‘Napoleon’: Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby portray the life and rise of the French Emperor with Ridley Scott

By The duelistshis first film released (1977), Filmmaker Ridley Scott already showed his fascination for the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The plot of the film, which won as best debut film at the Cannes Film Festival that year, It took place in the Napoleonic era.

“I think the public is still fascinated by Napoleon because of his complicated personality,” says the 85-year-old director. “Your life cannot be defined in just one way. You can read a biography to find out what happened, but what interests me as a filmmaker is his character. that which takes us beyond history and into its spirit.”

For Scott, remembered for Gladiator (2000)The rapid rise of a military genius and the opportunity to show his duality and psychology formed an idea that he finally decided to film. “I lean more towards historical drama because history is extremely interesting,” he adds. “The Napoleonic period marks the beginning of modern history. “He changed the world and rewrote the rules.”

Until now, only one other director had dared to talk about Napoleon: Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange). However, his project was never finished, and now neither is it Rumor has it that it will be Steven Spielberg who will save the film in miniseries format.

Napoleon, who premiered in Ecuador on Thursday, November 23 reunites the director with actor Joaquin Phoenix, who played the tyrant Emperor Commodus Gladiator.

When Scott saw his former employee back inside joker (2019)remembered his great talent and immediately knew that he would be perfect to star in his new film. “I saw it on the screen and all those memories flooded me: the way we worked Gladiatorthe journey he himself took with the interpretation of his character, and I thought: ‘There is Napoleon’“, to remind.

Phoenix immediately put themselves in the hands of Scott, who also lets them freely explore their roles on set. “What I like most is that I don’t have everything in my head in advance. “I always want to have different options, day after day,” explains the 2020 Oscar-winning actor. “Ridley not only allows such a process: he encourages it; “He wants you to be able to behave as freely as the character would.”

With Phoenix on board, It was imperative to find an actress suitable for Josefina’s tenacity and ambition.the emperor’s obsession with love.

Vanessa KirbyThe crown) She played the role with sensuality and confidence, but the best thing about her is her humor. She has a great sense of humor and a natural, intuitive sense of timing, and this set her apart and made her a standout counterpart. and interesting for Joaquin.”

It is also a love story

From the first production meetings it was clear that the director had an epic action film in mind, but at the same time a love story between Napoleon and Josephine.

Ruthless on the battlefield, a tyrant in his country, but also a liberator who emerged from a life of scarcity and one of the first historical figures to demonstrate that talent for leadership does not belong to a single social class, Napoleon’s success in the war has become legend.

But far from warhis obsession with Josephine – his lover, his wife, his empress – would define his life. as much as any warlike encounter.

“Ridley allows himself poetic license, but the background is true”said the producer Kevin Walsh. “We do a lot of research together with historians and our writers, people who knew how to go deep enough to give authenticity to this production.”

But more than that, Napoleon was a fascinating character for a movie because – as is the case with most people – He was a prisoner of his own heart and his emotions.

“Besides the fact an incomparable strategist, a great, intuitive and even ruthless politician…, I am fascinated by the fact that a man like this – who is about to take possession of Moscow – “He could become obsessed with his wife’s life in Paris.”