December 4, 2023
From an ordinary soldier who witnessed the beheading of Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) rose the ranks of the French revolutionary army after he led troops to victory at the Siege of Toulon and 13 Vendémiaire. After his marriage to widow Joséphine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby), Napoleon continued his winning streak at the Battle of the Pyramids, until he got word that Josephine was having an affair.
Thus began this biopic about the life of French military commander and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Director Ridley Scott chose not to limit the scope of this film to only one memorable battle in Napoleon's bloody career, but instead tried to summarize all the key events in one 157-minute long film, based on a script written by David Scarpa. This caused the storytelling to feel disjointed, difficult to follow and disappointingly boring.
This was unfortunate because the visual aspects of this film looked amazing on the big screen. Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski had worked with Scott eight times before, while Oscar-winning (for "Platoon") film editor Claire Simpson had worked with Scott three times before, and their efficient working chemistry with Scott was very evident throughout the film, especially in those spectacular battle scenes in Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Production designer Arthur Max had been nominated for Oscars three times before, and they had all been for Ridley Scott films -- "Gladiator," "American Gangster" and "The Martian." His meticulous work here recreating the look and feel of the French Revolution era was beautiful and deserves commendation. Costume designer Janty Yates had won an Oscar before for her work in "Gladiator," and her sartorial work here also looked very authentic.
Phoenix and Kirby are undoubtedly talented actors, but they felt miscast in their roles here age-wise. At 49 now, Phoenix looked too old to be the 24 year-old Napoleon at the Marie Antoinette execution. Phoenix had a perpetual dour scowl on his face which did not make him charming or charismatic as Napoleon was supposed to be. Josephine was supposed to be 6 years older than Napoleon, but Kirby is 14 years younger than Phoenix.
It was disappointing to find out after watching that many of the film's best scenes were all only due to cinematic license. Eye-catching battle scenes, like Napoleon shooting at the pyramids in Egypt, or enemy soldiers falling through the ice in Austerlitz or Napoleon leading a cavalry charge in Waterloo, did not happen in real life. Napoleon slapping Josephine in public, and his escape from Elba to visit an ailing Josephine were likewise just fantasy as well. 6/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment