Voices: ‘Napoleon’ is more progressive than you think
by Clémence Michallon
Nov 28, 2023
4 minutes
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I booked a ticket to see Napoleon. The marketing surrounding Ridley Scott’s biopic of the emperor Napoléon Bonaparte has been confusing. Its US tagline, “He came from nothing/He conquered everything”, is not only inexact (Bonaparte was born into minor nobility)—it also struck me as a strangely girlboss-y description of a man who rose to immense power by war-waging and political maneuvering—and whose ascent ended France’s first attempt at a republic.
In , Paris metro users walked past side-by-side photos of Bonaparte, portrayed in the film by , with various captions. A
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