Napoleon
2023 · Directed by Ridley Scott
Original language: English
- history
- war
- drama
The story
An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.
What it’s like
Big, bright, and bloody, with sweeping set pieces built around cannon smoke, candlelit salons and sun-struck fields of snow and mud. Ridley Scott shoots much of it at a formal, painterly distance: wide compositions that frame armies like tableaux, interiors lit by warm candle and firelight, and a cool, clean palette of blue-grey winter and gold uniform braid. Battles arrive as loud, chaotic bursts of cannon fire and crumpled bodies, and the violence is frequent and sometimes graphic, though rarely lingered on gore for its own sake. Nicholas Britell's score swells in martial drums and brass, then drops to quiet strings in the drawing rooms. The rhythm is brisk and episodic, jumping across years and campaigns, with the emotional core held in the restless, combative marriage of Napoleon and Josephine: a volatile, magnetic pull that alternates between tenderness and cruelty. Suited to a long, immersive evening for viewers who enjoy period grandeur, history at a gallop, and sharp-edged romance, but not to anyone seeking something gentle or calm.
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