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I have to admit, when it comes to styles, I have easy time naming my two favorites – the Louis XVI and French Empire. And while poor Louis certainly had left his ever-lasting heritage, it is Bonaparte and his unmistakable touch that resonates in me most. I have that warm spot for any artifact that is associated with his time. That picture of him at the peak of his glory never leaves my night stand. I know that some would call his style derivative, but to me it is as simple and elegant as any style is ever going to get.
One can not separate Napoleon from his great military victories and defeats. The history of Napoleonic wars is another subject that will continue fascinating people forever.
It is, therefore, with great anticipation, that I searched for that illusive copy of “Waterlooâ€. After an empty-handed search of the Amazon and the likes, I was pointed in the direction of the www.bestvideo.com by Richard The Kind Heart. I called them and arranged for a rent, only to discover an hour later that my store actually had that tape… Never underestimate the power of your local purveyor. A tape in good, perhaps never played condition…
With popcorn popping, we sat back anticipating two hours of enjoyment.
First – the interiors. Glenn certainly surrounds herself with more elegant ones: fluted legs, tapestry, soft pastels, large French windows… all designed to enhance the natural beauty of any feminine creature…and that they do quite well.
Bonaparte, by comparison, goes for the grandeur. It certainly feels like his ceilings are not just few feet higher, they seem to have no limits…they go to the stars, for stars and greatness are what HE is shooting for. Not some boudoir romance, no Sir……
I have to admit that from the first scenes I simply relaxed and flew with this continuous parade of things of timeless beauty. Everything in the frame has endless supply of it. Floors, pictures, officer’s uniforms, banners, weapons, and human faces. Soon you notice another difference with Glenn’s interiors – here women are mostly absent. It is a no-nonsense world of a fighting man. A desperate fighting man…
More differences? Glenn never wears a sword. But look, Bonaparte never does either! His staff officers do, of course, and they are beautiful.
I can’t wait for the battle scenes, for this is where the director has no peers. And they come…. They come and they engulf you.
The movie can be used as an encyclopedia of the period uniforms and weapons. If there are some minor mistakes somewhere, you certainly don’t notice them – the sheer magnitude of the picture more than compensates for them. You see colors, colors and more colors everywhere. You see Scottish basket hilt swords and you see lances. When the batteries open fire you don’t see just few guns – they cover the horizon. Battle music as the troops march towards their deaths and glory is mesmerizing. Thousands of horses in endless attacks, running through the horrible noise and decimation…merciless Britts slaughtering the French cavalry in revenge for the heart-wrenching destruction of their own Scottish Greys…
Bondarchuk IS the battle scene master – with no close second. This thirty-years-old movie makes the pitiful Ryan look like a child smearing his…. No one interested in Napoleon or European history should overlook this gem.
Period miniature portraits play significant roles in both movies. Napoleon looks with pain at the painting of his son in an elegant Empire ormolu frame. The picture falls out of the gloved hand of a young Scottish cavalryman killed so brutally by the French lancer… War is hell and things of beauty get destroyed and replaced by gore. Such simple message.
Somehow the director manages to show the horrors without resorting to the traditional Hollywood’s trashy red pain and plastic guts. The horror is in the participant’s faces, in the atmosphere, in the distant and emotionless camera shots…in the slow deadly dance of the French cavalry, and the defiance of the Napoleon Guard, it is in the Wellington’s last words… Somehow that recipe seems to have been lost during the “glorious†thirty years of high profits.
Great actors abound. Mediocre ones popping up in few places too. That dumb Russian Leonardo Di Caprio – Oleg Vidov, literally biting the dust, perhaps signifying the end of his rather boring career…perhaps we should look forward to Leonardo playing some battle scenes?
A very unlikely choice for the role of fierce undereducated hero Blucher – Sergo Zakhariadse. That Gergian actor is more known for his warm and kind roles, for the gentle hands of your grandfather that you are not going to forget.
I didn’t get to see the cuirassier’s swords clearly, but I DO have a Blucher’s heavy cavalry saber coming, the huge one with its extra-wide 1 ½†blade… perhaps it was used at Waterloo… When it comes, I can swing it and dream of the battlefield horror, and the “Waterloo†is going to be my guide.
Ah, yes, and Glenn… like Napoleon, she lost her last battle. Perhaps here the similarities end.
Rent this movie. Watch it for history, for fine acting, for unmatched battle scenes, for Scottish dance… for the beauty and death so intertwined, they are inseparable. Just like in life.
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Topic - French Interiors Part II – Glenn Close vs. Napoleon Bonaparte - Victor Khomenko 15:10:22 03/04/00 (4)
- Re: French Interiors Part II – Glenn Close vs. Napoleon Bonaparte - MiKe 11:57:58 03/06/00 (0)
- Thanks for the rec! - TAFKA Steve 04:37:10 03/05/00 (2)
- Re: Thanks for the rec! - Victor Khomenko 05:03:22 03/06/00 (1)
- Bullseye! - TAFKA Steve 14:16:42 03/06/00 (0)
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