Whoever criticizes his new film is living dangerously. Ridley Scott defends Napoleon with harsh vocabulary and offends France in the process. That doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm.
“The French don’t even like themselves.” Director Ridley Scott peppered a journalist from the British BBC with this sentence a few days ago. The journalist had confronted Scott with the comments of a French Napoleon expert who found Scott’s new film, Napoleon, to be “very anti-French and very pro-British.”
The war epic has been showing in cinemas around the world since Thursday – but Ridley Scott’s quite hearty, off-the-cuff scolding of France is apparently doing little to dampen enthusiasm for Napoleon in the famous historical figure’s home country. On the contrary:
Napoleon is a success in France – despite mixed reviews
According to industry publication Variety, 120,000 French people stormed into cinemas on the first day to watch Joaquin Phoenix conquer the world (and fail in the bedroom). This puts Napoleon only just behind the similar biopic Oppenheimer, which sold 150,000 tickets on its debut in France. This is an extremely strong result for Scott, especially in comparison to his previous films, which grossed 868,000 euros.
(Napoleon)
By the way, the reviews for Napoleon are generally mixed. In the USA, for example, Napoleon is perceived as surprisingly funny, while the staging of the battles is praised – which, however, should be the minimum requirement for a war epic about Napoleon.
French critics seem to be more inclined to slate Napoleon. This is because the French press naturally pays attention to historical accuracy when judging a film that primarily depicts French history. However, this falls on deaf ears with Ridley Scott. His answer to the pesky error seekers: “Get a life.”
For home cinema: The greatest war film ever is available on Blu-ray for the first time
What is Napoleon about?
Napoleon Bonaparte lived from 1769 to 1821, during which time he rose from general to French emperor. Legendary campaigns gave the military and strategic genius influence at the highest levels of politics. Director Ridley Scott said in 2021 that he wanted to trace this rise with six battles. In the end, there were only three battles. In addition to his military and political career, Napoleon’s relationship with his wife Joséphine plays a major role in the film.
