It’s November, and that means Napoleon is nearly here. Ridley Scott returns to historical epics of massive scale, with an Oscar winner in the lead role. It is fair to say we are a little excited about this.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know the movie tells the story of the rise, the fall, the second rise, and then the final fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte along with his addictive, volatile relationship with Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). You know it contains six huge battle set-pieces and some of what the trades are labeling as “[the] most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed”.
Not everyone is happy though. Predictably the historical fact-checkers are taking umbrage at some of the scenes in the trailers. Leading the charge is British television historian Dan Snow. He has taken to social media to point out several inaccuracies, from Marie Antoinette’s pre-execution hairstyle to Napoleon being shown shooting at the pyramids.
Scott, famous for being somewhat direct, was asked about this in a new interview with The New Yorker, and his response was simple:
“Get a life.”
He clearly feels biopics are allowed to add dramatic flourishes and take certain liberties with the historical record for the purposes of entertainment. Scott and his team spent considerable time on upfront research before the story was developed.
Sony will distribute the Apple Studios film in cinemas and it lands on November 22nd.
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