Napoleon: Every Historical Inaccuracy In Ridley Scott’s Latest Epic and What It Gets Right!

Napoleon is a 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. Debuting with a mediocre RT score, Napoleon certainly hasn’t opened to the results it would have wished for, but it is still a spectacle worth experiencing on big screen. Also, the 4hour 10min long director’s cut of Napoleon will likely appeal more the viewers as well as the critics.

How Historically Accurate Is Napoleon? What All Does It Get Wrong?

It is quite clear that Historians have their fair share of issues with the film. As it happens, Ridley Scott decided to respond to these criticisms by saying stuff like, “Get a life”, “The French don’t even like themselves”, and “Were you there?”. Previously, Joaquin Phoenix also stated that, “If you want to really understand Napoleon, then you should probably do your own studying and reading. Because if you see this film, it’s this experience told through Ridley’s eyes.” Much like Gladiator, Scott’s focus in Napoleon seems to be more on delivering a compelling film with a standout performances rather than being a history lesson.

Also, as far as history is concerned, Scott went on to explain that, “How do you know, were you there?’ There are 400 books written about him (Napoleon). Maybe the first one was the most accurate, the next one is already doing a version of the author. By the time you get to book 399, guess what, there’s a lot of speculation.” So, here’s everything Napoleon got wrong in its theatrical cut according to historians and critics.

1. Napoleon never charged into any battle with his calvary, in fact he was considered a pretty bad horse rider.
2. He generally commanded his army from behind the battlefront and rarely led the battles like he did in the film.
3. Napoleon was wounded by British Bayonet during Siege Of Toulon (the opening battle) and historians believe his horse was never cannonballed.
4. At The Battle Of Austerlitz, there was not one giant frozen lake, but many small frozen ponds.
5. Napoleon & Arthur Wellesley, The Duke Of Wellington never actually met like in the film
6. Napoleon’s army never attacked The Egyptian Pyramids. In fact, the battles took place miles away from them. However, there’s a myth that Napoleon’s Army damaged the nose of the Egyptian Sphinx.
7. Napoleon did not slap Josephine during their divorce and historians believe he never physically abused her.
8. Napoleon was not at Marie Antoinette’s public execution, he was actually on garrison duty in southern France.
9. Antoinette neither had long hair at the time of her execution, nor wore black.
10. Napoleon was actually six years younger than Josephine however he appeared to be significantly older than her in the film.
11. Napoleon already had a few illegitimate children and his mother didn’t stage a bedding incident to check if he was fertile.
12. Josephine never saw the divorce coming and definitely never was as direct about it as the film portrayed.
13. Napoleon was born into a Minor Corsican Nobility and was never a nobody.
14. Napoleon never actually conquered Great Britain or Russia.
15. “You think you’re so tough because you have boats!” Of course he never said that and historians firmly disagree with his depiction a man-child.

Now let us talk about certain things you might feel were historically inaccurate but actually did happen.

1. Napoleon was indeed short (between 5’4″ and 5’7″) as described by most historical texts
2. He did crown himself in the presence of the Pope and said “I saw the crown of France laying on the ground, so I picked it up with my sword”.
3. He did fire canons at the protestors and established his place as the commander of the army in Italy.
4. Most of the relationship dynamics between Josephine and Napoleon were portrayed accurately minus his man-child attitude. Their relationship was a fiery and complex love story full of neediness, infidelity, and manipulations. Also, even after their annulment, she remained his lifelong confidant.
5. He did consider himself as an equivalent to both Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. In fact, real-life Napoleon insisted that neoclassical sculptor Antonia Canova craft a heroic nude of himself as the Roman god Mars.

So, in case you are history buff, this film is not for you and you can only enjoy it on its own merit. Also, we hope to see much more fleshed out character arcs and dynamics in the 4h+ director’s cut of Napoleon which will release in early 2024.

If you have any questions regarding Napoleon, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!