2023-11-14 23:07:04
The transplant rarely takes place. And the switch from one sketch to another amplifies the imbalances in the rhythm, preventing any emotion from taking hold. The spectator is led to make his own choice among the intrigues which interest him or not. And unfortunately, the relationship between Napoleon and Joséphine, which must constitute the emotional heart of the story, leaves one completely unmoved. Neither the screenplay written by David Scarpa nor the direction by Ridley Scott manage to suppose an osmosis between two protagonists with contrary characters and ambitions, whose quest for an heir turns out to be the only way to bring them together. screen. It is the whole contradiction of the film to want to play with the Napoleon myth, even if it means giving him the air of an immature child disguised in a soldier’s costume, while maintaining reflexes that might be described as conservative. The film may pretend that Joséphine is a character equal to Napoleon, but the screenplay never really gives her the opportunity to exist as such, outside the hands and degrading considerations of her companion.
From one scene to another, Napoleon appears impulsive, sometimes idiotic (his belligerent attitude with the other emperors), before a battle glorifies his instincts as a brilliant strategist. Obviously, it is in conflict that Ridley Scott flourishes more. Even if we do not find there the brilliant formalist of Kingdom of Heaven, the few warlike flashes that he stages are enough to arouse a hint of emotion. We particularly think of the impressive Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, where ice, shells and raw flesh combined to form a terrifying human trap. This is where the ultra-violent verve of Ridley Scott’s cinema, which films History as a machine of relentless human destruction, is expressed in its most stimulating form and is superimposed on the very nature of the character of Napoleon Bonaparte. . Freed from the trappings of a mythical figure (and today fantasized by certain political fringes), he reveals himself as the sole narrator of his own legend who, in the midst of his wanderings and conquests, never witnesses the disappearance of the characters. which are its constituent elements.
This melancholy thread, which might act as a mirror to the journey of Scott himself (a relentless performer who works in isolation, surrounded by a few loyal collaborators), Napoleon never really grasps it, too busy carefully unfolding its timeline. Ridley Scott has already promised that a long version of more than four and a half hours will soon be made available. It is a safe bet that it will not be able to fill the absence of incarnation of a project which, behind its appearance of a cinematographic event, constitutes only one more episode in the slow decomposition of the career of the author of Blade Runner. But don’t count on him to think too much regarding it: Gladiator 2with Paul Mescal and without Russell Crowe, is already planned for next year.
Napoleon, a film directed by Ridley Scott, with Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim and Rupert Everett, 2h39. To be discovered in cinemas from November 22.
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