I hope we have finally gotten past the point where we feel that movies which go through the events of the life of "great men" make for important or entertaining films. Napoleon, an ambitious and visually spectacular film from one of the most talented directors of his generation, proves the point I am making. It's an overblown and dull film. It is beautiful and features some strong performances (especially Kirby), but it remains... well... boring.
I guess my point is that a film has to have a story that it is passionate about telling. I don't believe that recounting historical events is enough to meet this test. There are many examples of films which take this approach and often offer little to get passionate about as a film audience despite how we have long treated these films, especially those made by "important" film directors, as special and significant. Yet do we really enjoy watching them? As I endured Napoleon, I reflected on how rarely I care about these sorts of films despite their considered status.
Yes Napoleon shows a skilled director making a well filmed movie. There are moments that are incredibly spectacular (the battle on the frozen lake moment for example). I can see why it is up for Oscars in technical categories. The sets, costumes, cinematography are all amazing. Many talented people do wonderful work here. It is very well acted by a strong cast. The writing is tight and the score is appropriately rousing. But it all amounts to something that I never care to watch ever again. I don't feel I came out of it with anything remarkable except perhaps a little more knowledge of French history than I had before (very little). I wasn't awestruck. I wasn't enraptured. My passions weren't enflamed.
And to be honest the film bungles some of its narrative line. In packing in the entire career of this figure of French history we jump from one aspect to another without a lot of understanding of why or what's happened in the meantime. So much is oversimplified and therefore much is lost in translation. As a historical document it fails. And if it had succeeded as entertainment that might matter less.
Whether one is making a film about some "important" historical events or "important" historical figures, we still have to make a movie that is engaging to watch and time and time again movies like this get passes. We afford them a level of respect that they just get for existing and not being "bad". I guess my point is are they really "good" either? I likely won't get much chance to reflect on this film more as I will likely never want to watch it again.
Napoleon
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Rupert Everett
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: David Scarpa
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