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submitted 11 months ago by Hubi@feddit.de to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

Ridley Scott has been typically dismissive of critics taking issue with his forthcoming movie Napoleon, particularly French ones.

While his big-screen epic, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the embattled French emperor with Vanessa Kirby as his wife Josephine, has earned the veteran director plaudits in the UK, French critics have been less gushing, with Le Figaro saying the film could have been called “Barbie and Ken under the Empire,” French GQ calling the film “deeply clumsy, unnatural and unintentionally clumsy” and Le Point magazine quoting biographer Patrice Gueniffey calling the film “very anti-French and pro-British.”

Asked by the BBC to respond, Scott replied with customary swagger:

“The French don’t even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.”

The film’s world premiere took place in the French capital this week.

Scott added he would say to historians questioning the accuracy of his storytelling:

“Were you there? Oh you weren’t there. Then how do you know?”

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[-] MiltownClowns@lemmy.world 48 points 11 months ago

Well gladiator isn't named after one of the most documented people in history, so probably not as well.

[-] Deuces@lemmy.world 32 points 11 months ago

Basically all we know about him is that his name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Father to a murdered child, husband to a murdered wife, and he will have his vengeance; in this life or the next.

[-] lickmygiggle@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago

Which brings to mind something one of my history teachers taught us about the implausibility of that movie. The main characters name is essentially “Most Tenth Middle”.

Quite the heroic name.

[-] Skua@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago

"Maximus" and "Decimus" were both real Roman names, but they wouldn't have been used in that order. It would have been Decimus Meridius Maximus. Or something else in the middle, since I can't find at instances of Romans called Meridius

[-] lickmygiggle@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Hey I didn’t know this - thank you for the information.

[-] KneeTitts@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

in this life or the next.

Coming next summer in Gladiator 2: The Resurrectioning

[-] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Gladiator 2: The Electric Resurrectoloo

[-] MudMan@kbin.social 9 points 11 months ago

I mean... sure, it's not named after him, but Marcus Aurelius is in that movie. They still have a column in his memory in Rome today.

On the minus side, he's in the movie just for a little bit and you can't really prove that he wasn't murdered by Commodus in a fit of jealous rage. On the plus column, Napoleon is already one of the most misrepresented historical figures, so... call it a tie?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

I realize I'm in a minority here, but I knew too much about Roman history to enjoy Gladiator. Which is odd, because I love I, Claudius and it's complete nonsense too.

[-] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world -4 points 11 months ago

Ok but it seems some of the complaints were that it's anti French. My argument there is that the French were indeed the bad guys in this period in history, and so was Napoleon, so no shit the movie is anti French of the period.

[-] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

In that period (the Napoleonic Wars), the French were definitely the lesser of the many evils in Europe. Their opponents were the united nobility of Europe, and while Napoleon ultimately failed to end it, he weakened it to a point from which it would never recover. One could also argue that many South American countries were able to gain independence because the French weakened the Spanish and Portugese monarchies.

[-] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago

You're saying that as if Napoleon's plan was to liberate and bring social progress. It wasn't. The things that the Napoleonic wars brought about weren't done by him on purpose, he was just out to conquer and be emperor

[-] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 months ago

Everyone else was also motivated by the lust for power. At least Napoleon was more or less meritocratic, and his actions brought about some progress. Hence 'lesser of the many evils'.

this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
376 points (97.5% liked)

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