Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott has hit out at French critics of his latest movie, Napoleon, declaring: “The French don’t even like themselves.”
Ridley Scott’s biopic of the 19th-century French emperor stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and charts the world famous leader's rise to power as well as his relationship with Empress Joséphine, played by Vanessa Kirby.
IGN’s Napoleon review returned a 7/10. We said: “Ridley Scott returns to the old-world battlefields and feudal intrigue of his Oscar-winning Gladiator with a decades-spanning biopic of the French tactician who conquered half of Europe. As a historical epic, Napoleon is handsome but a little impersonal – you can really feel the absence of texture lost in getting it down under three hours. But between the textbook bullet points, a very funny anti-Great Man biopic peeks through, thanks largely to Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as a Bonaparte who’s more boy than man.”
French critics have been less positive. Newspaper Le Figaro said the film ought to be renamed "Barbie and Ken under the Empire". Napoleon biographer Patrice Gueniffey wrote in Le Point magazine that Napoleon is a "very anti-French and very pro-British" rewrite of history.
In an interview with the BBC, Scott responded to this criticism, saying: "The French don't even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it."
85-year-old Scott appears to be in particularly abrasive mode promoting Napoleon, with a number of eye-catching quotes hitting the headlines.
In a recent interview with The Times, Scott, who directed classics like Gladiator, Blade Runner, and Alien, dismissed those who criticized Napoleon’s historical accuracy. "Like all history, it's been reported. Napoleon dies, then, 10 years later, someone writes a book. Then someone takes that book and writes another book and so, 400 years later there's a lot of imagination [in history books]," Scott said. "When I have issues with historians, I ask: 'Excuse me, mate, were you there? No? Well, shut the f**k up then.' "
In one scene some have questioned for its historical accuracy, Napoleon fires cannons at Egypt’s great pyramids. “I don’t know if he did that, but it was a fast way of saying he took Egypt,” Scott told The Sunday Times.
Asked by The New Yorker how he felt about the drama’s historical inaccuracies being pointed out online, Scott urged the critics in question to “get a life”.
Ridley Scott on Joaquin Phoenix’s Napoleon standing outside an Olive Garden in ‘NAPOLEON’:
— DisbussinFilm (@DisbussingFilm) November 19, 2023
“I don’t know if it happened, but I know Napoleon did go to Italy. It’s symbolism. Fuck you.”
(Source: @Variety) pic.twitter.com/as26bKnnuH
Scott is fast-becoming something of a meme for his no-nonsense retorts, and the internet is certainly having its fun.
In a recent interview with Empire magazine, Joaquin Phoenix called Napoleon an “experience told through Ridley’s eyes”, adding: “If you want to really understand Napoleon, then you should probably do your own studying and reading.”
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
