For director Ridley Scott, Napoleon Bonaparte was still an enigma, even more than 200 years after his death. “It is multifaceted, with good and bad depending on where you look,” he said in an interview. His feature film, Napoleon, which comes out in a few weeks (in time for an Oscar race), obviously doesn’t seem to have pleased French critics (who idolize the General), especially because the director is British (who antagonized the French) and because it has an American, Joaquin Phoenix, in the lead role.

For Scott, returning to work with Joaquin 23 years after Gladiator (whose sequel is being recorded) was a dream, but the invitation didn’t come because of that but rather because of his performance in Joker. “He played an empathetic character even with the trappings of diabolical behavior. He has these two edges, we almost feel sorry for him which is his charm”, he explained, remembering that when he chose him to play Commodus, he was also criticized. I’ll go further: he looks like a second Oscar.

Everything will be great in Napoleon and even though it was long, some also felt that it excluded many facts. “You have to pick your moments and say what you need to say to cover what could be an hour of work. Part of writing skills is isolating what you need to say and moving on,” he explained bluntly. “You have to keep people interested, some action and real battles, but the fuel of the film is his relationship with Josephine,” he concluded.

I confess that I was disappointed with The Last Duel, so I’m more excited for Napoleon. Just the fact that it has War Pigs, from Black Sabbath which sings about military commanders, comparing them to sorcerers and “witches at black masses”, who start wars, but abdicate any responsibility for them. Perfect for Napoleon Bonaparte. Let’s see!

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