Much like with Killers Of The Flower Moon, we’ll be looking at another instance of an auteur digging into Apple’s deep pockets to realise their historical epic. Even ignoring the lengthy discrepancies concerning initial box office impact and overall cultural impact, I can only see the notion of a great filmmaker creating great art while also putting a dent into a company that, quite frankly, is rich enough already, as a net positive. Although, I’ll admit that in the case of this film, said positive isn’t quite as strong as Scorsese’s.
I mean, this is lush to look at, don’t get me wrong. The scale of the military battles is gi-normous, the set design and location shooting allows for some beautiful backdrops, and much like with The Last Duel, there’s an evident attention to detail in how everything is being presented. There’s a bigger argument concerning historical accuracy (which I won’t get into because I don’t pretend to be a history buff), but all the same, effort has been made to make this as believable as possible.
Not that this even seems to be aiming for the strictest biographical standard to begin with. Hell, the way the film ends openly puts a question mark on any kind of historical accuracy concerning the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte, since history books tend to be dictated by those in power. Instead, this is more of a direct character study, with the militaristic and political aspects of Napoleon’s rise to power being treated primarily as they reflect Napoleon’s personality. And sticking to the tradition of a filmmaker who once portrayed God, the ultimate masculine authority figure, as a bratty child having a tantrum, his, writer David Scarpa, and Joaquin Phoenix’s depiction of the French general is that of an emotionally volatile man-child.
There’s a surprising amount of campness to his performance here, showing that Ridley Scott is continuing with the mood similarities in The Last Duel and House Of Gucci, and in that vein, this is particularly entertaining. Phoenix is old hat at playing this kind of immature and insecure male figure, going all the way back to his previous collaboration with Scott in Gladiator, and he puts just the right emphasis on the petulant pearls that Scarpa gives him to really bring out the pathetic nature of the character. There’s definite artistic DNA being shared between this and Terry Camilleri pitching a hissy-fit after losing at ten-pin bowling in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Through that, the overall tone of the military skirmishes turns out even grimmer than they would already, what with the washed-out colour palette, use of environment like mud, ice, and rain to add atmosphere, and the prominent bloodshed. It’s presented as the ugly result of someone like Napoleon being in a position of power, with lives being lost and land being taken under the name of a terminally insecure little man desperately trying to show how low his genitals swing. The influence of his understanding of the classics, like being inspired by Alexander The Great to try and similarly conquer the world under his banner, or the ancient Roman imagery of his coronation as Emperor, is low-key compared to everything else shown, but it still contributes to the larger picture of the pedant in the bicorne hat.
Then there’s the presence of Vanessa Kirby as his wife Josephine, which compounds the look at male insecurities by showing him as part of a toxic co-dependent relationship. Kirby gets some campy moments, like when she spreads her legs and tells Napoleon “Look down and you’ll see a surprise”, but they're pitched lower than the near-slapstick Phoenix is serving for most of the film. Scott has admitted that a director’s cut for this does exist (which reportedly goes for longer than four hours… and honestly, I’m not opposed to at least trying it), and that it would involve delving more into Josephine’s character. I can definitely see a need for expansion, as she never really goes beyond the confines of being associated with Napoleon, even as the film gets into her aristocratic background juxtaposed with the royals being sent to the guillotine during the Revolution.
While this can come across as a bit simplistic, since the primary interpretation of Napoleon here is the latest in a long line of chest-beating men at the centre of a Ridley Scott film, it still does quite well at making that depiction compelling for two-and-a-half hours. Phoenix’s performance combined with Scott’s reliably grand direction makes for a solid look at male insecurity and who pays the price for it, even if it’s not quite as compelling as similar explorations in The Last Duel. And while its relative textual flatness certainly comes across like historical details are being skimmed, I can forgive that because it results in a film that focuses on the pointless loss of life in war, rather than glorifying the ‘tactical brilliance’ of the generals who sent those soldiers to their deaths.
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