Napoleon (2002)

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Movie
German title Napoleon
Original title Napoleon
Country of production France , Germany , Italy , Canada , USA , Great Britain , Hungary , Spain , Czech Republic
original language French , English
Publishing year 2002
length 356 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
(part 1, part 2,
part 3, part 4)
Rod
Director Yves Simoneau
script Didier Decoin
Max Gallo (biography)
music Michel Cusson
Richard Grégoire
camera Guy Dufaux
Timothy Heys-Cerchio
cut Yves Langlois
Isabelle Malenfant
occupation
synchronization

Napoleon is a four-part historical film from 2002. The miniseries has a total duration of 360 minutes. The French actor Christian Clavier embodied the figure of Napoleon . Gérard Depardieu , Napoleon's wife Josephine Isabella Rossellini, played his police minister Fouché . Directed by Yves Simoneau .

action

prolog

At the beginning Napoleon is shown in his exile on St. Helena , where he is carefully guarded by the British. A young girl named Betsy Balcombe , the daughter of a British supplier to the East India Company, visits him regularly . Napoleon describes Betsy's career from a patriotic soldier to the French emperor and ruler over Europe to his fall and exile.

Part 1

France after the French Revolution in 1795: Napoleon is a general in the French army. He met the much older widow of an officer guillotined in the French Revolution, Joséphine de Beauharnais, whom he took as his wife shortly afterwards. However, his strategic skills are required in the crushing of an uprising against the republic. He is given command and prevents a civil war. He was noticed in high circles and given command of the defense against Austria on Italian territory. At Arcoli, however, he first suffered a defeat. Equipped with few and inferior resources for this mission, he carried a considerable victory to France through efficiency and strategic ability. He wins the approval of the people and the army. The French Foreign Minister Talleyrand takes notice of him and believes he can use his skills for a coup against the Republican Senate. Napoleon refuses and goes on a campaign to Egypt. During his absence, Josephine cheats on him with influential men in French society.

After Napoleon's return, his family and some generals plan to dissolve the Senate Assembly and overthrow the government. Napoleon wins the support of police chief Fouché and Talleyrands. When he enters the Senate Chamber with soldiers, an attack is carried out on him. In the aftermath of the chaos, Napoleon, with the help of Marshal Murat, succeeds in gaining power over the Senate and seizing power. Along with two insignificant politicians, he becomes the republic's first consul. He succeeds in stabilizing the political situation and the difficult financial situation. On Christmas 1800 he was assassinated by the royalists, which he survived unscathed. As a political example, the Duke of Enghien is executed despite objections from Josephine and Napoleon's mother Laetizia.

Part 2

After the execution, the French people offer him the imperial crown. For the coronation on December 2, 1804, he lets Pope Pius VII arrive: Napoleon crowns himself and receives the Pope's blessing. Since the British, the greatest enemy of the French, ally themselves with the Prussians, Austria and the Russians, while Napoleon is planning the coup on Great Britain, Napoleon decides to turn around to the east in order to defeat the political enemies there. At Jena and Austerlitz he wins great victories and forces Austria and Prussia to surrender. Meanwhile, Napoleon receives good news of the birth of his son, whom one of his secret lovers gave birth to. Josephine seemed unable to have a child due to her advanced age, which creates tension within the family and political leaders.

During the march against the Russians, Napoleon and his armed forces stop over in Poland, where he meets the wife of a Polish nobleman, Maria Walewska. He succumbs to the charm of the beautiful woman. The Polish elite sees this as a chance for Polish independence from Prussia and Russia. Napoleon won against Russia in the Battle of Eylau, but suffered painful losses.

part 3

Napoleon and Tsar Alexander meet on the Memel to conclude peace. Alexander promises him support against the British. But he refuses to give Poland independence. Napoleon then returns to France. He has to cope with the news of the death of his nephew, possible heir to the throne of the French crown, and of uprisings in Spain. To get the situation under control, he sends regiments from the eastern border to Spain and hopes for Alexander's support in preventing a Prussian-Austrian offensive. However, festivities in Erfurt organized specifically to negotiate the matter are inconclusive. Alexander feels the chance to push Napoleon back and refuses to support him. The surrender of his general in Madrid also forces him to intervene on the spot. In the background, family disputes over the award of the crowns of Spain and Naples are brewing. When Napoleon spends an unusually long time in Spain and there is already speculation about his death, his sister and her husband, the former Marshal Murat, plan together with Fouché and Talleyrand to appoint Murat as heir to the throne. But the plan vanishes with the return of Napoleon to France.

His campaign on the Iberian Peninsula was successful, but given the mobilization of Austrian troops, this victory seemed extremely dubious. Napoleon is forced to go to war against Austria again. Since half of the troops are still in Spain, Napoleon won a narrow victory at Wagram, but in turn suffered great losses from his armed forces. Marshal Lannes, one of Napoleon's most loyal supporters, also fell in the battle. Returning to Paris, he decides to secure the peace through a liaison with the Austrian Archduchess Marie-Louise von Habsburg. He casts out Josephine, and the wedding ceremony takes place soon afterwards. It doesn't take long before a son is born. Countess Walewska appears and asks Napoleon for support against the advancing Russian troops. At first he feels compelled to reject them because he suspects the dangers of a war against Russia. He takes advice from Josephine, who tries to dissuade him from the idea. Nevertheless, he dares to take the step, which will turn out to be extremely disastrous. Napoleon and his troops reach Moscow. The whole city has been cleared. Although he suspects evil, he marches in. During the occupation, explosives explode throughout the city at night.

Part 4

The withdrawal from Moscow will be a disaster. Napoleon loses a large part of his troops in the freezing cold of Russia. Napoleon is fed up with wars and proclaims peace in Europe. But the European alliance sees the chance to finally push Napoleon back. The Austrian Foreign Minister, Prince von Metternich, dictated the demand that France should withdraw into its old borders. Napoleon does not think to go into it. As a result, there will be another war with Austria. Napoleon suffers a bitter defeat in the Battle of Leipzig against an alliance of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Sweden. He is increasingly losing the support of his military command units and his generals are refusing him allegiance. Since instead of defending France, motivated by the great victories in the past, he is still speculating on a victory, he loses more troops and has to accept that the Alliance invades France. The surrender of France is accepted behind Napoleon's back. His abdication is a done deal. He tried suicide without success. He is exiled to Elba and given a small court. There he chats with festivities. But Napoleon cannot come to terms with the situation. He is too attached to the successes of the revolution, to the French people, to the imperial throne.

In France, the pre-revolutionary monarchs are now reigning again. Napoleon learns of Josephine's death. An ambassador informed him about the rejection of the political situation by the population. He plans to escape and return to France. Once there on the coast, he is received positively by the population. The king sends the military to prevent Napoleon's march on Paris. But Napoleon can win over the armed forces. He returns to France and, after the king's flight, reigns supreme over the French. But as soon as he got there, the Alliance declares war on him again. In the battle of Waterloo he is crushed. To prevent civil war, he has to accept the Senate's decision to abdicate again after only a hundred days of reign. He wants to sneak on a British ship to get to America. But he is discovered and banished to St. Helena, a South Atlantic island, where he has to endure until his death.

background

The film budget was estimated at 41 million euros. The film was shot from May to October 2001 in different countries.

Several fade-ins during the film are underlaid with historically incorrect data (at least in the German version). The Battle of Waterloo did not take place on April 18, 1815, but on June 18, 1815 and Napoleon III. did not live until 1871, but until 1873. Napoleon and Tsar Alexander listen to each other in a scene by Nicolo Paganini's Caprice number 24, which was only composed in 1817, when Napoleon was already on St. Helena.

Reviews

The lexicon of international film described the film as "multi-faceted" and as a "large-scale production with international stars whose show values ​​and equipment push the historical facts into the background." Cinema said that in the film, which is one of the "most expensive TV Epics of all time "," Napoleon's cold-blooded and power-hungry side [...] was not kept secret "," but overall a little short [comes] ". The conclusion of TV Spielfilm was: “Voilà! Stars en masse and history. "

Awards (selection)

synchronization

The German dubbed version was created by Johannisthal Synchron GmbH , Berlin. Joachim Kunzendorf was responsible for the dialogue book and the dialogue direction .

role actor Voice actor
Napoleon Christian Clavier Thomas Nero Wolff
Joséphine de Beauharnais Isabella Rossellini Susanna Bonaséwicz
Police Minister Joseph Fouché Gérard Depardieu Manfred Lehmann
Charles Talleyrand John Malkovich Joachim Tennstedt
Laetitia Ramolino , Napoleon's mother Anouk Aimée Bettina Schön
Armand de Caulaincourt Heino Ferch Heino Ferch
Maréchal Jean Lannes Sebastian Koch Sebastian Koch
Joseph Bonaparte Ennio Fantastichini Erich Rauker
Jean-Baptiste Muiron Guillaume Depardieu Timmo Niesner
Maria Walewska Alexandra Maria Lara Alexandra Maria Lara
Marie-Louise of Habsburg Mavie Hörbiger Mavie Hörbiger
Tsar Alexander I. Toby Stephens Johannes Berenz
Caroline Bonaparte Marie Bäumer Marie Bäumer
Maréchal Joachim Murat Claudio Amendola Andreas Rudiger
Klemens Metternich Julian Sands Stefan Staudinger
Hortense de Beauharnais Ludivine Sagnier Marie Bierstedt

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of release for Napoleon . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, November 2009 (PDF; Napoléon - Part 1 - At the head of the state).
  2. ^ Certificate of release for Napoleon . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, November 2009 (PDF; Napoléon - Part 2 - Emperor of the French).
  3. ^ Certificate of release for Napoleon . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, November 2009 (PDF; Napoléon - Part 3 - Decision in Moscow).
  4. ^ Certificate of release for Napoleon . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, November 2009 (PDF; Napoléon - Part 4 - Waterloo).
  5. The Battle of the Nations near Leipzig is not mentioned in the film.
  6. Napoleon. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. See cinema.de ( Memento from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  8. See tvspielfilm.de
  9. Napoleon. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on August 7, 2018 .