Désirée

This film is about Désirée Clary, a common French woman who was the one-time fiancée of Napolean and who later became queen of Norway and Sweden. She had a very remarkable life and it SHOULD have been an exciting film, though I found the movie to be very mannered and subdued...too subdued. As a result, it is not an especially exciting film...and it should have been. It follows her from her first meeting Napoleon and moves up through he ascending the thrones.

Désirée Clary is played by Jean Simmons, Napoleon by Marlon Brando and her husband by Michael Rennie. The film is also sumptuous to look at--with lovely sets and in full Cinemascope color. What it does not talk about at all are the marital infidelities by Napoleon, Josephine as well as Désirée's husband--all which could have made the movie much more interesting. So it's pretty but sanitized...and a bit dull because of this. It also just never sparked my interest at all and much of it is because the film is too episodic. Her life might better be told as a mini-series instead.

The film is partially based on historic deeds but predominates the sentimental drama . It develops parallels lives between Napoleon and Desiree. The story starts in Marseilles 1794 , when Robespierre fall , Napoleon is detained but after is freed . Soon Napoleon is rising through the military ranks in the Grand Armee , winning the loyalty of the people . After the conquest of Tolon , Napoleon forms a Directory and in 18 Brumario executes a coup détat in Saint Cloud , being named first Consul (1799) by means of bayonets . He undergoes the Italian campaign and vanquishes Austrians in Marengo, later the Egypt campaign though is defeated in San Vicente , Trafalgar and Abukir (Egypt). In 1796 , he married Josefina Beauharmais, but she can't give him a child , he has to make some dynastic decision and begins to lose control. As proclaiming himself Emperor (1804) at Notre Dame in the presence of Pope Pio XII. As he marries Maria Luisa , daughter of Austrian Emperor . As he named his brothers and sisters as kings , princes and princesses , as Jose (Cameron Mitchell) who married Julia(Elizabeth Sellars), Desiree's sister, they were proclaimed kings of Spain. As the disaster of campaign of Rusia 1812 (Borodino) , then is formed a coalition between Prussians, Austrians and Russians that defeated him in Leipzig and is banished island of Elba . But he returned , 1815, with the¨ One hundred Days Empire¨ being ultimately vanquished in Waterloo . While Desiree ( Jean Simmons) married French General Jean Baptiste Bernadotte ( Michael Rennie)who was appointed French Ambassador to Stockholm . In 1811, shortly before his death, the King of Sweden without descendants named Bernadotte his heir and the people recognized as successor winning the loyalty of the Swedish, it resulted to be a great decision . One time became King of Sweden he united with other countries for the end of Napoleons wars , collaborating in the battle of Leipzig (1813) and Waterloo (1815). In 1815, the Congress of Vienna acclaimed Bernadotte's title as King, and even granted him lands including Norway taken from Napoleon's faithful ally , Denmark. This forced union lasted until 1905 when both countries were separated . Nowadays the family of the Bernadotte and Desiree still are reigning of Sweden.....This is a lavish production detailing the historic existence and tangled love life of Napoleon Bonaparte . A vivid , sentimental portrayal about the famed conqueror and his relationship to Desiree . It depicts life story of Napoleon through the eyes of Desiree from his days as General in the French Army to his exile on the island of Elba and Saint Elaine . Brando never wished to perform the General but owed 20th Century Fox a film and so reluctantly to play it . This is a romanticized historical epic with excessive soap opera , dealing with Napoleon and his lover , however some might find it too slow for their tastes . Spectacular achievement with its use of color , glamorous scenarios, montage and charismatic titular acting by Marlon Brando. But falls short of the classic 1927 silent movie by Abel Gance or 1955 adaptation also titled Napoleon by Sacha Guitry with Raymond Pellegrin and Orson Welles or recent TV rendition by Yves Simoneau with Christian Clavier and Gerard Depardieu .

This movie is a feast for the eyes, and while slow paced and understated will be a very pleasant movie for some people.

This movie has good and simple characters moving through complicated situations that are easily understandable to most of us. The ex-girlfriend who's still a supportive friend, married to best and able friend who's conscience puts him in opposition to his lady's old love etc. etc.

Its a good romance/relationship film set in a gorgeous background using the vehicle of three real and outstanding characters to move through napoleonic history. I don't recall any gross historical errors so it may even be mildly educational too...

Its a VERY good movie, but it isn't exciting or thrilling or passionate or sexy or violent, but if you like your films to be visual feasts and can deal with the fact that sometimes emotions can be less than torrid and overwrought. and that humans have more subtle motives than sex and power.. You might like this

I fell in love with Marlon Brando's and Jean Simmons's chemistry in Guys and Dolls, but I didn't know until recently that they'd made another film together prior to their musical pairing. In Desiree, Brando plays Napoleon Bonaparte, and once again, he's paired up with Jean Simmons, the title character. Yes, we all know Bonaparte married a woman named Josephine, not Desiree, so what's the story about?

Daniel Taradash wrote a very interesting script, with exciting, passionate characters. The film lasts decades, starting from Bonaparte's introduction to Desiree, before he changed his name, through the memorable Battle of Waterloo. As famous a figure as he was, the film actually focuses on Desiree, the woman torn between Bonaparte and Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. She's vivacious, loving, strong, and smart. It's easy to see how the two very powerful men fell in love with her. And if you thought Jean and Brando had sizzling chemistry together, just wait until you see her with Michael Rennie. He's absolutely adorable in this movie, and when Brando humiliates Jean by leaving her for Merle Oberon, it's no wonder she considers crying on Michael's very tall, comforting shoulder.

The Oscar nominated costumes, designed by Charles Le Maire and Rene Hubert, are exquisitely beautiful. Jean gets to wear a different gown in every scene, even in the diary-writing montages. She wears a gorgeous turquoise dress for only ten seconds, but it's a beautiful ten seconds. If you've only seen Jean in The Big Country or Guys and Dolls, you've got to rent this movie if only to see how beautiful she looks when she really dolls up (no pun intended). Even though Brando gets first billing, it's her show.

Henry Koster directed many films with considerable charm and flair... His attempts at drama were for the most part less successful but always visually pleasant... He was nominated for an Academy Award for directing "The Bishop's Wife" in 1947... His reputation as a skilled artist led to his assignment as director of the first film in CinemaScope, "The Robe."

Koster does manage to keep the dynamism of "Désirée" and is excellent on both the technical level as on the screen acting... The film won Oscar Nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color & Best Costume Design...

His high moment of the film was 'The Coronation Ceremony' where after the blessing of the crowns Napoleon seizes the crown from the Pope Pius VII and crowns first himself, then Josephine (Merle Oberon), Napoleon's first wife... (This petite brunette looked particularly ravishing as the empress).

Marlon Brando proved his versatility playing the great French soldier-statesman, a man insatiably ambitious, exceptionally intelligent, prompt to make decisions... Brando's performance is cool, calculating, compulsive, using a calm, measured English accent, providing the role its wise temperature of the most celebrated personage in the history of France & Europe...

British actor Michael Rennie plays the revolutionary general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte with a noticed antipathy for his rival... Bernadotte shifts his allegiances, forming alliances with Russia, Great Britain & Prussia, contributing in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig...

Jean Simmons - lovely as ever with her delicate beauty - gives the story fluid charm of a seventeen-year-old girl to a self-confident woman... We see her running through the streets of Marseilles, growing up in the outcome of the French Revolution, recording her daily written account of events, witnessing Napoleon's arrest...

Rescued from the threat of a jump into the Seine, Désirée rejects Napoleon's advances, and marries Count Bernadotte, now a Marshall of France...

Désirée was a romantic figure involved with two opposite characters: one as Emperor of France with an eternal search for wars and glory, and a king, uncertain sometimes about his capacities, with the necessity of a beloved queen besides him...

If not viewed as a history lesson, this fictionalized biopic is good entertainment and at least a point of departure for a study of a great French leader...