Some historians of 18th-century France believe that Sir Ridley Scott is running publicity campaigns for his new film. Napoleon it was like artillery fire.
Scott aimed his gun at the idea that his film might not be 100 percent historically accurate. His reaction to the fact that Vanessa Kirby, who plays Napoleon’s first wife Josephine Bonaparte, is thirteen years younger than Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Napoleon, and not six years older than he is in real life? “I don’t think it matters.” And the part where Napoleon fires cannons at the Pyramids of Giza? “I don’t know if he did it, but it was a quick way of saying he took over Egypt.” After viewing the trailer, historian Dan Snow noted that the film was “not a documentary.” Scott replied, “Enjoy your life.”
Scott says that’s nonsense. “As throughout history, this was reported,” Scott said. Time last week. “Napoleon dies, and ten years later someone writes a book. Then someone takes that book and writes another one, and 400 years later there is a sea of imagination. [in history books]. When I have problems with historians, I ask: “Sorry, buddy, were you there?” NO? Well then shut up.”
Aside from being a very, very funny way to promote your film, Scott’s annoyance with fussy scientists is basically a 2023 problem. A whirlwind of themed podcast episodes, YouTube videos and X-Threads (formerly Twitter) dissecting and reviewing what the director – and by extension, the art department, production designer, costume designer and dozens of other film professionals – do right and wrong action is now part of the film and television ecosystem. Each time something new comes up, it is cross-examined with such force that Scott, now 85, seems to find something of audacity.
I was talking to myself the day before the release NapoleonDr Laura O’Brien, a lecturer at Northumbria University and an expert on the portrayal of Napoleon on screen and stage, is somewhat skeptical about the kind of film Scott made about Napoleon.
After all, there’s a lot of life that can be crammed into an already shortened runtime of more than four hours: “I’ll be surprised how he manages to squeeze two and a half out of it.” I know, I don’t think anyone is doing it right.
Dr. O’Brien, however, is not one of the Napoleonic scholars who is overly concerned about the accuracy of Scott’s film. She points to Hilary Mantel’s comments that, despite working with scientists throughout her writing career, she had to exercise a fair amount of creative freedom due to the fact that almost all of life consists of thoughts and speech that never are not recorded. . “Of course, as historians, we want to see everything on the screen, we want to see all the details. [but] That would be very, very boring and very difficult to do,” says O’Brien.
The convergence of so many major themes and time-defining moments in Napoleon’s life has made him a valuable figure for filmmakers, whether they’re making a grand epic like Scott’s or impaling him on a waterslide throughout his long life. Jonah. , How Bill and Ted did.
“I think it’s best to think of it as an adaptation process, like adapting a fictional novel to film. There will be things that come in, there will be things that will go out, and there will be things that will be simplified.”
Most of the history we know comes from written sources, and the alchemical process of translating them into images – plus sound, music and casting choices – means we have to make decisions that diverge between history and fact. Everyone is watching Napoleon Give your own ideas about him, whether from reading his memoirs dictated on St. Helena, or from vague memories of watching Bill and Ted.
Napoleon’s changing image was something that the man himself was aware of and consciously tried to control. “This is something he has done since his time in the Italian army in the late 1890s to create an image of himself that circulates in relation to his achievements, and to somehow manipulate his fame in certain matters,” explains O’ Brian. The image of Napoleon as a great commander was reinforced as early as the 1790s by theatrical depictions of his great victories, less than a month after they actually occurred.
A film’s historical accuracy can become part of its own marketing – think of the Viking ship built for Robert Eggers’ film. Northernermade from the same wood and straight nails, or the hellish episode on Omaha Beach above Soldier James Ryan. This is a sign that this film will be a more faithful telling of a specific story, a story that can be trusted and is intended to be more than just entertainment.
According to Dr. O’Brien, Scott’s distaste for trifles is not the personal contempt that some historians make him out to be. “I don’t think he was that evil,” she says. “He basically just said, ‘For the love of God, just leave me alone.’
Scott’s point of view is itself a way of relating to Napoleon’s changing views over the centuries. “He also actually says, ‘Yes, I invent things, and I do them for a reason, and it’s called cinema.’ And I don’t care. And I find that very interesting because it’s not about precision. It’s as if this history can be played with in different ways, and maybe that’s uncomfortable for a certain type of historian.”
According to the doctor, the more interesting question is whether the film shows literal facts. O’Brien questions why the director makes the decisions he does in the moment. Alexander Korda This woman is from Hamilton For example, 1941 focuses on Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson, but mentions Napoleon as the kind of European threat to Britain that viewers immediately recognize in the midst of the Blitz: “The Napoleonic War essentially becomes an analogy for an ongoing conflict. . »
For many scientists, tentpole releases are something similar. Napoleon are one of the relatively few opportunities to meet the general public in the center of their area. “This is not a historical document, and the public knows that,” the doctor says. O’Brien. “You don’t come here for a history lesson, but if someone is interested in history, you as a historian can come and say, ‘Yes, let me tell you more.'”
In fact, she thinks most of her colleagues in academia can understand that her situation is not as different from that of ordinary moviegoers as they might think. “We’re all viewers in different ways at some point, and I think it’s worth remembering that and giving viewers a little more credit for what they like or don’t like about the portrayals of historical figures they see.”
Needless to say, Dr. O’Brien has a ticket to the film’s first showing. Napoleon. “Sometimes people say we’re outside of popular culture, but we’re not,” she says. “I mean, I definitely don’t, and all my friends know. I don’t just sit here and think seriously about history all the time.”
Source: I News
I am Mario Pickle and I work in the news website industry as an author. I have been with 24 News Reporters for over 3 years, where I specialize in entertainment-related topics such as books, films, and other media. My background is in film studies and journalism, giving me the knowledge to write engaging pieces that appeal to a wide variety of readers.