Photo: Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon
Ridley Scott goes ‘beyond the history and into the mind’ of Napoleon in historical epic By Rachael Davis, PA Entertainment Features Writer “Napoleonic history is the beginning of modern history,” says director Ridley Scott of the subject of his latest historical epic.
“I think one of the reasons people are still fascinated by Napoleon is because he was so complicated,” he continues.
“There is no easy way to define his life. You can read a biography to know what happened, but what interests me as a filmmaker is his character – going beyond the history and into the mind.” Casting an actor to play the man himself could have been an arduous endeavour, had Scott not built a contact book of extraordinary talent over nearly five decades of filmmaking. After seeing Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in 2019’s Joker, Scott was reminded of working with the actor on his 2000 historical epic Gladiator – in which Phoenix played Commodus, the power-hungry son of Marcus Aurelius – and knew he had his Napoleon. “I saw him and it all came flooding back – how we worked on Gladiator, and what journey he went on with that character, and I thought,‘God damn, there’s Napoleon’,” he says. “He’s the only actor where we talk for weeks beforehand, just chatting and arguing in an office over aspects of the character.At the end, we are on the same page.
“He changed the world; he rewrote the rulebook.”
Many will know Napoleon Bonaparte for his his famed defeat in the Battle of Waterloo as well as his reputed short stature and egotism, and while Scott’s telling of the life of the Emperor of the French contains epic battle scenes displaying his military might, the story focuses largely on his passionate, volatile and addictive relationship with his beloved Josephine. Starring Oscar-winning Joaquin Phoenix, 49, as the titular leader, and Mission: Impossible star Vanessa Kirby, 35, as Josephine, Scott’s portrait of the Corsican-born Frenchman tells his story from his rise to power to his bold military strategy, his battlefield spectacles to the intricacies of his psychology. Intertwining the historic highlights of Napoleon’s legacy with the intimacy of his relationship with Josephine, Napoleon promises to be a unique study of one of history’s most recognisable figures. “Apart from him being an incredible strategist, a marvellous, intuitive – and merciless – politician … I was fascinated with how a man like this – who’s on his way to take Moscow – could be obsessed with what his wife is doing back in Paris,” says Scott, 85.
“Physically, he’s perfect for the role – some of his facial features are strikingly similar to Napoleon’s.”
Finding the right Josephine was just as important: someone suited to her tenacity and ambition, and who could go head- to-head with Phoenix to generate the electric chemistry of the historic couple.
The casting, Scott says, was an intuitive process, one which landed him the talented Vanessa Kirby.
“Vanessa played the role with confidence and sensuality, but
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