W V – Google

According to Ridley Scott and Joachim Phoenix, Napoleon was everything the British 19th century propaganda department accused him to be. Rash , utterly uncharismatic , narcissistic , stupid, weak. Someone who has never heard of Napoleon would leave the cinema with only one question. How did such an imbecile ever reach the pinnacle of French society , the heights of European power , why did half of Europe revere him , his soldiers and subjects adore him. Could this imbecile make the whole famous law code Napoleon. Napoleons entourage is given a similar treatment with the great men who surrounded him appearing as non entities with not the slightest ever of character. Talleyrand a master manipulator appears non existent , napoleons famous generals are not even mentioned , Fouche who pioneered secret services as we know them never discussed. The propaganda and nationalism which fired France never discussed, the desperate struggle of kings and foreign aristocrats to combat the onslaught against their legitimacy and privileges never happened. Aside from the sorry caricature of Napoleon there is much else that is wrong. The decision to narrate the Napoleonic period in one movie was impossible and it shows in the tragically shallow depiction of period. In short Holywood butchered the whole thing and the primary culprit is the usual suspect. Actors and directors indulge in their views and biases irrespective of objective reality and the result is a movie boring for most and outrageous for those who have studied the period.