Ridley Scott’s new Napoleon biopic, still a week away from release, has managed to anger some critics.
Reviewers in the French media this week called it “deeply clumsy” and “boring” and described Joaquin Phoenix’s Napoleon as a “petulant man-child.”
However, some also criticized the film’s inaccuracies, although reviews in the UK and US were mostly positive.
Historian Dan Snow criticized the scenes in the trailer, pointing out that Napoleon was not present at the execution of Marie Antoinette.
It was also noted that the fallen queen’s hair was shorn – not long and curly as depicted – when she was guillotined.
And while the pyramids were not targeted during Napoleon’s escapades in Egypt, the film shows them being shot at with cannons.
Web addresses these and other inaccuracies below.
Ridley Scott’s new Napoleon biopic, still a week away from release, has managed to anger some critics. Reviewers in the French media this week branded it “deeply clumsy” and “boring” and described Joaquin Phoenix’s Napoleon as a “petulant man-child”.
Antoinette’s hair was cut short at her execution and she did not wear a black dress
The film’s trailer also shows Antoinette, with a shock of frizzy hair, defiantly making her way to the guillotine in front of a baying crowd.
But the French queen actually had short-cropped hair when she was killed after it was shaved by her captors.
She can also be seen in a black dress in Scott’s production.
Although she wanted to wear black, she had to wear a white dress – the color worn by widowed queens of France.
Marie Antoinette – portrayed by Catherine Walker – is seen in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon with a shock of curly hair before she is executed
Napoleon was not present at the execution of Marie Antoinette
In the trailer for the film, Napoleon is seen guillotining Marie Antoinette in front of a cheering crowd in Paris during the French Revolution.
In reality, the future French emperor was on the other side of the country at that time.
He took part in the Siege of Toulon, where he played a key role in forcing the British-led forces to withdraw.
Antoinette was executed after a trial in which she was accused of incest with her son. Her husband, King Louis XVI, had been executed by guillotine eight months earlier.
In the trailer for the film, Napoleon is seen guillotining Marie Antoinette in front of a cheering crowd in Paris during the French Revolution
Marie Antoinette was probably not defiant when she was executed
The French scientist Dr. Estelle Paranque told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Thursday that she was irritated by Scott’s animated portrayal of Antoinette.
“It annoyed me a little bit because he made her kind of fearless and a little feisty, and she honestly wasn’t that back then,” she said.
She added: “She tried to remain dignified at the end, but I don’t think she would have been so brave. “And obviously Napoleon wasn’t there.”
The French scientist Dr. Estelle Paranque said she was irritated by Scott’s animated portrayal of Antoinette. “It annoyed me a little bit because he made her kind of fearless and a little feisty, and she honestly wasn’t that back then,” she said
Antoinette was executed after a trial in which she was accused of incest with her son
Napoleon did not have the pyramids in his sights
The Napoleon trailer also shows the emperor’s troops firing on the pyramids during his escapades in Egypt.
You can see a cannon being loaded, aimed and then fired at the top of the ancient structures.
But historian Dan Snow criticized the scene in a TikTok analysis.
He said, “We see this 12-pound cannon firing from maximum height.” Can it hit the top of the pyramids from where they are standing? I doubt that very much.
“And Napoleon didn’t shoot at the pyramids either, and the so-called Battle of the Pyramids wasn’t fought at the foot of the pyramids.”
The Napoleon trailer also shows the emperor’s troops firing on the pyramids during his escapades in Egypt
Historian Dan Snow criticized the scene in a TikTok analysis. Above: The moment cannon fire hits one of the pyramids
Napoleon didn’t come out of nowhere and didn’t conquer everything
A promotional poster for the film bears the defiant slogan: “He came from nowhere.” He conquered everything.
But Snow pointed out that Napoleon’s father was an aristocrat.
Carlo Bonaparte and Napoleon’s mother Maria lived in their palatial ancestral home on the island of Corsica, where the emperor grew up.
Napoleon’s father rose to become Corsica’s representative at the court of Louis XVI. on.
The Bonaparte family also descended from Tuscan nobles who emigrated to Corsica in the 16th century.
A promotional poster for the film bears the defiant slogan: “He came from nothing. He conquered everything.”
As for the claim that he “conquered everything,” despite his best efforts, Napoleon did not conquer Britain.
His planned invasion was never attempted. Although an invasion force assembled on the French coast, Napoleon’s campaigns in Austria and Egypt meant that they never set out for British shores.
The plans were finally put on hold in 1802 when the Treaty of Amiens ended hostilities between Britain and France.
Napoleon never led a cavalry charge
The film also shows Napoleon going into battle on his horse.
But Snow points out that the French emperor never led a cavalry charge.
However, Napoleon ordered cavalry charges in various battles and was present at the fighting.
Despite his historic defeats in the Peninsular War and the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was largely successful in battle.
Of the 60 battles fought by his forces, only seven ended in defeat.
The film also shows Napoleon going into battle on his horse. But Snow points out that the French emperor never led a cavalry charge
French broadcaster Le Figaro said in its review that the film should be renamed “Barbie and Ken under the Empire,” adding that Napoleon was portrayed as a “sentimental brute with a gun in his hand and quick to shed a tear.” be presented.
The Canadian French-language newspaper Le Devoir led the way with the headline “Not Waterloo, but not Austerlitz either,” referring to Napoleon’s futile last stand in Belgium and his tactical “masterpiece” against the Russians in what is now the Czech Republic.
The article described Phoenix’s Napoleon as “a sullen boy who doesn’t really seem to know what he’s doing.”
In an interview with The New Yorker, Scott hit back at critics and urged them to “live a life” when presented with this.
“There have been 400 books written about him.” “Maybe the first one was the most accurate, the next one already creates a version of the author,” he said.
“Until Book 399 arrives, there will be a lot of speculation.”
He also responded to claims of inaccuracies by telling France Inter Radio: “My response to that is: “How do you know?” Have you been there?”
He added that he speculates on history but sticks to the facts known about Napoleon, including by examining his letters.
In response to Scott’s defense, historian Guy Walters said: “Ridley Scott resorted to this time-honored and lamest excuse to misrepresent his history in his Napoleon film.”
“Telling people, ‘You can’t know because you weren’t there,’ defeats the whole pursuit of historical knowledge and essentially gives you the opportunity to catch up.”