Throughout my viewing of 'Napoleon' I kept thinking of how impressive it was, on ts own merits of course, but also more so to think that an 85 year old man made this. Ridley Scott's bloody spectical of a bio-pic covers the career of Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoniex, excellent) from the beheading of Marie Antoinette in 1793 to his own death in exile on the isle of Saint Helena in 1821, with emphasis on his obsessive relationship with first wife Josephen (Vanessa Kirby, also excellent).
Alternating between success and failures on the battle field to success and failures in his personal life, it's a remarkably well paced film that covers alot of ground in 2 hrs and 38 minutes, apparently there is a nearly 4 hour directors cut that should become available shortly. 'Oppenheimer' is the only thing I've seen this year that competes as a big screen experience, it feels like your watching the kind of epic that could have come out 50 or 60 years ago, it just looks great. The supporting cast don't have a ton to do, this is Napoleon and Josephene's story and all the better for it. Impressively old school while still seeming vital and current. ***1/2
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