Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is expected to be a biopic that will follow Napoleon Bonaparte from his initial days as commander of France to his rise and fall from power.
However, the saga won’t focus on just the emperor himself. Through the film, Scott also wishes to explore the complexities of the empire and also of Napoleon’s empress, Josephine de Beauharneis.
In an interview with Empire, Scott explains the complexities and various facets of Josephine as a character. He also reveals that he read voraciously about the empress, and every account seemed to paint a different picture of the empress. This made her characterization even more challenging. Check out his comments below:
It was very hard work, because it’s so easy to start talking about battles when I want to talk about Napoleon. So I kept reining it in, I kept going back to Joséphine. What was so challenging, and kind of elusive, about her, was that every single book, whether it was first-hand accounts, third-hand stories, documents, testimonies, and Napoleon’s letters… every single one was completely different. She was just this massive contradiction. Every time I thought I’d locked down, ‘Okay, this is who she is, and I think I can get hold of this’, something would completely counteract it.
In reality, Josephine’s accent to considerable stature in the French empire is a complicated story. She rose from being a wealthy noble who was nearly killed during the French Revolution to being the queen of Napoleon and serving as the empress of France for five whole years.
Hence, her legacy is often underrated and is one of the most intriguing facets of the entire French Revolution.
Another interesting part of Josephine’s character is that she was willing to sacrifice everything for Napoleon and the French Empire despite never truly loving the ruler. Josephine’s letters to Napoleon hardly ever spoke of love, but did it really matter back then?
Thus, when Josephine realized that she couldn’t give Napoleon an heir, she stepped aside and allowed the emperor to remarry. This way, she could preserve her honor and continue holding power as the Queen.
It is possible to retell Napoleon’s story without touching on Josephine’s character too deeply. However, that would fail to acknowledge the role of such an essential and underrated character in French history.
This is what makes us excited about the film. It promises not to be a run-of-the-mill historical saga and has the potential to dive deep into intricate facets of the French Revolution which are yet to be discovered by the mainstream crowd.
About Napoleon
Napoleon is an epic historical drama film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and depicts the French leader’s rise to power and his relationship with his wife.
The film released by Sony Pictures Releasing on November 22, 2023, before streaming on Apple TV+ at a later date.
No Comments on Napoleon’s Josephine will be a Crucial & Challenging Character, Says Creator