News culture Joaquim Phoenix and Ridley Scott, this duo has done a titanic job for one of the most anticipated films of the year, Napoleon
Published on 08/01/2023 at 22:00
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To write the character of Napoleon, Joaquin Phoenix and Ridley Scott sat for 10 days, all day.
Joaquin Phoenix will play the role of Napoleon I in Ridley Scott’s film at the end of the year, on November 22 precisely. We will follow the rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte, who becomes Emperor Napoleon I. An opportunity to discover him through his political and military tactics, his great battles, but also his personal issues.
In a recent interview with Empire, Ridley Scott said Joaquin Phoenix felt distraught two weeks before filming began. Comments reported by Variety: “He arrives two weeks from the start of filming and says: ‘I don’t know what to do'”, he says, before adding: “We sat for 10 days, all the day, talking scene by scene. In a way, we rehearsed. Absolutely detail by detail”. Scott will later indicate that casting Phoenix as Napoleon will result in a complete script rewrite., in an effort to put the actor more at ease: “Joaquin is as far from convention as possible,” Scott said. “Not deliberately, but by intuition. That’s what makes him tick. If something bothers him, he’ll let you know. He made Napoleon special by constantly questioning him.”
With Joaquin, we can rewrite the film because he’s uncomfortable. That’s what happened with ‘Napoleon'”. We dusted off the film to help it focus on Bonaparte’s identity. I had to respect that, because what was being said was incredibly constructive. This made it possible to enlarge and improve the film.
For his part, Phoenix seems above all to have loved reconnecting with Scott, whom he had already known on the set of Gladiator.
The truth is that the idea of working with Ridley again made me very nostalgic. I had such an incredible experience working with Ridley on “Gladiator,” and I was so young. It was my first big production. I really wanted to relive that experience, or something similar. He’s offered me other projects in the past, but nothing that’s not as demanding for both of us. So I really liked the idea of getting into something like that with Ridley.
Who is in the cast?
In the cast of Napoleon, you will also find Vanessa Kirby who will take on the role of Empress Josephine. On the French side, we will recognize Tahar Rahim in the role of Paul Barras, and Ludivine Sagnier in that of Madame Tallien. Also count on the presence of Matthew Needham (Lucien Bonaparte), Paul Rhys (Talleyrand), Gavin Spokes (Charles-Henri Sanson), Youssef Kerkour (General Davout), John Hollingworth (General Ney) or even Davide Tucci (General Hoche).
The film is produced by Apple Studios and Scott Free Productions, but distributed by Sony Pictures in theaters. Indeed, Napoleon will first be released in cinemas in a few countries, in particular the United States, the United Kingdom and France, before its broadcast as planned on Apple TV+. During the Cinemacon 2023 festival in Las Vegas, the press and spectators had the chance to discover an exclusive excerpt from the film Napoleon, and would have already loved the intensity of the battle scenes, faithful to the standards of Ridley Scott.
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