Cinema Certainly one of the most anticipated films of this year's end, 'Napoléon' will be released this Wednesday at the cinema. In this biopic, Ridley Scott finds Joaquim Phoenix after 'Gladiator', and offers us a fable dedicated to one of the greatest historical figures in history. Pickx tells you more about this ambitious project.
 |
| 'Napoleon', from which weapons feats did Ridley Scott draw inspiration for his biopic |
Advice to fans of history, or of Ridley Scott, 'Napoléon' tackles an unavoidable French historical figure. The ambitious biopic of the man to whom we owe 'Blade Runner', 'Alien', 'Gladiator', and more recently 'House of Gucci', plunges us into the history of the first Emperor of France: Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon Bonaparte became the emperor of the French after establishing himself as a military commander during the French Revolution. Inspired by his eventful life, 'Napoléon' stars Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. This is Phoenix' second collaboration with Scott, as he played another historical character in 'Gladiator' in 2003, the Roman Emperor Commodus. Alongside Joaquim, we find Vanessa Kirby ('The Crown', 'Pieces of a Woman') and Tahar Rahim ('Le Serpent').
A few of Ridley Scott's best movies incorporate chronicled legends and biopics, most of which were well gotten, but with a few real mistakes. In the case of 'Napoléon', the seasoned filmmaker's mission is to retrace the most crucial years of an ambivalent character in French history. From debates about his size to his representation in Léon Tolstoy's 'War and Peace', Napoleon Bonaparte has captivated history specialists and the world of craftsmanship and writing for centuries. The film, produced by Apple Tv+, thus has the heavy task of depicting the ups and downs of Napoleon's life in 2h30. Here are the parts of Napoleon's life that will be dealt with in the film.
Military career
The story begins with Bonaparte's first weapons deeds. He was interested in his military career before he became emperor. Philip Dwyer's biography, 'Napoleon: The Path to Power', records his birth on the island of Corsica in 1769. After his father's death in 1785, Napoleon had to return to Corsica,where he briefly joined the nearby progressive Pasquale Paoli to battle against the French occupation of Corsica. Napoleon soon changed sides and returned to France, just as the French Revolution broke out. While Napoleon allied himself with the Jacobins, Dwyer mentions one of his first military successes, the siege of Toulon in 1793. At the time, a 23-year-old second lieutenant, Napoleon devised a clever strategy to retake the city of Toulon, in southern France, from British forces. By taking control of a nearby hill and using it as an observation point to fire on British strengths, Napoleon effectively driven the attack of Toulon and was advanced to brigadier common.
He then took command of the French troops stationed in Italy in 1796. While Napoleon's forces were initially overwhelmed by Austria, he concentrated his troops on the enemy's weak fronts. Historians believe that Napoleon also relied on an intelligent concealment of his troops, as in the Toulon campaign. Later, Ridley Scott's film shows how Napoleon conducted successful military operations against the Mamluks of the Ottoman Empire in Egypt in order to gain a territorial advantage over the British.
French Revolution
After his victory in Toulon, Napoleon Bonaparte proved his loyalty to the Republic and his opposition to the throne of Louis XIV. His troops defeated not only the British forces in Toulon, but also the French royalists who supported them. While he had allied himself with the rebel Jacobins in his early twenties, Napoleon was reportedly placed under house arrest in Nice when the Jacobins were ousted from power in 1794.
The exact cause of his arrest continues to be the subject of speculation, with Napoleon's secretary, Bourrienne, claiming in the 'Mémoires de Napoléon' that he was placed under house arrest for two weeks simply because the French armies in Italy and the Alps were increasingly envious of his leadership. Thomas Carlyle's book 'The French Revolution: A History' indicates that a year later, Napoleon, now free, led another successful attack on the royalists in Paris, using cannons to decimate more than 1,400 of them.
Emperor
After his campaigns in Egypt, Napoleon returned to France in 1799. The military commander then witnessed a changing political climate, with the post-revolutionary government (known as the Directoire) losing its strength. By forming his own government, the Consulate, with allies like his brother Lucien, Napoleon exercised his own power over the country. He declared himself head of the Consulate and held that authoritarian position for a decade. It was only a matter of time before Napoleon became Emperor of France in 1804.
His romance with Josephine
In Ridley Scott's film, Vanessa Kirby plays Napoleon's famous wife, Empress Josephine. Widowed after her husband was guillotined during the French Revolution, she married Napoleon in 1796. Their tumultuous relationship continued until 1810, when Napoleon annulled the marriage because she could not give him children. During her tenure as Empress, she wrote many romantic letters to Napoleon and offered her patronage to artists to remodel her picturesque residence, the Château de Malmaison. This castle remains a tourist attraction that perpetuates the legacy of Josephine. The film shows in particular how Josephine allowed Napoleon to enter the circles of power. The latter knew all the codes, both of the Directory, but also of the Ancien Régime.
0 Comments