Napoleon, a classic and monumental

 

Napoleon, a classic and monumental epic by Ridley Scott, premieres the powerful Napoleon portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix and Jo Seafina Valencia. If you go to the cinema to watch Ridley Scott's latest film Napoleon, released on Friday, November 24, you might find it undeniable that it is an impressive, spectacular, and magnificent film. From artistic direction, acting, staging, photography, framing, sound, costumes, to makeup, everything is astonishing.

However, it is not just a commendable and daring film due to its production nature (certainly something extraordinary) but also because of Ridley Scott's proposed approach: to narrate the story of a character endlessly. Beautifully returning to the Napoleonic era 46 years after the epic Battle of Waterloo, the film depicts the life of the legendary figure, Napoleon Bonaparte, from his triumph at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, inspired by a vow, to his exile on the island of Saint Helena in 1815 after his defeat at Waterloo.

Yes, Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington's revealed confrontation (partly legal, as it is fictional) with licenses, Ridley Scott describes the French emperor's military career in a theatrical and chronological manner. The film presents grand realistic scenes with hundreds of additional actors, horses, impossible choreography, and various cameras, reminiscent of the best moments in Gladiator (though on a larger scale and perfection). Beyond its undeniable scene power, another significant foundation of the film is how it delves into the intimate side of the character, transforming the public dimension more with personal nuances, attempting to reveal the hero's relationships and intricate bonds with Josephine, portraying his last days on Saint Helena for you.

The story of this relationship is what enlightens us in the most unclear and mysterious part of Napoleon, in its shadowy aspects, its extraordinary, beastly, and emotional dimensions, and it allows us to understand deeply. In describing this complex and profound relationship, Ridley Scott has portrayed it through the medium of imaginative intimacy, moving away from the hypothetical internalization. It narrates various phases of personal reconstruction, passing through its existence, changing from its existence to mutual attraction and dependence, venom, pain, sadness, and compromise, making unconditional love uniquely nuanced. In the interpretation of this complex and deep relationship, the protagonist shines, a compelling and sometimes very subversive Joaquin Phoenix, who excels in these intimate scenes, and a vast and expressive Vanessa Kirby, who, with her character structure, changes the registers, stirring up emotions for the best and most thought-provoking things in the film.

The Napoleon by Ridley Scott is exactly as it appears, praiseworthy when looking at the ambitious presentation. Despite its extensive footage (two and a half hours), it is a film that, in times when epics and action films often provide digital effects (usually clumsy and unreliable), offers a spectacle, a classic as a monumental cinematic milestone, with flawless visuals, and a perspective on the character that is equally stimulating.