With Napoleon, a historical drama directed by Ridley Scott will soon be released. While the British press reports positively about the film, French media criticize the movie. The well-known director responded in an interview to the negative reviews.
Ridley Scott is a British director known for films like Alien – The Uncanny Creature from Another World (1979), Blade Runner (1982), or Gladiator (2000).
His latest blockbuster Napoleon will soon be in theaters. However, there has been criticism from the French press regarding the historical drama, to which Ridley Scott responded to BBC News.
Here you can see a trailer for Napoleon:
5 stars in England, but criticism from France: “Barbie and Ken”
What did the press reviews of Napoleon say? In the UK, the film is positively rated by the media. From The Guardian, there were full 5 stars in the film review and The Times praised Napoleon as a “spectacular historical epic”.
More about the first positive reviews of Napoleon can also be read here with our colleagues from Filmstarts.
But the film is not well received by the French media. It is stated on Le Figaro that the film could be renamed “Barbie and Ken during the Empire”.
GQ France wrote that there was something “deeply clumsy, unnatural, and unintentionally funny” about French soldiers in 1793 shouting “Vive La France” with an American accent.
Patrice Gueniffey, a Napoleon biographer, criticized the film in Le Point magazine as a rewriting of history that is “very anti-French and very pro-British”.
What did Ridley Scott say in response to the criticism? In response to the criticism from the French press, the star director simply said to BBC: “The French do not even like themselves.”
He further added: “The audience that I showed it to in Paris was thrilled.”
The director is known for responding to criticism in an eccentric and harsh manner. For example, he insulted those who criticized Blade Runner with a “F— off,” as you can read here with our Moviepilot colleagues.
When does Napoleon come out? From tomorrow, November 22, 2023, Napoleon will have its theatrical release. In Germany, you can see it the next day, starting November 23, 2023, on the big screen.
The feature film will have a runtime of 160 minutes. Later, the roughly 4-hour director’s cut of Napoleon will also be available on Apple TV+.
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