For nearly two decades he strode the world stage like a colossus — loved and despised, venerated and feared. From his birth on the rugged island of Corsica to his final exile on the godforsaken island of St. Helena, NAPOLEON brings this extraordinary figure to life. NAPOLEON bears passionate witness to a man whose charisma swayed an empire and sparked his exalted belief in his own destiny.
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December 18, 2010
#1
The narrative moves quickly, but totally omits Napoleon’s affairs in the New World.,
The disc contains four hours of commentary, two hours per side of the disc. The style is uniform throughout. There is one narrator.
The following concerns only the first hour, of the four hour documenetary. During the first hour, there are about 25 black and white ink sketches, 45 color paintings, and numerous motion pictures of landscapes. The motion pictures show scenes from Napoleon’s birthplace, the island of Corsica. We see Corsica’s seashore, grazing sheep, Napoleon’s childhood home, and Corsica’s craggy mountains. Later, the live scenes show the palace at Versailles, close-ups of numerous statues, priests (actors) conducting ceremonies, church bells swinging and ringing, and soldiers (actors) firing cannons.
From time to time, we see one of several French scholars, speaking in French with a charming real French accent, and voiceover from the English-speaking commentator. (Love that cute French accent.)
The first hour discloses the following facts and events:
We learn the fact that Napoleon rose through the ranks on the basis of his ability, rather than from influence from his parents or ancestors. We learn of Napoleon’s parents, his father Carlo a 23 year old University student, and later a lawyer and Corsican politician, and his mother Litetsia, strong-willed mother of eight surviving children. We learn of the capture of Corsica by the French.
Then, the film discloses Napoleon’s move to France at the age of nine, to begin schooling on a military scholarship, and later entrance in the Royal Military Academy in Paris at age 15. We learn that he was teased at school, for being a foreigner from Corsica, and that he initially hated everything French. At age 16, Napoleon started out his career at the age of 16, as a second lieutenant, learning to fire cannons and build gun carriages. Briefly, Napoleon had second thoughts about a military career, and wrote a book about Corsica. The French Revolution, with its dramatic milestone of July 14, 1789, and dismantling of the French institution of privileges, provided room for advancement in the military, especially for men (like Napoleon) having no particular connection with nobility.
At the age of 23, Napoleon left the French army and entered politics in Corsica. He led a political party that opposed an established, elderly politician (Pasquale Paoli), but this backfired, and Napoleon was exiled from Corsica. On June 10, 1793, Napoleon left Corsica with his siblings and mother for France. The film then provides commentary on Robespierre and the Reign of Terror. At age 24, Napoleon became an artillery captain. He was sent back south to Toulon, on the coast, to drive out the British. His forces won, and at the age of 24, Napoleon was promoted to Brigadier General.
But later on, he felt like he was in a career rut, and felt depressed.
Later on, opportunity knocked. There was a small rebellion in Paris (October 5, 1795), and Napoleon was called to put it down. He did, and killed 100 French rebels, and three weeks later was promoted to full general (age 26).
Then, Napoleon met Marie Josephe Rose de Beauharnais (known as “Josephine”), a widow from Martinique, 32 years old with two children. Her husband had died on the guillotine. At that time, Josephine’s boyfriend was a powerful Frenchman, Paul Berras. For example, Paul Berras was paying her rent for her living quarters, a cottage. Napoleon had his eyes on Josephine, because she was connected to many powerful men (her boyfriends) and because she had poise and charm. They married on March 9, 1796. The honeymoon lasted only two days, because he was asked to lead an army in Italy. Napoleon was promoted (in part because of his connection to Paul Berras) to Supreme Commander of all French forces in Italy, where the mission was to drive the Austrian army out of northern Italy.
On April 2, 1796, Napoleon led his soldiers against the Piedmontese in the mountains of Northern Italy. His military technique was to spread out his soldiers, let them advance to the enemy, whereupon the soldiers would then converge in a focused location and attack. On April 26, the Piedmontese surrendered.
Then, the film provides some commentary about Napoleon’s continual letters to Josephine.
After defeating the Piedmontese, Napoleon marched to Lodi, an Italian town overrun by Austrian soldiers. Both sides were lined up on opposite sides of a river, firing at each other. Then, Napoleon crossed the bridge and drove the Austrians away (but did not actually defeat the Austrian army). At that point, Napoleon began to think that he was invincible in military matters, and the people of France agreed with this assessment.
On May 5, 1796, Napoleon entered Milan, a town in Northern Italy, and drove out the Austrian army. Milan welcomed…
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|December 18, 2010
#2
Vive L’Empereur!,
This is a nice PBS production on Bonaparte, and can serve as a good introduction to the period, but it glosses over much about that exciting era. I understand that to truly do the emperior justice a bio much longer than this would be required. Unfortunately we go from Austerlitz, to Russia in 1812 and then rush up to Waterloo!
The first half of the program which shows the little Corsican’s childhood and rise to power is first-rate, but the second just breezes through too much in such a short time. I also had a problem with David McCulloghs narration. He sounds too American for a European subject like this. I kept thinking is this Ken Burn’s Civil War again!
The selection of supposed experts and historians was uninspired. Only John Elting was worth while, the others made simple and often foolish statements. Missing were David Chandler, Christopher Duffy and many other famous Napoleanic historians who would have breathed fire into this stiff production. No recent biographers of Napolean were included at all!
PBS put together a pretty dry production here. Even the music is a bit bland, and there is so much magificent music from this period. Missing also is Wellington’s stunning Peninsular Campaign in Spain, the famed “Spanish Ulcer” of Nappy. Even the 1815 Campaign gets crunched with no explanation about the earlier battles of the campaign, and marshal Blucher’s remarkable come back with the Prussians at Waterloo. There is no discussion about Napolean’s famous Marshals who contributed so much to the flavor and character of his regime. This is basically a work about Napolean the man, and little else. The viewer should understand this.
A nice, but very bland, incomplete production, adequate for those who know little or nothing about the period, but frustrating for the true scholar of that tempestuous time. I give it four stars at least for the effort, but not for its content.
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|December 18, 2010
#3
Teaching,
While this video does cover tons of great info…it is a little too much for teaching purposes. Within the classroom, you will have to pre-view the 5+ hour video to find what you want to highlight. It would have been much better (for teaching purposes) if they cut the fat and made it a little more user friendly.
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