@thearmag3ddon here with yet Another Movie Review You Didn’t Ask For:
A lot of what we think of as peak modern cinema today (said with my fingers raised in the chef’s kiss gesture) was imparted to us by some of the greatest directors of our time. I’m thinking Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola, Cameron, and Spike Lee. (ok maybe not Cameron? I don’t know…discuss that amongst yourselves.) I’m thinking directors that made movies that in some respects define if not transcend the medium itself; purveyors of motion pictures that are an intersection of critical acclaim, art and cultural popularity. Obviously the list is much larger than those I’ve mentioned but you get the picture. They are the greats of the greats and what most of the newer filmmakers of today aspire to be and emulate in some way shape or fashion.
And…as we sit here comfortably in the 2020’s it’s kind of interesting to me that so many movies lately aspire to be in the same vein as those movies that came from the very same creators sometimes 40 years earlier.
They rarely however if ever capture the full magic they once had, (although they sometimes do as with Top Gun: Pete Mitchell 2) like Deniro reflecting in a mirror asking his imaginary opponent if he’s the one being spoken to, yet still they embody a competence and deliberateness that is lacking in the work of many filmmakers today.
And that’s how I feel about one of the greats himself, Ridley Scott’s latest film, Napoleon.
If I were to describe how I feel about this movie I would have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it…intellectually, but it didn’t really send me experientially. Much like my experience watching Killers of the Flower Moon there was a feeling of hollowness or lack of resonance for me with it. In this case it felt far bigger and more epic than Killers, but neither I think would create any sort of buzz or exist within the bounds of cultural zeitgeist that Scorcee’s Goodfellas or Scott’s Thelma and Louise would.
Love it or hate it Gladiator was that. Culturally impactful. Napoleon. Not so much.
In defense of Napoleon however (look at me, arguing with myself) it isn’t trying to necessarily be an epic story anchored by war. Even though its title character is defined at least on a surface level by the wars he waged, this film is more a character study that approaches Napoleon Bonepart as a very flawed and uncomfortably awkward man, while also feeling like a cursory high-level view of history, and his life and times.
As far as those who are basically whining about historical accuracy or lack thereof, no one seems to mind it when looking at the works of Shakespere. The thing is no one expects these to be blow by blow retellings. It’s unspoken and understood that they are dramatizations. It’s been happening since the beginning of storytelling in caves when Grok told the story of how Konk killed the Sabertooth, and no sacred rule of reality is being broken here. If we can celebrate other not so accurate depictions of famous folk as written by Shakespere in Henry V, and Julius Caesar then, we can dispense with the hand wringing and take this movie for what it is. A dramatization with requisite embellishments to highlight what is hoped to be a story that is compelling fact and fiction. All of these, from Richard III to Hotel Rwanda to Bravehart set about with the intention of eliciting an emotional response. It wants to be a story. Not a documentary. We get it. We know you’re wicked smaht but you don’t have to prove it to us. So here’s a virtual hug. At the very least, if the movie does its job to get a less informed viewer interested, it might motivate or inspire them to dive into the actual history books to get the real story. And that’s a good thing.
Anyway, as always the talent of Joaquin Phoenix shines with his performance of Napoleon who is the singular American Accent in a sea of French with British accents, British with British Accents, Russians with Russians Accents, and Prussians with German accents, who sometimes speak German as well. I haven’t seen this much movie accent mayhem since The Man in the Iron Mask when Leo Dicaprio, the King of France had an American Accent, Gerard Depardiu had a French accent, Jeremy Irons had a British accent, and John Malkovich has a Malkovichian accent while all of them being French. But I digress. In some ways Phoenix is the most underrated yet celebrated actor of our time. The choice of how Napoleon is depicted seems unconventional but for me at least made it interesting because I felt a bit more like I was discovering this film instead of every nuance of performance being telegraphed from my idea of who Napoleon was or should be. I will say though that his Napoleon felt like a combination of the one from Bill & Ted, and also a bit like Napoleon Dynamite at times. C’est la vie I suppose.
Ridley Scott also seems invested in depicting Icon as man. Not my idea (shout out to a friend of mine Bryan for this idea) but it felt like it was a British director who hates the French. In some ways I like Scott’s direction because in our postmodern world it shows us that these people who we celebrate today as statues in a courtyard or plaza are not so different from us living breathing flesh bags today. They are jealous, they are strong, they are kind, they are weak. Their accomplishments might vary, but just because they reach the heights of notable success doesn’t mean they didn’t also laugh and cry like we all do. And so, should we put them up on a podium and choose to strategically forget and then separate them from ourselves to the degree that we do? It has happened over and over again in history but even as recently as the last few years we can see the dangers we embrace when we celebrate, prop up, and hero worship those who are simply merely flawed human beings and probably not worthy of said celebration.
In this regard, this movie might resonate with a certain vibe of today. But also I don’t think that is enough. Still, it is a stark reminder that even those we deem as great come with a jumble of complications, and with that realization, maybe we can go a lot easier on ourselves knowing we are in many ways the same.
I don’t know. That’s the message I’m taking away from this movie. History be damned.
I give Napoleon 3 flying pork chops out of 5. But to be honest, I kind of want to give it a 2.5 out of 5.
Until the next review nobody asked for @thearmag3ddon signing off.