talkbaktalk
This is the first Napoleon epic where the chief speaks with a French accent; that is good. HIs words are his, many of the events are accurate. Because his life was crowded with events, all detail is left out except the love interest of Josephine.This is a modern interpretation, so any glory of war is ruthlessly stamped out, to the point that great battles are always seen as useless slaughter with piles of corpses. Well, in part they are.If you're looking for any of La Gloire, a big part of the period, you'll look in vain. The people rarely cheer Napoleon. We know his soldiers often shouted "Vive L'Empereur" as he passed. Instead, in the film, they barely notice him on the battlefield.Isabel Rossellini as Josephine is seen too often, as (one of the) the women of his life. Murat stands in for all his Marshals, as a film can only pay so many actors. John Malkovich as Talleyrand is very good.An interesting and intelligent film. Clavier plays the part of Napoleon well, although in the interests of covering all his life, he is a bit one dimensional. If you thirst for battlefield tactics, and scenes of battle, you'll be disappointed. Only one battle is covered in any detail is Austerlitz, his finest victory.Napoleon was an extremely intelligent and relatively peaceful man. Most of the wars he fought were forced upon him by European nations in the pay of the English, who could not abide him. He was a better man than they were.
Andrew Kim
With an exceptional performance by Clavier, and the rest of the Napoleon cast, this multi-million dollar miniseries is highly underrated. It depicts Napoleon's life well for such a short lifespan, but there are a few mistakes that accompany the film.First, Malkovich wasn't the best choice to play the renowned diplomat Talleyrand. Malkovich portrays him in a rather bland and placid manner, and the director shows him as a bit of a weakling, whereas Talleyrand was one of the most powerful men in all Europe -- even after Napoleon's defeat.Second, Alain Doutey as Marshal Ney... not as enthusiastic as the real Marshal Ney would have been. His famous line, repeated in the film, was said unenthusiastic and without spirit.Simoneau would have done better had he shown elements of the Duke of Wellington to contrast the two military leaders... we definitely didn't really want to see the blubbering Louis XVIII, or the King/Prince of Spain, for that matter.Other than that however, the rest of the performances were fantastic. Josephine, Caulaincourt, Caroline Bonaparte, Murat -- and of course, the Emperor Napoleon, were all shown true to form.
rowe-8
This mini wasn't bad but it could have been much better. The decision of using actors of many nationalities and language, even for French characters of a French mini, is a very odd decision. There are many scenes where it's painfully obvious that the actor was dubbed. I don't have anything against dubbing but going from French actors to dubbed actors was quite annoying.But the main problem was the character of Napoléon himself. The man was a conqueror and a dictator. Not the meanest dictator ever, but still someone who gave himself complete control of his country. Here, I feel they were trying to present Napoléon as a nice, misunderstood man. Sure, some scenes did show the massive ego of the man, and his lust for conquest, but it's as if those scenes were there by necessity, because they were historical event that had to be dealt with and there was no other explanation they could find. Usually, the following scenes showed us Bonaparte on a better, more likable angle, like those events were inconsequential. Being partisan is okay but you have to be more critical. It becomes even weirder when you think that Simoneau isn't French but Canadian, therefor should've had more distance with the subject.
pulp150
This is the best film about Napoleon I've ever seen! This is even the best than every remake abel gance himself made later. Excellent! Voted 10! This I wrote for the 1927 version by Abel Gance. I wish he directed this epic. What a disappointment this mini series was. This was the dream of Abel Gance to make a series like this. I wish he directed this. He would've made a marvelous epic. Not a boring one like this. voted 5.
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