Napoleon (2023)

To say straight off the bat that the theatrical release of Ridley Scott's historical epic is at least an hour too short, probably means that you've already made up your mind whether you're going to see it or not. As I've previously mentioned, there's a four hour cut coming to Apple TV in the near future, but until then cinemas have to make do with the two and a half hour version. Looming large over proceedings, especially considering the much talked about two versions and their run times, is Abel Gance's 1927 Napoleon, a black and white, silent, five and a half hour tour de force. As Scott's Napoleon opens during the French revolution in 1793, I was immediately (and absolutely unfairly) reminded that Gance's film had been fascinating me for two hours before it reached the French revolution. At this point I had to firmly remind myself to put comparisons between the two films aside, at least until I've seen Scott's four hour cut. It's no surprise that Joaquin Phoenix is hugely watchable as Bonaparte, quite exceptionally aided by Vanessa Kirby as Empress Josephine who eventually becomes Napoleon's Queen. We flit rather too quickly between time periods in the films' first hour or so, playing catch up to establish characters and accept their relationships that haven't had enough time to breathe, and Scott's film toes a fine line between reality and farce in the sense that although the comedic moments are amusing, they feel a little out of place amongst the epic battle sequences and driving historical narrative. The good news is that this is easily Scott's best film since The Martian (2015), and it comes with some superb battle sequences; most notably a stunning (if a shade too brief) sequence that makes up the Battle of Austerlitz. Indeed the battlefield is where Phoenix's Napoleon is at his finest, outwitting and outmaneuvering his opponents; his problems lie in the bedroom where he struggles to conceive a child with Josephine, an issue that continues to rear its ugly head until their marriage becomes untenable. We've long wondered what Kubrick's version of Napoleon would have looked like if he'd been able to film his version in the sixties; what's more promising here is that we will get to see Scott's full vision, albeit on the small screen. It will be fascinating to see whether Napoleon's childhood is touched upon considering its importance in who he grew up to be; as well the influence of his mother, something that is only very briefly glimpsed here. There's no doubting Napoleon's shortcomings, mainly in its tone and script that offers short shrift to some key characters, but it's hard to be be too down on it, because the two and a half hour run time absolutely flies by and the battle sequences are worth the admission price alone. The fact that Ridley Scott is now eighty six and is currently in pre-production for Gladiator 2 is nothing short of remarkable, and with Napoleon he mostly delivers on what he does best- with hopefully more to come on Apple TV. 7.3/10