Autopsying Ridley Scott’s Toothless Epic
(Image Credit: Alamy)
By: Muhammad Jalal Yousaf Tarar
“I’m the first to admit when I make a mistake. I just never do,” says Napoleon (played by Joaquin Phoenix) when Arthur Wellesley informs him that the Congress of Vienna had decided to exile him to the island of St. Helena. These words were also probably spoken by Director Ridley Scott when asked about the film’s historical accuracy.
Of course, films can never be history. In all fairness, ‘Napoleon’ had never claimed to substitute for history. Still, suggesting historians don’t know what they’re talking about because they weren’t there is not only strange comment for a director who specializes in historical films to make but also slightly snobbish. Not to mention, it’s an awful take on Baudrillian historiography...
