Film Review — Napoleon
Ridley Scott brilliantly depicts the titular dictator’s battles, but the relationship with Joséphine fails to convince
Once described as “my all-time favourite fascist dictator” by Arnold Rimmer in cult BBC sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf, the eponymous Corsican military genius with short stature but world-dominating ambition is given the cinematic treatment once again by notoriously hit-and-miss director Ridley Scott. It’s an ambitious romp that delivers a cavalry charge through the entire Napoleonic wars of 1789 to 1815, but along the way, certain key elements of the tale are demolished by editorial artillery fire. The main casualties are key naval battles like Trafalgar, but since Scott seems determined to paint the British in a pretty snooty light (their main motive for fighting Napoleon appears to be that they take exception to his bad manners), it perhaps isn’t surprising such landmarks of history fell by the wayside.
On the other hand, this isn’t a history lesson, though some historians have been scathing about the film. Ridley Scott’s response to said historians has been equally scathing, but all of that is beside the point. What I care about is coherent storytelling. David Scarpa’s screenplay scarpers through so much incident without pausing for breath that it feels episodic and unable to…
