November 27, 2023 · Watch the official trailer
How is it possible to make a film about an enigmatic, psychologically obsessive war general feel cinematic in a time where historical war dramas are not particularly well received?
Director Ridley Scott goes to great lengths to live up to the challenge with his latest feature, “Napoleon,” centered around the infamous general and French emperor whose compulsive personality let him to both greatness and eventual ruin over the course of several decades.
It’s a languid and yet masterfully made film that has exceptionally cinematic highs, stellar lead performances, and a somewhat confusing narrative and pace that unfamiliar with the history might struggle to take in all in one go.
At the center of everything is Joaquin Phoenix, one of Hollywood’s premiere chameleons, whose idiosyncrasies come to full bear as Napoleon and the strange psychology of Bonaparte as a character that is never fully understood by audiences somehow shines in his magnetic, devastating performance physically, emotionally, and tonally.
While there’s an off-kilter charm to his stoicism that helps draw viewers into what could otherwise has become a somewhat stuffy performance, Phoenix’s commitment and singular drive in the role is a manic, yet nuanced turn that is hard to take the eyes off and the dryness of his line delivery makes “Napoleon” at times one of the funniest films of the entire year.
Though the film is almost singularly about a single man vaulted to the highest stages of history with everyone else around being cannon fodder for his journey to the top, Napoleon’s personal obsession with his wife Josephine is a remarkable, alluring, and dramatic side-plot in Scott’s film that often overtakes the frame as Vanessa Kirby relishes every opportunity to challenge Phoenix in a battle of verbal and emotional wits.
The chemistry between the two is nothing short of electric given how much of a war odyssey “Napoleon” feels for much of its slightly bloated two-and-a-half hour run time and Phoenix is able to perfectly showcase how the separation of the two help directly lead to Bonaparte’s fall from grace.
One of the most astonishing aspects of “Napoleon” is the epic scale the film takes, first in navigating Bonaparte’s entire adult life from his rise to stardom as a commander in the battle of Toulon all the way through his many military campaigns as French emperor but also in the weight and gravity of massive battles as well.
Scott artfully and masterfully captures the grandiose chaos of battle with a cast of over 300 extras and showcases how Napoleon’s eccentricities made him uniquely capable of cerebrally navigating war and orchestrating French victory in a cavalier, almost pompous way.
But both in the script and in Phoenix’s performance, Napoleon’s confidence in his abilities is so absolute that it feels almost happenstance.
Both ardent cinephiles and history buffs might well replay each of the film’s many battles over and over again as Scott captures the battlefield like few other auteurs can.
There’s a dazzling awe that washes over the screen as Scott stages these medieval battle sequences in such a way that each feels unique and truly highlights the bold cinematography work of director of photography Dariusz Wolski.
“Napoleon” could be a secondary player come awards season given how strong the lead performances are, especially given that this is the first pairing of Phoenix and Scott since their Best Picture win two decades earlier for “Gladiator.” The likelihood, however, is somewhat marred given its middling release and Apple’s desire to push another film in its slate, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” much more heavily.
Giant war epics are best seen on the biggest screen available, with “Napoleon” being no exception, although the film is certainly worth a watch now or at home early next year with its inevitable release on AppleTV+.
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