Napoleon

[JM4CY]

 

[Sigmapolis]

I love Joaquin Phoenix as an actor. But he's 48. Napoleon died at 51.

Napoleon spent the last nine years of his life on St. Helena in exile. Ergo, the "grand finale" of his career was when he was 42 with the Hundred Days and the Battle of Waterloo.

If much of this film is going to be about his rise (e.g., meeting Josephine, the Coup of 18 Brumaire, the Battle of Austerlitz, etc.) then I wonder if they should have gone with a younger actor. Phoenix would be better casting for an older, tired Napoleon circa the Russia campaign, the Battle of Leipzig, and Waterloo.

Ridley Scott and I have a complex relationship. He's made some all-time classics...

Alien
Blade Runner
Thelma & Louise
Gladiator
Kingdom of Heaven
The Last Duel

I have problems with some of his supposed "classics" (e.g., The Martian) but probably rank a few of his supposedly "lesser" films higher than many. Kingdom of Heaven is an example of that. The theatrical cut was hacked down in the worst way to incoherence, but the director's cut is a war epic on the level of Gladiator. He's also got some of that George Lucas thing going on where he doesn't seem to understand his own creations (reading his interviews about Blade Runner and if Deckard is a replicant or not can be rather painful).

That being said, I'm going to this. Historical epics like this are rare nowadays even if they're one of the hoariest genres in cinema history. We should all be going out to support this filmmaking.

 

[Cyghhh]

I would definitely watch this if it were fairly accurate historically.

It's Ridley Scott, so unlikely. But it will probably be fairly entertaining.

 

[NorthCyd]

It's Ridley Scott, so unlikely. But it will probably be fairly entertaining.

Historical fiction can be fun. Braveheart is a fantastic movie. Wildly inaccurate historically but a great movie nonetheless. If it's "inspired by true events" that's fine.

 

[gipper2001]

Just watched a six-hour (well it seemed that long) docu on Napoleon. So much I did not know about the man. The depiction of Bonaparte in the new movie clips seems to work from my reading.

I am hoping to read a little about Napoleon before seeing the movie. Anybody have any recommendations for good books on Napoleon?

 

[Mr Janny]

I love Joaquin Phoenix as an actor. But he's 48. Napoleon died at 51.

Napoleon spent the last nine years of his life on St. Helena in exile. Ergo, the "grand finale" of his career was when he was 42 with the Hundred Days and the Battle of Waterloo.

If much of this film is going to be about his rise (e.g., meeting Josephine, the Coup of 18 Brumaire, the Battle of Austerlitz, etc.) then I wonder if they should have gone with a younger actor. Phoenix would be better casting for an older, tired Napoleon circa the Russia campaign, the Battle of Leipzig, and Waterloo.

Ridley Scott and I have a complex relationship. He's made some all-time classics...

Alien
Blade Runner
Thelma & Louise
Gladiator
Kingdom of Heaven
The Last Duel

I have problems with some of his supposed "classics" (e.g., The Martian) but probably rank a few of his supposedly "lesser" films higher than many. Kingdom of Heaven is an example of that. The theatrical cut was hacked down in the worst way to incoherence, but the director's cut is a war epic on the level of Gladiator. He's also got some of that George Lucas thing going on where he doesn't seem to understand his own creations (reading his interviews about Blade Runner and if Deckard is a replicant or not can be rather painful).

That being said, I'm going to this. Historical epics like this are rare nowadays even if they're one of the hoariest genres in cinema history. We should all be going out to support this filmmaking.

Totally agree on Kingdom of Heaven. The director's cut is definitely the way to watch it