A famous, often quoted line from the play Marriage of Figaro, assures that everything will end with songs. The history of the country where Beaumarchais was born, and his wonderful play, its explosive nature, which was perfectly anticipated by King Louis XVI, contradicted the playwright, who probably wanted it very much. The expected fall of the Bastille happened, the revolution brought with it both good things and many, many bad things. Among them is the terror celebrated by Roberspierre, which Stalin will be inspired by a little later.

I remembered all these details of the story while watching the first episodes Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s controversial film. It’s just that the production, which lasts almost three hours, does not end with a song. Music is everywhere here. In broad agreement, according to Angela Similea. The film begins with the execution of Marie-Antoinette, in which, what to watch!, the future emperor, currently only a humble captain and not too handsome, helps. But the sequence, with all the attention paid to scaffolding, has been roundly criticized by historians as inaccurate. And unfortunately, she’s not the only one who doesn’t seem quite right in the Anglo-American epic. The opening moment of Ridley Scoot’s film is accompanied by a famous Çto angerwith pathos performed by Edith Piaf.

The music, which is so liberally spread throughout the film, is chosen in full accordance with the place where the action takes place. We see what happened and what happened after the Battle of Borodino, we hear Russian music, I almost expected the voice of the famous announcer Yuri Borisovich Levitan to intervene and announce that Tsar Alexander, presented in the film as a dandy, comes from an English romance for women (Edward Philipponnatus), also fascinated, like Napoleon, by the beauty of Josephine (Vanessa Kirby), decided not to negotiate with Napoleon. The tsar chose what is today called the Kremlin special operation

We see Napoleon, played by Joaquin Phoenix rather flatly, and in some places even caricatured – especially in scenes of jealousy and annoyance. We see a confused Napoleon, who learned that the tsar retreated to St. Petersburg and decided to burn Moscow. That at the end of the film, in the fragments that talk about the expulsion of Napoleon from the island of St. Helena, the former emperor, whom we have seen before as a great lover of children and with pedagogical talents, will claim it, in front of two little girls. Proof that the rewriting of history was not invented, as they always said, by the communists, but has existed since time immemorial. When Wellington’s victory at the Battle of Waterloo is facilitated by the rescue arrival of Prussian troops, the soundtrack will inevitably be of German origin. The complex love story between Napoleon and Josephine, presented as if the film aspired to the status of a soap opera, spiced up with what else? but French music.

This story will be told in lavish detail by screenwriter David Scarpa and director Ridley Scott. This is a story of addiction. Everything that happened to Napoleon, be it bad or good, is closely connected with Josephine. Naturally, Napoleon is angry when he learns about the betrayal of Josephine, who is actually six years older than the main character. And maybe even with less Zulus than the movie shows. After informing a well-wisher, as in Caragiale, that he is being betrayed with a certain Hippolytus Charles (Yannis Niveller), and after he shoots the pyramids, as if foreshadowing the story of 2001 with the twin towers, Napoleon will go to visit the pyramid of Cheops. The soothing benefits of crewed tourism. Through the tabloid press, Boni with an ironic surname learns about the waltz that Josephine and the beautiful Tsar of Russia are dancing. Josephine’s death makes you think Lady with camels or, according to taste and inclination, to Traviata, the love story between the emperor and the empress reminded me of the story of the illness between Elena Lupescu and King Charles II. When, for reasons determined by the state, Napoleon decides to dissolve his marriage to Josephine, the emperor’s luck runs out. Without me you would be nothing. The state to which Napoleon will be brought after the failure at Waterloo. Historians, however, insist that Napoleon never met Wellington (Rupert Everett), a famous and rather polite remark by Talleyrand (Paul Rhys) to the British ambassador. And actor Ian McNeice seems to caricature King Louis XVIII. Well, how can the French not jump like they were burned?

It used to be said that neither the Americans nor the British succeed when they want to film great Russian novels or turning points in the history of France. I don’t think that statement is entirely accurate. This is denied, for example, even by another film that tells the story of the emperor. It is about Waterloo from 1970, in which the Russian Serhii Bondarchuk played the role of Rod Steiger (Napoleon) and Christopher Plummer (Wellington),

Now, frankly, we shouldn’t be saying either Napoleon Ridley Scott is far from a failure. As you can imagine from what I have written so far, this is only an excuse for the disappointment caused by the huge distance between expectation and result. The war scenes, especially the battle of Austerlees, are flawless. This is all the more so since the director recently turned 86 years old. And the costumes, designed by Janty Yates, are simply brilliant. –

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