Ridley Scott, the visionary director behind "The Gladiator" and "Kingdom of Heaven," who storyboards everything himself, has embarked on a new cinematic journey, this time exploring the life of Napoleon Bonaparte.
It’s worth seeing, and it paints Napoleon in strokes similar to Alexander the Great, Hitler, and Stalin. Scott notes that Bonaparte has "a lot of shit under his belt," but intriguingly, the film shifts focus from all that "shit" to a more nuanced exploration of military and love vibration versus facts.
Diverging from traditional biopic storytelling, it's entertaining and masterful enough to spark viewers' curiosity about the truth surrounding Napoleon's complicated life.
Dariusz Wolski, the cinematographer, masterfully translates Scott's vision into a visual spectacle. The film features grand battle scenes from Toulon, Marengo, Austerlitz, Borodin, and Waterloo, blending authentic sets with CGI magic.
Filmed mainly in the United Kingdom, locations like Blenheim Palace as Versailles, Boughton House as Chateau de Malmaison, Lincoln Cathedral, and parts of Berkshire stand in for historic locales. The soundtrack also complements the narrative's visual grandeur and epic nature.
Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Bonaparte is brilliant. Phoenix brings depth to the character, closely paralleling Napoleon's age at his death. His nuanced performance captures the essence of Napoleon's character, a testament to Phoenix's unwavering talent. Scott's inspiration to cast Phoenix, sparked by his role in "Joker," proves prescient.
Vanessa Kirby, as Joséphine, shines equally, bringing a contemporary edge to her role, reminiscent of timeless characters like Sharon Stone's in "Basic Instinct."
Scott's portrayal of Bonaparte in this project focuses on his military prowess and personal failures in love. Bonaparte’s upbringing in Corsica, devoid of significant privilege, laid the foundation for his rise during the tumultuous French Revolution.
His boldness and confidence, born from battlefield experiences, paint him as the Mozart of warfare – a creative and fluid genius who understands the impossibility of controlling life's chaos.
Bonaparte’s recognition of life's unpredictability and his ability to create adaptive systems are well-presented in the film. However, his decline post-1806, marked by a shift from tactical genius to a reliance on sheer force, offers a critical lesson: the rise to power necessitates creativity, adaptability, and the willingness to let go.
This echoes Steve Jobs' maxim, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish," underscoring the need to maintain a revolutionary spirit.
While the movie excels in depicting Napoleon's European exploits, it provides an opportunity to discuss a significant yet often overlooked aspect of his reign: his interaction with Haiti and Toussaint Louverture, one of the first Black superheroes of the modern age, which easily deserves its own movie or television series.
Haiti, then known as Saint-Domingue, was France's most prosperous colony, reliant on enslaved labor for its sugar production. The Haitian Revolution, beginning in 1791 and led by enslaved Africans and free people of color, was partly inspired by the French Revolution's ideals, as Black Spartacus reminds us.
Although the French government tried to suppress the rebellion, it conceded to abolish slavery in 1793. However, in a stark contradiction to the ideals of liberty and equality, Bonaparte attempted to reestablish slavery in 1801 to restore profitability in the Caribbean colonies and satiate Europe’s growing demand for sugar and coffee.
The fierce Haitian resistance, led by General Louverture, a military genius born into slavery in one of the deadliest environments ever made by humans, thwarted Bonaparte's plans. Louverture's 1801 constitution for Saint-Domingue was a monumental step towards independence, though it was short-lived due to his capture by French forces.
Louverture died as a prisoner in Fort de Joux in the Jura mountains of France in 1803.
Bonaparte’s failure in Haiti, its connection to the Louisiana Purchase, and Haiti's subsequent independence in 1804 highlight the contradictions of his reign. These events underscore the gap between the French Revolution's ideals and the harsh realities of colonialism and slavery.
In 1825, France exacted steep reparations from Haiti for colonial losses, including human lives, as a condition for recognition. This was followed by the U.S.’s 19-year military occupation in the early 20th century and support for the oppressive Duvalier regime.
Louverture, a national Haitian hero and a global symbol of the fight against slavery, represents a narrative ripe for cinematic exploration.
Countless remarkable yet untold stories persist, hindered by limited sources or lost information.
We’re better off if these narratives, and others like them, receive greater scholarly and cinematic attention, engaging movie lovers and history fanatics from all over the world.
Those projects will expand our understanding of history and contribute to the broader narrative of global struggles for freedom and justice.