Napoleon

I was never interested in Napoleon. Although I visited the Louvre I didn't go to see Napoleon's chambers, which are on display there. I would have never watched this series if it wasn't for the actors in it. And now, after six hours of Napoleon and nothing but Napoleon, I actually got interested in the chap and think about reading a biography. And I'm sure this is down to the excellent performance of Christian Clavier. Simple as that.

Okay, his English could be a tiny bit better, agreed, but I rather get used to an accented English than to a bad performance by English native speakers. Christian Clavier is truly an excellent actor, although he might be best known (in France) for his parts in very silly comedies. If he only decided to take more "serious" parts, maybe more people would notice what a fantastic talent he has. What he can express just with his eyes is quite stunning. But that may be a female point of view...

The other well known actors had, of course, smaller parts, in comparison. But none of them was miscast. And I especially liked how actors from different countries once again worked together. This as well is what the European idea is about.

One of the few things I didn't like were the flashbacks at the end. They were completely out of place and should be cut out. They don't make sense at all at the end of the film.

And a last remark about Monsieur Clavier's language skills: The first way he said "Ich liebe dich" got me guffawing, the second way he made my heart melt. Maybe he should think about doing a film in German...?

On the plus side: the costumes and interiors are magnificent, Isabella Rossellini is good as Josephine, the historical events depicted are presented accurately, and the series gets better as it goes along (don't give up after the muddled first episode!).

On the minus side: we never really get a feel for what Napoleon actually stood for or why and how he was such a military genius, the film dwells on his private life when it could be dealing with the huge social and political issues of the time, the actors playing some of the secondary characters are laughably bad (Murat, Ney, Marie-Louise), and one has to strain to hear the dialogue (due to the foreign accents, background noise and music).

As for Christian Clavier, it's amazing how the comments on his performance stretch from "brilliant" to "trash." My own view is that he was off the mark as the younger Napoleon, but as the mature Napoleon had basically the right look and plenty of gravitas.

A good contribution to the body of film about the Emperor but also full of flaws.

This series, consisting (in Germany) of 4 parts, tells the story of the most important figure in French history, Napoléon Bonaparte whose remarkable career started as a mere officer in an artillery regiment. The film focuses especially on Napoléon's (C. Clavier) relationship to his early love, Josephine, who is quite beautiful but also some years older than Napoléon. Indeed, most of the film is centered largerly around the numerous affairs and relationships of the Emperor, who seeks an heir but also to strenghten the french influence in Europe. There are some quite fascinating battle-scenes, although, for a 42 million Euro project, one might say they could've been done better. Obviously most of the money has been spent on the wonderful costumes, and, naturally, on the prominent cast, which includes some famous European, as well as Amercian actors.

Generally, if you are interested in such kind of movies and have a certain knowledge of the historical facts, "Napoléon" is absolutely recommendable. It might have some flaws, and some historical facts may be, to the normally educated, not clear, but then, it's only a TV movie. And it's really rather enjoyable, bringing a fascinating period of European history to life.

Detailing the life and times of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon the four part mini-series is a stunning portrayal of one of Europe's greatest men.

One minute we are in a tent somewhere in the olive fields of Italy the next we are in a ball watching Napoleon meet the beautiful Comtesse Walweska.

Christian Clavier plays a fantastic Napoleon Bonaparte with that cunning and yet short tempered mind that the Emperor is so famous for. Isabella Rossellini does a good job at playing Josephine De Beauharnais and Marie Horbiger plays an equally good Marie-Louise matching the real Empress's personality well. Out of the three women however Alexandra Maria Lara played the strongest character as Comtesse Walweska, the enigma who in the latter stage of the series takes a prominent role.

I found John Malkovich's portrayal of Charles-Maurice Talleyrand yet another fantastic performance. Napoleon's family was also represented with great representations of Caroline and of Murat Bonaparte. The role of Fouche was well represented by Gerard Depardieu.

In total however I found the series too short, I thought it should have been double the size. The Peninsular Campaign is way to brief in the series and many of the battles are not accurately represented nor really showing Napoleon's real genius which was on the battlefield as well as at the drawing table. The 16 Marshals are badly represented with only a couple being mentioned and Marshal Ney 'The Fearless' is briefly added in at the end to fit the story line. Many of the key points of the era are missing from this otherwise stunning portrayal of one of Europe's Greatest Men.

Not all movies have the BEST graphics, and maybe this one didn't have graphics that would blow you away, but that wasn't really the point, and it looked fine, to me.

I caught part of this on A&E, recently. I watched a few minutes, then turned the channel to watch a regular show. I came back to it, and watched the end of the first half. The next day, I ran into the second part. I missed quite a bit, but watched the last hour, or so. I started craving the rest of it. I got online and did a search, found it was out on DVD, and made a trip to my local video retailer. I got the 3-DVD set and have since made a website devoted to Christian Clavier because I thought he did a wonderful job, and this movie made me a fan almost instantly. I've always liked Isabella Rossellini, and her role as Josephine was very convincing.

I've always been a fan of Napoleon movies, and I've seen several, but this one has to be the best. The interaction between Napoleon and Josephine and the action during the war scenes had me on the edge of my seat. Most people know how the end turned out, but that didn't stop me from thinking that things would be different.

I highly recommend this movie, in DVD format for the "making of" section. I wish I had watched this in high school because I would have learned quite a bit.

Go watch this movie!