Greatness in light and shadow
The cinema lights come on, and the murmurs spreading through the audience confirm the feeling that has developed over roughly three hours: Napoleon, Ridley Scott's eagerly awaited feature film, has failed in its undertaking. It is not the epic centred on Napoleon the man. In trying to channel Bonaparte's tumult of emotions, ambitions and contradictions, the film seems to have lost its way. Deliberate intent on the part of the English director cannot be ruled out. What emerges is the reduction of a giant of world history to an insecure, vice-ridden adolescent, alone in command. Can a single film, then, capture the complexity of his character, the mystery wrapped in legend, the essence of Napoleon? Perhaps Kubrick could have accomplished it, with the famous screenplay that remained on paper. In any case, between admirers and critics, between Metternich and Chateaubriand, there may be one cornerstone from which to begin: Napoleon was a saint to many, a demon to others, but in truth neither. He was both: a fully rounded man, with all his contradictions and ambiguities. A great man.
Napoleon challenges, in every respect, the simplicity of clear-cut political, psychological and moral categories. He was certainly a conqueror, perhaps a tyrant, but he was also a great reformer, an innovator and a sincere opponent of the ancien régime. This makes the reductio ad Hitlerum suggested by Napoleon's closing credits unacceptable, as if those who fell in the battles in which he took part were the product of a single man's delusions of omnipotence. Napoleon lived in an age of political and social upheaval, and his rise to power was shaped by a complex interplay of historical, economic and cultural factors. His actions, however controversial, were often the outcome of intricate political and social pressures. Putting them in context reveals a simple but frequently overlooked truth: the situation is always a little more complicated than we are led to think. With that said, let us focus on some aspects of Napoleon the man, offering further, certainly not exhaustive, perspectives beyond those in the film.
Youth and military career
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, a little over a year after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1768, which allowed France to annex Corsica. He grew up in a large family, with his father Carlo, a lawyer and court registrar who was already one of Ajaccio's notables, and his mother Letizia, a tough and courageous woman. His father Carlo, previously a fervent nationalist involved in the victories and defeats of Pasquale Paoli's Corsican militia, eventually changed sides and joined the French: he was thus accepted as a member of the new Corsican nobility. In 1778 he was appointed Corsica's representative at Louis XVI's court in Versailles. This was an important opportunity to secure the King's approval for his sons to enter the most prestigious schools: Napoleon was accordingly sent to the episcopal college at Autun. At the age of nine he then crossed the threshold of Brienne-le-Château, one of the military schools preparing pupils for the great Royal Military School in Paris. Here the young Bonaparte's ‘sentimental education’ began. Initially mocked by his fellow students, French aristocrats, because of his name, his accent and the little money he received from his father, he faced adversity while shaping the first traits of his character. He hated the arrogant. Solitary and reserved, Napoleon already showed great ambition and strength of spirit. He is remembered as a passionate reader, hungry for knowledge, fascinated by history and great commanders such as Caesar and Alexander. And by patiently cultivating the seeds of his future charisma, he won over the other boys.
Legend has it that, during the winter at Brienne-le-Château, Napoleon took part in grand snowball battles with his schoolmates. Imagine the scene: the school courtyard, covered in a thin layer of snow, dotted with boys in uniform. Napoleon surveys the courtyard as if he were at Gaugamela or Alesia. His eyes betray an intuition, as though in victory in these playful battles he could already see the reflections of something greater. Amid laughter and shouting, there in that courtyard, the dream was already taking shape. Napoleon was thus giving tangible rehearsals of greatness even as a child. Scott ignores all of this. A real shame.
The young Corsican thus arrived ready for admission to the prestigious Military School in Paris in 1784, choosing artillery. At just 16, Napoleon already wore the rank of second lieutenant, moving between regiments in different locations. Then came 1789, and with it the spark of revolution. Having returned to Corsica, Napoleon took part in the civil war of 1793, achieving notable military successes that later culminated in the liberation of Toulon, which Scott depicts in a rather fanciful and excessively bloody fashion. Royalist loyalists had taken control of the city and handed it over to British and Spanish forces. The French First Republic, led by the National Convention, therefore sent an army to retake the city, including the young Captain Napoleon Buonaparte, appointed chief of artillery. After devising a plan to capture key forts and prevent enemy resupply by sea, Napoleon organised the strategic positioning of the gun batteries. During the siege, despite some disagreements, Buonaparte demonstrated skill and determination: his tactical approach was the one that secured victory. It was not a battle fought in a single night, but a siege lasting months and months.
Thanks to these successes, and having attained the rank of brigadier general, certainly not through some sort of knightly investiture at the end of the capture of Toulon as the film would have us believe, he attracted the attention of Paul Barras, a key political figure of the Revolution. The Convention was in crisis and political instability was widespread: we are in Paris, on 13 Vendémiaire. Royalist insurgents tried to march on the Tuileries Palace, but were repelled by Paul Barras, in command of the troops, assisted by Napoleon Bonaparte. The latter agreed to join Barras's forces to defend the Republic only on condition that he had complete freedom of action. And so it was. Napoleon played a decisive role in putting down the uprising.
Joséphine, Maria and Marie Louise
Scott is right: any attempt to tell Napoleon's story is pointless without considering a crucial ally who stood beside him for more than a decade. We are speaking neither of Fouché nor of Talleyrand, but of his wife Joséphine. Scott could have called the film Napoleon and Joséphine, if only he had portrayed her less fancifully. Their relationship is depicted on screen as perverse and adolescent, fuelled more by jealousy than by mutual esteem and affection. In reality, Joséphine's life, born in Martinique and marked by numerous difficulties, her marriage to Alexandre de Beauharnais, her relationship with her father and the overseas estates, bringing up her children Eugène and Hortense, Alexandre's tragic death during the Terror, made her an astute and strong woman. Joséphine truly was an ally and capable adviser to Napoleon, a dear friend who, overcoming the challenges of the Revolution and the Terror, contributed significantly and shrewdly to the general's life.
But she was not the only one. Among the women who passed through Napoleon's life, two left a distinctive mark: Maria Walewska and Marie Louise. Only the latter appears briefly in the film. In 1807 Napoleon met Countess Walewska in Warsaw, Poland. Although she was married to Count Anastase Walewski, Maria became Napoleon's mistress, giving birth to a son in 1810. Maria later died in 1817, but the deep affection that bound her to Napoleon endured to the end. Going back, after his divorce from Joséphine in 1810, Bonaparte, on the advice of his then ally and great diplomat Metternich, forged an alliance with Austria through marriage to Archduchess Marie Louise. With her he obtained the much-desired heir in 1811, named Napoleon François Joseph Charles, the Aiglon destined to reign over Italy from the Quirinal Palace. But their relationship did not last long. After Napoleon's fall in 1814, Marie Louise returned to Austria. They would never see each other again.
The Italian and Egyptian campaigns
Napoleon did not leave Egypt because of Joséphine's infidelities, as Scott would have it, but because at Aboukir he lost his entire fleet at the hands of Horatio Nelson, while the anti-French coalition was undermining the successes of his Italian campaign. A campaign Scott skips altogether. It began a few days after the wedding and marked a succession of extraordinary victories, from Montenotte to Lodi, Milan and beyond. The climax of the Battle of Arcole entered legend, though not the film: Napoleon boldly throwing himself at the head of his men, the French tricolour flying, leading the assault across the bridge. The Treaty of Campo Formio with the Austrians sealed his success in the north of the peninsula. Napoleon left a lasting mark on our country, paving the way for nationalist movements and contributing to the formation of Italian identity during the nineteenth century.
The Corsican could not rest on his laurels, because he was immediately sent on another adventure, more complex than the last. In 1798 Napoleon set off for Egypt, accompanied by 50,000 men, including 160 scientists, engineers and artists. Bonaparte wanted not only to disrupt British trade routes but also to reveal the secrets of that ancient land. Between the capture of Alexandria and the Battle of the Pyramids, Napoleon was not the power-hungry conqueror, but the visionary leader eager to leave his mark, to investigate the world and its past. The discoveries were remarkable: from explaining the phenomena of mirages to finding the Rosetta Stone. Bonaparte loved Egypt, admiring its greatness and feeling he had finally entered the pantheon of his heroes, Caesar and Alexander. But, speak of the devil, the British admiral Nelson, as mentioned above, destroyed the French fleet at Aboukir, forcing the general into a swift and furtive return home.
The republican Consul
In 1799 Napoleon managed the difficult return. He found France facing the threat of the Second Coalition, with the Directory wavering. The time was ripe to challenge fortune. Supported by his brothers Joseph and Lucien, and by figures such as Ducos, Sieyès, Talleyrand and Fouché, not forgetting Barras, Napoleon forced destiny's hand. With news spread of a plot against the republic, the legislative councils, the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Ancients, were moved to Saint-Cloud, outside Paris. There the legendary 18 Brumaire unfolded, later to be recounted by Curzio Malaparte. In the chamber of the Council of Five Hundred, the deputies vigorously opposed Napoleon, who had come to convince them of the need to reform the government. Amid the general chaos, Lucien, then president of the assembly, took the initiative: he left the chamber with his brother and urged the assembled troops to intervene. With his sword pointed at Napoleon's throat, he declared that he was prepared to kill his brother to defend France's liberty. Scott shows this in the film, in what may be one of its most successful scenes. The veterans of Napoleon's campaigns then entered the chamber and dispersed the deputies. On 13 December 1799 a new Constitution was promulgated, the so-called ‘Constitution of Year VIII’, which conferred on Napoleon the title of First Consul for life, with virtually unlimited power.
This period was marked by a series of reforms, both political and social, of extraordinary but often forgotten importance. Foremost was the project promoted by Napoleon that would culminate in the Code bearing his name in 1804. It represents one of the most significant and enduring legacies left by the future emperor. Its modernity is impossible to deny. Napoleon was also this: a prophet of the present in a world still bound to the past. Before the Code, France had a multitude of regional laws and customs that made its legal system extremely complex. It guaranteed fundamental rights and legal protections to all citizens, helping to dismantle the feudal system that had existed before the French Revolution, and put an end to many privileges inherited from the ancien régime. The Napoleonic Code is a legislative monument that helped shape the modern conception of civil law. Napoleon took a personal part in its creation, attending the deliberations and sending dispatches when he was abroad.
Let us return to foreign policy, with Napoleon's return from Egypt. The French were suffering a series of defeats in Italy and Germany at the hands of the Austrians and Russians. The Second Coalition against France overthrew the Neapolitan, Roman and Cisalpine Republics. So, in May 1800, Napoleon, now Consul, took command of the Army of the Reserve to turn the tide of the conflict. On 14 June 1800, at Marengo, he fought his most famous battle in Italy. Peace was concluded with the Treaty of Lunéville, which essentially reaffirmed the earlier Treaty of Campo Formio. In 1802 Napoleon became President of the newly established Italian Republic, until March 1805, when he assumed the title of King of Italy. A celebrated bas-relief at the Palazzo di Brera in Milan commemorates his coronation. Of the crown, he declared: ‘God has given it to me; woe to anyone who touches it!’ A master of rhetoric and communication before their time, Napoleon was this too, on every fateful occasion. The Peace of Amiens in 1802 marked the end of the conflict. In a single stroke, Napoleon destroyed the anti-French coalition and secured the support of Tsar Alexander I, bringing peace to Europe for two years. A strategic masterpiece.
The Emperor: leadership and strategic genius
At the coronation ceremony on 2 December 1804 at Notre-Dame, Napoleon reached the summit of his greatness: he crowned himself Emperor of the French. Contrary to custom, Napoleon did not receive the crown directly from Pope Pius VII, who was present at the ceremony, but crowned himself. Yet neither did he snatch the crown from the Pope's hands, as Scott shows. Napoleon the emperor, then, a man alone in command? Absolutely not. The Corsican was fully aware that the self-made man is only a myth. The symbolism and display of absolute power are merely theatre. This was why, with the establishment of the French Empire in 1804, he reintroduced the title of Marshal of France. Napoleon's decision to appoint many of his best generals aimed to promote cohesion and loyalty among the great men who had accompanied his rise. Meritocracy and efficiency characterised Napoleon's leadership. Men such as Ney, Soult, Berthier, Suchet, Masséna, Lannes and Davout are examples of exceptional commanders who contributed to the victories of the Grande Armée. No one can be alone if they wish to command.
In 1805 the Third European Coalition formed to oppose Napoleon: the French fleet suffered a devastating defeat at Trafalgar, ending the plans to invade England. But on land, the allied Austrian and Russian forces, although numerically superior, were divided. Napoleon forced the Austrian army to surrender at Ulm and, after the Battle of Caldiero in Italy, entered Vienna. The decisive victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805 broke up the coalition and brought the Holy Roman Empire to an end. Without frozen lakes, Scott's imagination knew no bounds here, Napoleon secured victory through the strategic use of high ground, particularly the Pratzen Heights, and strategic withdrawals that deceived the coalition. This extraordinary victory, comparable to Hannibal's at Cannae, led Europe's sovereigns to seek peace, however briefly. In 1806 Napoleon faced a Fourth Coalition consisting of Great Britain, Prussia and Russia. After a brilliant strategic manoeuvre, he defeated the Prussian army at the Battle of Jena on 14 October 1806 and entered Berlin on 27 October. The war continued as the Russian army approached, but Napoleon overcame it in the decisive Battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807. Tsar Alexander I was forced to sign the peace at Tilsit. The empire endured. Napoleon was a titan among men.
The Spanish and Russian campaigns
But hubris is hard to contain. Unsatisfied with his victories, Napoleon imposed an embargo known as the Continental System to weaken the last power resisting France, England. Napoleon also invaded Portugal to strike at the English fleet and, at the same time, exploited disagreements within the Spanish royal family to force the abdication of Charles IV, replacing him with his brother Joseph. Spain would be the first crack in the French Empire. Despite the swift and victorious campaign to retake Madrid in December 1808, he could not suppress Spanish resistance. On the eastern front the situation remained stable, with Napoleon facing the Fifth Coalition and achieving successes against the Austrians at the Battle of Eckmühl and the decisive Battle of Wagram in July 1809. Austria suffered harsh peace terms. The incessant military campaigns and administrative challenges began to take their toll on Napoleon's health. In December 1809 he divorced Joséphine. The Corsican's descent had truly begun.
Determined to make the Tsar comply with the Continental System, Napoleon planned a decisive campaign against Russia. Despite his roughly 700,000 men, the strategic manoeuvres he devised to end the war quickly failed because of mistakes, difficult terrain and the opposing tactics of his enemies. The key engagement of this campaign took place on 7 September, in the great Battle of Borodino, where the Russians were defeated. Yet, after entering Moscow, Napoleon was taken aback by the empty city, which began to burn, a trap orchestrated by Russians in hiding. Tolstoy's pages in War and Peace are masterful in recounting the campaign, interspersed with profound reflections on the role of great men in history. The retreat of the Grande Armée was disastrous, and it suffered heavy losses during the crossing of the Berezina.
A Sixth Coalition formed against him. After initial victories at Lützen and Bautzen, events culminated in the decisive Battle of Leipzig. A decisive defeat: France was invaded by the coalition armies at Christmas in 1813. Napoleon was forced to abdicate at Fontainebleau in 1814. Atlas knelt beneath the weight of the world. The farewell to the Old Guard was the moving sign of the end of an era. It was one of the most touching episodes in the great man's life. In the courtyard of the Palace of Fontainebleau, Napoleon addressed his men, expressing gratitude and affection for the veterans who had shared triumphs and tragedies with him on the battlefield. Napoleon, known for his eloquence, spoke to his men in words charged with emotion. He acknowledged their loyalty and sacrifice, stressing their crucial role in sustaining the greatness of the French Empire. Napoleon gave embraces, shook many hands, and many shed tears.
Elba, Waterloo and Saint Helena
Napoleon was thus exiled to the island of Elba in May 1814. Yet the colossus did not yield; his spirit was still that of the emperor. During his exile he devised projects, built infrastructure, improved the lives of the small island's inhabitants and thought about the future, while the Congress of Vienna took shape under the auspices of Metternich, Castlereagh and the traitor Talleyrand, to bring about that ‘World Restored’ about which Kissinger wrote so much. Napoleon escaped from the island on 26 February 1815. On landing in France, the glorious ‘Hundred Days’ began. The great man's return generated hysteria across the continent, with flashes of widespread enthusiasm among the population. He won over the troops sent to capture him through sheer charisma. The scene involving Marshal Ney is moving: sent to halt the former emperor's advance near Lyon, having promised Louis XVIII that he would bring him back to Paris in an iron cage, he instead decided to join his old commander.
On 20 March 1815 Napoleon made his triumphant return to Paris, while Louis XVIII fled. After quickly reorganising the army, Napoleon asked his opponents, once again united in a coalition, for peace, but the request was rejected. War resumed and ended with the Battle of Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815. It marked the end of Bonaparte. As he faced the English forces led by Wellington, the decisive moment came when Blücher's Prussian reserves arrived to aid the British, reversing the course of the battle. Recalling Stefan Zweig's vivid account in Decisive Moments in History, it is impossible to overlook the fatal mistake made by Marshal Grouchy, wholly ignored by Ridley Scott. His decision not to join the main battlefront, ‘Il faut marché au son du canon!’ (‘One must march towards the sound of the cannon!’), was fatal. Grouchy's absence from Waterloo significantly weakened the French forces. The emperor's genius was not enough.
Enemy forces occupied Paris and Napoleon, gripped by despair and agitation, initially took refuge at the Château de Malmaison. Then, on 15 July 1815, he surrendered to the English. It is said that he had negotiated exile in the United States, wishing to lead a new life far from political and military challenges, as a private citizen. Hard to believe, but fascinating to imagine the arrival in the New World of one of the greatest men of the Old, and the adventures that would have followed. A future television series in the style of The Man in the High Castle, with a Napoleonic twist, will recount his American exploits in a parallel universe. Napoleon, however, was exiled to the island of Saint Helena, the English having betrayed their agreements. There, under close surveillance, he dictated his memoirs, recording the details of his military campaigns and his vision of the world. The Memorial of Saint Helena would be the literary work Napoleon had so wanted to write as a young man.
On first arriving on the island, while waiting for Longwood House, the residence designated for his stay, to be ready, he was hosted by a family named Balcombe. The couple's young daughter, Betsy, then thirteen, quickly formed a genuine bond with the emperor. Napoleon became Betsy's playmate. Their friendship defied court conventions, for Betsy did not treat Napoleon with deference and saw him as an amiable peer. In March 1818 the Balcombes had to leave Saint Helena. Before their departure, Napoleon said goodbye to Betsy, asking what she would like as a keepsake of their friendship. The answer was unusual and touching: a lock of his hair. Napoleon summoned his servant Monsieur Marchand and ordered him to cut not one but several locks of hair, one for Betsy and the others for her family. The lock of hair thus became a precious memento, a tangible symbol of Napoleon's humanity behind the formidable historical figure. The colossus died of stomach cancer on 5 May 1821. His last words were significant: ‘France, army, Joséphine.’ Scott is right about this.
The man, greater than the myth
Napoleon Bonaparte, a name that resonates through the centuries. He embodies strategic genius, certainly, but also unstoppable determination and a revolutionary vision. The spirit of the age on horseback. Yet Napoleon was more than an exceptional military commander: he could combine audacity with intellect, determination with reflection. A philosopher king. The words spoken by the old Ptolemy, played by Anthony Hopkins in the film Alexander, come to mind: ‘I have lived a long life, but glory and the memory of men will always belong to those who follow their great visions. I have known many great men in my life, but only one colossus. The greatest of these is the one they now call Megas Alexandros. The greatest of all.’ Ptolemy speaks of the essence of being young, of pursuing great dreams and believing that, when men like Alexander look into your eyes, you feel capable of doing anything. We can imagine that the members of the Old Guard would have used the same words for their commander, Napoleon. The essence of that extraordinary life may be this: with talent, willpower and a little luck, every man really can make a difference in the world. Whatever Ridley Scott and his ancestors, who as British subjects looked upon the Emperor of the French with rancour and perhaps a little envy, might think. Let us at least thank him for compelling us to revisit, to our benefit, the life of a man. A great man.