Napoleon is an upcoming historical epic directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and depicts the French leader’s rise to power. The pre-production for Napoleon began in January 2021 and the filming commenced a year ago in February 2022, while the first trailer debuted back in July 2023. Napoleon reunites Phoenix and director Ridley Scott two decades after Gladiator which starred Phoenix as the main antagonist. It seems like Historians are already having their fair share of issues with the film, but we can still sense that the film is bound to be a huge commercial success and a spectacle worth experiencing on big screen.
Napoleon Full Plot Summary and Recap
Debuting with a mediocre RT score, Napoleon certainly hasn’t opened to the results it would have wished for, however, you must never form an opinion without checking something out yourself. Napoleon premiered at Salle Pleyel in Paris on November 14, 2023, and released in the United States and the United Kingdom on November 22, 2023. It is set to release worldwide on November 24 and it’s 4.5 Hours Director’s Cut will debut shortly on Apple TV+. The following section contains the full plot summary and the ending explanation which means, MAJOR SPOILERS for the film follow below, so beware.
Words on the screen relate that misery led to the French Revolution, but the revolution led to more misery. Marie Antoinette is guillotined, with young army officer Napoleon Bonaparte watching. Revolutionary leader Barras has Napoleon manage the Siege of Toulon in 1793: he successfully storms the city, and his artillery drives away the British ships. Robespierre leads the Reign of Terror, but the French tire of him and force his resignation. He attempts suicide but fails, and is condemned to the guillotine. Leaders, including Napoleon, seek stability instead of terror or chaos. Against a royalist insurrection on 13 Vendémiaire, 1795, Napoleon again employs artillery, winning, and rising in power.
Napoleon woos aristocratic widow Joséphine de Beauharnais, eventually marrying her. Despite their vigorous erotic life, they have no children, as she has become sterile after having previous children. In Egypt, he prevails again at the Battle of the Pyramids in 1798, but rushes home when he hears Josephine has been unfaithful, dallying with soldier Hippolyte Charles. The Directory criticizes his abandoning his troops, but he condemns them for their poor leadership of France, and as part of a trio, he foments a coup, becoming First Consul. He is crowned Emperor by the Pope in 1804, though Napoleon audaciously puts the crown on his own head. Foreign Minister Talleyrand suggests to the Austrians an alliance, though the Austrians, confident in themselves, dismiss the idea.
A year later, Napoleon wins brilliantly at the Battle of Austerlitz, tricking Austrians and Russians into advancing over the ice, before he uses cannons to crack the ice and drown them. He invites Austrian Emperor Francis II for wine afterwards — Tsar Alexander I is in a rage and declines to come –, and tells him that since Napoleon did not totally destroy the enemy armies, he expects Francis to be grateful. His mother has him impregnate a mistress to prove he is fertile. He divorces Josephine in 1810, publicly slapping her in the face when she refuses to read her portion of the decree, though she eventually complies. He marries Marie Louise of Austria, who has a son in 1811. However, Napoleon’s love for Empress Josephine continues.
After Tsar Alexander reneges on a peace treaty with France, Napoleon invades Russia in 1812, against bloody guerrilla resistance. He prevails, despite heavy French losses, at the Battle of Borodino; but finds Moscow empty when he occupies it. He awakes to find the city in flames, and he retreats during the winter to France, having lost about half a million men. In 1814, the Allied Powers force his abdication, and he is exiled to Elba. However, he hears Josephine is unwell, and escapes the island, returning to power in France. Josephine has been exiled to the Château de Malmaison, where she dies before he arrives. King Louis XVIII sends the Fifth Regiment to stop Napoleon, but he charms them into joining him.
The Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher defeat him at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, with Blucher’s Prussians arriving late in the battle to help the British. French cavalry charges are repulsed by British infantry squares, and French infantry advances are decimated by British infantry formed in line, firing muskets. A rifleman has Napoleon in his sights, and asks to fire; Wellington forbids him on pain of death, saying generals have better things to do than shoot at each other. (The rifleman later shoots a hole in Napoleon’s hat.) As Napoleon retreats, he salutes Wellington. Napoleon is exiled to the island of St. Helena, and presents to his listeners a version of history where he is always right, and others are wrong. He dies in 1821, as he hears Josephine beckon him to meet her again. Words on the screen note that roughly 3 million people died in Napoleon’s wars.
Napoleon will release in theatres worldwide on November 24th, 2023.
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