The son of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s son, Louis Sarkozy, who is a passionate history enthusiast reviewed the film ‘Napoleon‘ starring Joaquin Phoenix, and he is not satisfied with the way it has panned out. Ridley Scott’s film highlights the major events in the French emperor’s life, but it seems certain aspects have not been depicted accurately.
Along with Sarkozy, many historians also realized that the cinematic experience does not align with the historical context, and are merely fictional. Here’s what Louis Sarkozy has to say about ‘Napoleon‘.
Related: Who Was Napoleon And Why Is He Famous?
Louis Sarkozy Calls ‘Napoleon’ A Sublime Failure
The son of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently wrote a book ‘Napoleon’s Library‘ which explores the political leader’s love of the written word. As passionate as he is about history, Sarkozy’s deep knowledge of Napoleao’s world made him critically analyze Ridley Scott’s film. He called it “his most sublime failure”. He further added that Scott has captured neither the man nor the era in this film.
Louis Sarkozy did not just stop with that, he also told Fox News, “It’s an absolute catastrophe. I’ve been pleading for … a big Napoleonic biopic, a big historical epic on his life for a decade or more. … I just thought that the subject would lend itself so well to cinema. But it’s just a bad movie.”
Sarkozy also expressed his likeness to Ridley Scott’s works and revealed himself to be a huge fan of Joaquin Phoenix. Despite that Sarkozy was disappointed with this biopic, expecting it to be a rich, resourceful film about Napoleon. He also added, “If I were not such a Napoleonic fan or an avid reader of the period … it would’ve just been a bad movie.”
In case you missed: “It Might Mean I’m Just A Bad Actor”: ‘Napolean’ Star Joaquin Phoenix Opens Up About His Acting Process
Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Hurts French Sentiments
Many French critics would agree with Louis Sarkozy’s comment about the film. They slammed the new film for being historically inaccurate and pointed out the irony that ‘Napolean‘ was directed by a British filmmaker and featured an American actor. Ridley Scott responded to the backlash saying, “The French don’t even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.”
The entire outrage became so controversial that Sarkozy acknowledged that nothing can be learned from Hollywood and Scott should have done a better done. The director replied, “I think quite rightly so, if you want to learn about Napoleon, you pick up a book or you watch a documentary. I don’t think anybody should get their history from Hollywood.”
Nicolas Sarkozy’s son did not leave a chance to point out the mistakes of the film and what made it a pathetic biopic. Sarkozy pointed out, “I thought it was a bad movie because it was a bad movie. I thought the dialogues were very poorly written, not at all engaging. I thought there were no secondary characters. … My God, there were grievous mistakes every five minutes. … I don’t know what filter they put on that movie. If there’s one thing about the period, especially when it comes to the military aspect of things, it’s the color.”
You would also like to read: Top 5 Golden Globe 2024 Nominations That Came Off As A Surprise
