The King of the Director’s Cut is back. Ridley Scott‘s Napoleon surprised many with his tonally unique take on the French emperor (played adeptly by Joaquin Phoenix). Unexpectedly, the 2023 biopic was less a grandiose war epic centered on Napoleon the would-be world conqueror, and more of a tragicomic exploration of Napoleon the man. It boldly erodes the glamor of the “Great Man” Theory of History, portraying the self-crowning, self-styled heir of Alexander the Great as a talented tactician and a brutish, power-hungry politician, but also as a petty, manipulable horndog obsessed with his hot and infinitely more intelligent wife, Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby). It’s an unexpected approach to an epic for a world-altering figure as if Victor Fleming put Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) in a gimp suit while Atlanta burns in Gone With The Wind.
On its own, Scott’s original Napoleon is a solid entry in his oeuvre, with stunning battle sequences, fantastic central performances, and a novel look into Napoleon’s private life. The film’s new director’s cut firmly falls into the camp of those that qualitatively improve on the original. It’s massive, suffering a few new tonal issues. Still, the additional context for Empress Joséphine, Napoleon’s paranoia and military campaigns, and the overall political machinations surrounding his rise, rule, and fall, easily cement the film as one of Ridley Scott’s best.
How Is ‘Napoleon: The Director’s Cut’ Different From the Original?
Director’s cuts, created in instances where a director is able to make a new version of their film beyond its initial theatrical release, are a complicated endeavor. Making one is an exciting opportunity allowing a director the relatively unfettered potential to complete their vision for the film in question, with changes running the gamut from small to substantial. It’s a gamble. At times, a director’s cut can be a dramatic improvement or an interesting new vision; occasionally, a new cut arguably makes a film worse. Ridley Scott is no stranger to director’s cuts, using the opportunity to perfect Blade Runner, make an excellent film out of Kingdom of Heaven, or improve the fantasy classic Legend.
The new scenes in Napoleon: The Director’s Cut don’t fundamentally alter Napoleon or its original ending. His final stand remains set at the Battle of Waterloo, not the future San Dimas waterpark. There are differences in context, emphasis, and tone, alongside new details that change the weight of various events in the film. It remains a film about the French officer-general-emperor-exile rising through the ranks, finding his eventual wife and later Empress, Joséphine. It still sees him having a complicated relationship while conquering the world, ultimately failing at holding power (with losses in Russia marking the beginning of the end), and being expelled by France like a crate of bad wine.
These facts are barely changed from the original cut, though certain details add layers and context to the prior iteration. His early insistence that French art remains with the French people, rather than the Vatican, for example, foreshadows Napoleon’s growing insistence that his will and authority are synonymous with France. A harrowing personal experience gives context to his growing need to eliminate all opposition. The new cut also adds substantial detail to Joséphine’s own story, and consequently the unusual (and doomed) marriage between the pair.
‘Napoleon: The Director’s Cut’ Cements It Among Ridley Scott’s Best
Joaquin Phoenix gives an exceptional portrayal of the ambitious French general; unpredictable, brutish, and propelled by his desires. The additions here give a little more breathing room to Phoenix’s performance in several scenes, as well as greater context for some of Napoleon’s choices. The result is a smoother overall ride through the figure’s history than in the original cut. Perhaps the singular exception to this is that the director’s cut introduces a few new tonal swings in the film’s first act. Joséphine’s introduction is sadder and more detailed, but in the new cut, those additions are saddled between scenes of Napoleon’s chaotic, immature antics. The tone smooths out considerably after those initial moments, however, with the various new scenes ultimately giving Napoleon’s eccentricities (and their consequences) greater space.
As the recipient of most of the character-building new scenes, Vanessa Kirby’s layered performance as Joséphine reaps disproportionate benefits from the changes. It was clear in the original cut that the sex worker-turned-Empress-turned-divorcee was the savvy one in the pair’s relationship, such as finding means to turn around Napoleon’s indignation upon his learning of her affair. The new cut reveals the origins of the character’s slide into sex work, along with the source of her maneuver to enter Napoleon’s life. Recontexualized, Kirby’s adept take on the character reads a touch sadder and slightly more conniving, still. Josephine’s post-divorce life was somewhat tragic in the original cut, but the additional reveals about her past give the losses and their consequences greater weight. Altogether, the changes bring subtle new life into two remarkable performances, helping the emotional impact of the characters’ fates to sink in deeper.
Nothing added or altered in the new director’s cut changes the fundamental fact that the film uses an unexpected lens to take on the French ruler’s controversial legacy. At the same time, while the character’s eccentricities and the film’s unique approach persist, the new material provides greater emotion, smoother transitions into Napoleon’s whims and grievances, a deeper look into the French politics of the era, and improves already excellent character work. As a whole, the director’s cut turns a very good, arguably great epic into an undeniably exceptional one, firmly solidifying the film’s reputation in Ridley Scott’s filmography. With a career that spans many genres, from the iconic creature feature horrors of Alien to his ode to friendship and murder in Thelma & Louise or the sword-and-sandal action of Gladiator, it’s hard to precisely rank Napoleon: The Director’s Cut among Scott’s distinguished canon. It’s much easier to note the simple fact that the director’s cut is certainly the definitive cut of the film, marking it clearly as one of his best.
A Smart Director’s Cut Brings New Life to ‘Napoleon’
It’s still relatively common for biopics of social and political figures to take a sanitized lens to their subjects, from Best Picture winners like Richard Attenborough‘s Gandhi to Sean McNamera‘s love letter to Hollywood blacklist fetishist and the Judas of American Labor in Reagan. Refreshingly, nothing could be further from Ridley Scott’s plan in Napoleon, and this carries into Napoleon: The Director’s Cut. It’s a film that boasts excellent, accurate battle sequences, but it slides past many of the emperor’s grandiose victories in favor of a lens on Napoleon the man, the needy husband, the would-be world-ruler who gets sensitive about his height at King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The result is an adept character study propelled by a pair of excellent performances, and the director’s cut gives them more room to fully shine.
Napoleon: The Director’s Cut is available on Apple TV+.
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