Review of Napoleon

Introduction

There are plenty of characters littering history near and far that are placed in the subconscious of just about everyone. Some are good, some are bad, and some are a mixture of both. Each nation around the world has plenty of these, names which trip off the lips of school children easily, even if they are not taught about them so much now. Napoleon is one such historical figure, last seen by this reviewer being kidnapped by Bill and Ted for their oral exam during their Excellent Adventure.

That was hardly serious, though, and here to redress the balance a little and provide a historically accurate account of his reign as Emperor of France is the Yves Simoneau directed mini-series Napoleon. At the time, and maybe still, Napoleon was the most expensive European TV production and is estimated to have cost around $46 million. Some budget for a TV series!

Christian Clavier (Asterix) plays the French ruler alongside Isabella Rosellini as his wife Josephine, a widow of a General when Bonaparte first meets her. John Malkovich plays Talleyrand, a Machiavellian character who serves whoever is in power and Gerard Depardieu plays Fouche, the Minister of Police as well as co-producing. As well as these top notch actors, there is a truly international flavour to this pan-European production with the likes of Sebastian Koch, Julian Sands, Heino Ferch, Ennio Fantastichini and Alexandra Maria Lara.

The scope of the mini-series takes in the years from Bonaparte`s role in quelling a Royalist revolt in Paris when he was a mere reserve General, his rise and fame in France through his war exploits, his spectacular coronation as Emperor and subsequent military victories, to his eventual defeat at Waterloo and exile to St Helena in the South Atlantic.

Video

The cinematography is quite exceptional for a TV production with some good use of colour. The interiors in Paris and the costumes are vivid and a saturation of colour brings out the opulence of the times. The battle scenes, particularly those in Russia, are tinged blue, which reflects the freezing temperatures and bad weather those battles were fought in. It may be worth noting that this production won an Emmy in 2003 for Costume Design (Pierre-Jean Larroque).

Audio

Audio quality is good, dialogue is audible and clear. There are English subtitles for the hard of hearing, but that`s it; no other soundtracks or subtitles available. On the plus side, Richard Gregoire`s soundtrack is majestic and soars in all the right places across 6 hours of programming.

Features

Extras supposedly include a Making Of, a Biography channel documentary and a timeline amongst others. Unfortunately I only received two out of the three discs so I can`t judge how good they might have been and can therefore award no mark for this section. When will people realise that extras are just as important for reviewers as the main feature?

Conclusion

I`ve always been an admirer of big brash historical dramas and on the whole Napoleon does not disappoint. The big scale feel of an epic production is there and some of the acting is first class. It`s always good too if the subject is one that is both familiar and brings something new to the table. Here, for me, it`s both the tempestuous relationship between Napoleon and his wife Josephine and the treacherous double-dealing and gossip-mongering of European politics (nothing new with the latter then…). The odd thing is that a production that seems to want to keep a sense of historical accuracy does a very peculiar thing. Borrowing from Costner`s Prince Of Thieves, Napoleon ends up with a Eastern bodyguard in a move that I am assured is not accurate at all; Jacky Nercessian playing the Morgan Freeman role, albeit more of a silent part. Very odd.

The scale of the mini-series is breath-taking really and does well to convey the story of Napoleon`s reign and military conquests as ruler of France. Of course, the many battles during this period are not quite as epic in scale as they were historically, the production team presumably watching the Sharpe box-set before embarking on this. The battle scenes are close in and claustrophobic, with lots of shots of the same rows of soldiers lining the battlefields and charging with bayonets attached. Unfortunately it really doesn`t convey the scale or scope of the major battles such as Austerlitz, the retreat from Moscow and the defeat to Wellington at Waterloo, which is a shame as a production as ambitious as this deserves better. It does have a cannonball moment a la The Patriot though, which works fine and is clearly a tribute of sorts as it is a one-off in terms of battlefield effects.

Talking of effects, these are a bit poor overall. I`m guessing much of the budget was used on the costumes and cast salaries, as the majority of effects look like fairly cheap CGI. They look good, make no mistake, but they are just too computer-like and wouldn`t have looked out of place on an old PC game. This is from the maps used to plot the travels of Napoleon`s armies to the backdrops of various locations, including a burning Moscow. Not that convincing on DVD, maybe they looked rougher during the original TV broadcast.

The acting is pretty good for such a diverse cast and production, although Clavier`s performance leaves me a little unsettled. He is portraying a man who ascended to the throne of France with popular backing and then returned from exile to reclaim the throne with popular support from the French people in a bloodless coup d`etat. This person must have had charisma in spades, but I don`t quite see it in this performance. On top of that, it feels as if Clavier has been to the William Shatner school of acting, it…really is…that…bad sometimes…and…quite dis…tracting.

Malkovich is superb in his sliminess whilst Depardieu doesn`t really appear that much, although he is very good whenever he is on screen. Rosellini is in fine form as both the beguiling seductress and despairing wife, roles that interchange frequently during this saga before settling on the latter. My favourite roles in this production though are Marshall Murat and the Marquis de Caulaincourt, played by Claudio Amendola and Heino Ferch respectively.

Overall there are many minus points to this production, but that doesn`t detract from what is a fine 6 hours of viewing. I`m not convinced this is good enough to recommend a purchase, although maybe the promised extras would be enough to swing it. Overall, I`d recommend you hire this first.