“Napoleon” review: Joaquin Phoenix shines as a war master in Ridley Scott’s psychologically complex but brilliantly directed biopic

There are ghosts on and off screen in Ridley Scott’s 28th film. Chief among these is Stanley Kubrick’s unrealized biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican military strategist who fought his way through the ranks of the army, not to be missed, even becoming the leader of France. two times. The fact that Scott, almost 86 years old, did his best to finish what Kubrick could not, will undoubtedly bring joy to the British director. But even if his view of history is his own, there is something incomprehensible in Bonaparte’s story that does not form a coherent whole: how it is compatible with history, Napoleon is a lover And a warrior, an incongruity that leads to sharp shifts in tone and a restless episodic story that can be overwhelming in its dates, names and places.

For Napoleon To work at all, it needs an imposing but charismatic presence, someone like Marlon Brando, who played Bonaparte in the strange 1954 historical romance. Desiree. Kubrick would have wanted Jack Nicholson, and Joaquin Phoenix doesn’t fall far from that tribe. His cast certainly sets the tone, and Scott is wasting no time setting his feet: this will be an old-fashioned epic in the vein of Anthony Mann The fall of the Roman EmpireAnd it’s certainly a real treat to see Scott, a master craftsman, bring every dollar and more to the screen.

However, these films were mostly blockbusters, and while they serve the story, this is the story of a man who effortlessly outshone his colleagues – Napoleon It often feels like one or two star roles are missing, a nagging suspicion confirmed when Rupert Everett emerges in the final 40 minutes as the scheming Duke of Wellington and Bonaparte finally meet their match.

Scott said Kubrick’s treatment didn’t interest him because it was about “birth into death,” but David Scarpa’s screenplay is not far off, detailing Bonaparte’s ascension into death, aged 28 of 51. The prologue takes place in revolutionary France and states that “men are driven to revolution by misery” and vice versa, as we see the painful beheading of Marie Antoinette. The public is pleased, but behind the scenes the French government is in crisis. To boost morale, Bonaparte offers his services to regime leader Paul Barras (Tahar Rahim), who is planning a sophisticated guerrilla attack on a British fortress in Toulon.

His plan is a success, and Scott depicts it in all its bloody glory, culminating in the spectacular destruction of British ships by cannon fire, with images as brutal and direct as CNN, yet touched by the artistry of Canaletto (the ethics of this one). plan). – the use of aesthetics in depictions of war – is controversial, but Scott managed to avoid this problem for years. Within these explosive twenty minutes, the film gets off to a flying start, portraying Bonaparte as a combative man and a fearless warrior who has no doubts about leading at the front. How can he keep up the pace for the next 2 hours and 40 hours?

Not surprisingly, this is not possible; The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte is so intertwined with the maze of bureaucracy that followed Reign of Terror – the intrigues and counter-intrigues – that Scott immediately focuses on Bonaparte’s first meeting with Joséphine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby). Joséphine catches him staring at her on a racquetball and immediately confronts him. Bonaparte is in all his military glory, but Joséphine is wasting away. “What’s that costume you’re wearing?” she asked. “This is my uniform,” he says, a funny moment that shows how small he becomes in her presence. He ends the scene by begging her: “Don’t tell me your name.” But he finds out anyway when she sends her son to retrieve his late father’s saber.

Joséphine is a contradiction that fascinates Bonaparte. “When you look at me, do you see an aristocrat?” she asked herself before telling him that she used her body to survive during her captivity during the Terror. Despite these “mistakes”, Bonaparte continues the affair; Unaware that she has taken a lover behind his back, he writes intense, passionate letters as he begins his attack on the entire world. When he has to concentrate on his work, he is definitely somewhere else (“My successes seem small because they keep us apart,” he says). And in a subtle foreshadowing of how things will turn out, he notes, “This love that I feel for you is a kind of death.”

So it’s clear that two very different stories are intertwined here, and for a while they don’t quite meet in the middle. Kirby struggles with a role that carries so much psychological weight — her “love” is better described as toxic, S&M-esque codependency — but increasingly little screen time as Bonaparte obsesses over it, under the watchful eye of finding a male heir for his mother. produce . So perhaps we can expect Scott to go all out in the battle scenes, culminating in the fiery Siege of Toulon with the icy Battle of Austerlitz and finally the moment where Bonaparte literally meets his Waterloo, a beautiful and presumably faithful representation of behavior. Depicted fight scenes in which Akira Kurosawa is shot Ran.

Just as it concluded Bonaparte’s story, Waterloo brings things to a satisfying conclusion, thanks in large part to Everett’s portrayal of Wellington. Scott even brings out a touch of self-deprecating British humor (“I never get wet if I can help it,” Wellington says as he mounts his horse at the last minute), and the director lets Britain celebrate the victory. without conditions – which is very encouraging given the disastrous performance of British politicians over the past seven years.

The running time doesn’t exactly fly by and you shudder to think how a director’s cut could help with another two hours TheBut NapoleonLike the theme, stealth is coming. What takes some getting used to is that the actual film takes place in Bonaparte’s head; He’s used to his colleagues thinking he’s a criminal, that he’s taken the world hostage, that he’ll fight for peace by any means necessary, and while doing so, he’s hostile to almost everyone he meets. meet. such a big man has no manners,” sniffs a British envoy. It’s hard to imagine an actor who can pull it off so compellingly, but Phoenix manages to deliver a performance that’s particularly impressive if you consider that this self-proclaimed war master has sent more than 3 million men to their deaths in just 22 years.

Title: Napoleon
Distributor: Sony photos
Release date: November 22, 2023
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriter: David Scarpa
Form: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Ludivine Sagnier, Rupert Everett, Tahar Rahim
Assessment: R
Time: 2 hours 38 minutes