible is English. It's conducted by the great unread and the conceited w***ers at the SNP, those dreary little pr**ks in Parliament who rely on bigotry for support"

I love the way he is obviously holding back

[Big Insect]

Well ...

I can agree with the detractors above but I also think that it was always going to suffer from a high degree of anticipation and then a 'fall' from this particular audience.

Did I enjoy it? Well yes, as my expectations were suitably low. This was a film aimed at a massed audience. So it was bound to fail to impress those of us here who know our 1806 French uniform from our 1815 uniform etc.

I agree that Josephine's performance was excellent. Was Napoleon wooden? Maybe, but nothing I have read about him states that he was particularly charismatic - in fact the reference to him as a ruthless "Corsican thug" in the film really seems to have been true in life. He was anything but dynamic, a dour-plotter and calculated schemer seems to have been the general conclusion on his character at the time. His men followed him primarily because he won battles. The director even has to try to enliven his character a bit by having him charging at the head of his cavalry at Borodino and Waterloo - which was totally unnecessary and improbable.

Yes, there were some obvious 'sins' - such as the shooting at the Pyramids and the over emphasis on the use of the frozen lake/river at Austerlitz - along with the Prussians arriving on the wrong flank at Waterloo (a schoolboy error that could have easily been corrected in this world of digital filming), but to say the film was a total disaster would (IMHO) be far too harsh.

What I did find encouraging was the attention to detail around things like uniforms, for example. The fact that the early part of his career at the siege of Toulon (which I thought was handled very well) and in Egypt we had the French in their correct uniforms, clearly showed that some sort of military history consultation had taken place. The fact that Napoleon's own favored uniform was portrayed correctly throughout the film, was also a good sign (to me anyway). There were some brilliant scenes that I thought portrayed the 'Terror' well as well as the post 'Terror' society and the struggle that France had to understand what it really was to be in the future.

For a c.2hr film, aimed at the wider general public, I had actually expected worse. Much worse.
I'd watch it again on the small screen and I'd certainly watch a much longer Directors Cut on a bigger screen - if we get one.

Cheers
Mark

[flamingpig0]

Out of interest did the film depict non-British troops in Wellington's army?

[flamingpig0]

Without wishing to get too post-modernist  I feel a good film is one that is enjoyable to the individual watching it. For the most part.

[Big Insect]

Out of interest did the film depict non-British troops in Wellington's army?

Possibly - but if so they were shown at a distance, as were most of the armies on either side.
The somewhat 'ragged' lines of infantry were inexcusable - especially with CGI.