My hopes were high for Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, and they were comprehensively crushed. I can turn a blind eye to tampering with history if it produces a great story. For a compelling epic that brings past ages to life I can forgive oddities in casting, inaccuracies in set design or the occasional bit of wooden dialogue. But the end product needs to be a tale that sweeps me back in time and gives me emotional insight into the characters.
No such storytelling happens here.
By attempting to cover 28 years of intricate politics, almost constant war and one of the most complex romances in history, Scott gave himself a monumental challenge. He answered it with 157 minutes of vignettes that I suspect only made sense when you know the story already. If you do know it, sadly, you can only be irritated by how badly it’s told.
The film did, however, get me thinking about Napoleonic storytelling. Who’s managed to breathe the greatest life into this controversial character and the world he created? Here’s my personal shortlist of stories on big and small screen, and on the page. And because this is my list, there’s a lot more focus on stories driven by character development, passion, or the non-military aspects of Napoleon’s career. (My husband wouldn’t contemplate this exercise without the film Waterloo and the Sharpe TV series.) Most of my choices, interestingly, don’t feature Napoleon as the protagonist but tell his story through the eyes or the adventures of others.
By choosing to focus on shorter time periods, or on the impact his actions have on others, these all do a much better job of spinning a tale than Scott’s misfire.
DÉSIRÉÉ, 1954 FILM
The scope of Scott’s film was problematic, but this classic shows it can be done. This story covers almost the exact same timeline and plot points as Scott’s attempt, but far better. The story is seen through the eyes of Napoleon’s first fiancée, abandoned for more helpful alliances in his climb to power. She remained in court circles, however, because her sister had married Napoleon’s brother Joseph, and she married the French general who would go on to become king of Sweden. Using the third party observer trick delivers some poignant insight into Napoleon’s political machinations and Josephine’s inability to bear a child. This is the kind of Saturday afternoon TV film fare I used to lap up with my history-loving grandfather. I suspect this is one of the first seeds that planted my lifelong love of looking at history through the eyes of women who were there but don’t take the headlines in the history books. The film is strong on relationships and all the battles are background events, so won’t appeal to some. Marlon Brando is a bluff, practical Napoleon and Jean Simmons an admirable heroine. Skip Ridley Scott’s attempt and watch this on YouTube (the full film is available) instead.
Indiana Jones re-imagined in the Napoleonic Era. Gage is a wise-cracking American scholar, gambler and sharpshooter who ends up returning time and again to work for Napoleon despite a problematic relationship. His adventures are driven by Napoleon’s interest in history, foreign cultures and the occult, meaning Gage is often on the trail of some legendary object said to have powers that will solidify the Emperor’s position. These are entertaining romps that are also fabulously well-researched, and probably the best take I’ve seen on the can’t-live-with-or-without roller coaster that was Napoleon and Josephine’s relationship.
Antoine de Cannes exploration of Napoleon’s life on St. Helena is fascinating. Most people focus on either his climb or the defeat at Waterloo; here we have an extraordinary ego having to confront failure and consider what went wrong. Richard E Grant gives one of his best performances as Napoleon’s jailor, delivering scenes in both French and English as required. And there’s a plot twist at the end which, though highly implausible, is such a great story you will wish it were true.
NAPOLEON’S LAST ISLAND, BOOK BY THOMAS KENEALLY
The Balcombe family features heavily in Monsieur N., particularly daughter Betsy. The family patriarch was an East India Company official living on Saint Helena and the family became friends with the Emperor and his companions, providing a bit of warmth and understanding in contrast to the strict regime imposed by the military guards. This insightful and well-researched novel tells the story of Napoleon’s St. Helena years from Betsy’s perspective.
WAR AND PEACE, BBC MINISERIES 1972
There are many versions of this epic tale, including Tolstoy’s original book which I confess I’ve never been able to get through. Too much introspective angst for me. Both the BBC’s 2016 version and the 1956 film are lavish productions that delight the eye, but I prefer this classic from the days when the Beeb took adapting novels seriously. Anthony Hopkins leads a sprawling cast of tremendous stage actors who drive home all the emotional turmoil of a world turned upside down by Napoleon’s ambition.
NAPOLEON, A LIFE IN GARDENS AND SHADOWS, BOOK BY RUTH SCURR
Scurr looked at a world full of Napoleonic biographies by men who delved deep into battles and politics. She wanted to do something different, and felt there was plenty of unexplored territory. This biography takes the fascinating framing idea of the gardens in Napoleon’s life, from a small student’s plot when he was an outsider at his military academy through the grandeur of his imperial projects to his last stubborn attempt to control nature at St. Helena. Each is a starting point to dive into what really made the man tick, how he managed his most intimate relationships and what he wanted from the world beyond military victory. There’s a lot here on culture and philosophy, reminding us that Napoleon was a polymath and prodigious scholar, not just a charismatic general.
MASTER AND COMMANDER: FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD, 2003 FILM
Napoleon doesn’t appear in this one at all, but it’s his voracious European ambitions that drive the whole plot. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany are on top form as best friends sailing the high seas. Lots of sea battles and action balanced with quiet moments of humanity and the fascinating team dynamics of keeping people sane and working together under the pressures of war. A much under-appreciated film. The film is a mash-up of a couple of Patrick O’Brian’s 20 Audrey-Maturin novels, which would come up in anyone’s list of the best historic novels set during the time period. I spent several years happily ploughing through them because of the number of reviews that compared O’Brian’s characterisation and observational skills to Jane Austen. Which leads us to…
This is my favourite Jane Austen novel and though there’ve been multiple adaptations the 1995 version with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root stands head and shoulders above the rest. This was Austen’s last complete novel, and both the main characters and their love story are more mature than in the other, more frequently-produced tales. Again, Napoleon makes no actual appearance here but the whole plot is driven by his actions. His wars provide the opportunity for opportunistic men to climb in the navy, and build fortunes with their percentage of captured prizes. The promising but poor young man who deserved no attention returns as a rich captain, now worthy of society’s consideration. Will his attentions go to young, fresh women as people expect, or does the love of his youth survive? Beautifully filmed in and around Bath, where the book is set.
VANITY FAIR, BOOK AND 2004 FILM
One of the best novels of all time, brought to glorious creative life in a lavish production that was the first to show off Reese Witherspoon’s brilliance behind as well as in front of the camera. Anti-heroine Becky Sharpe can be a tricky role to play: you should find her despicable, but also deeply compelling. The climax of all the action is the Battle of Waterloo, where some characters’ fates are made and others destroyed. And before that, we have the glorious spectacle of the Duchess of Richmond’s ball, from which so many officers rode directly to battlefield and death.
BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, 1989 FILM
I bring Napoleon back as a main character for my last pick. Silly, juvenile, cast adrift from all reality and only a small part of the bigger film, this is still better Napoleonic story telling than Ridley Scott’s 2023 effort. Just in case you don’t know the plot: two high school dummies swot up for their history test thanks to a time machine; things go wrong and they end up bringing significant characters from history … including the Emperor of the French … back to the modern day. Napoleon cheating children at bowling is both more joyous, and a more searing character insight, than anything in Scott’s jumbled procession of vignettes. Watch it on YouTube. You’ll thank me.
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