Although I'm a historian, the Napoleonic period isn't exactly my specialty. Even so, I managed to enjoy this miniseries, which lasts about six and a half hours, divided into four films of one and a half hours each. And one of the points that most caught my attention and highlighted is the effort of the production, which brings together several countries, but is led by France, to make a work that is historically accurate, even though it corresponds to the French perspective of his life.
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the great historical personalities without whom it is difficult to conceive the course of world history. A brilliant military commander, with ideas and tactics that are still the subject of study in military academies, he knew how to take advantage of his prestige among soldiers to impose an almost stratocracy on republican France, and gave solidity and stability to a country tired of political turmoil. However, decades of warfare led the French to despair, and Europe to a unanimous coalition against him. Although he did not get to rule for even twenty years and his achievements were quickly nullified with his removal, he managed to put the whole of Europe in check.
Christian Clavier seems to me a sensible option for the lead role, as he reasonably resembles the emperor. He's also a capable actor, giving his character a certain rough, ungainly, soldier's roughness. Isabella Rosellini was excellent as Josephine, and Gérard Depardieu seemed to me pleasantly hypocritical in the role of one of the ministers of the new emperor. John Malkovich also brings to life an important French political figure, who will go through several governments and adapt as a chameleon. The actor managed to give him that adaptability and latent hypocrisy. Much less interesting was Claudio Amendola, who stripped Murat of all personality to transform him into a mere blind follower of Napoleon.
Very significant in this film, costumes and sets are an inseparable part of the visual beauty and historical rigor of the production. There was a good team of historians working here, and the details were taken into account down to the smallest detail. The selection of filming locations, from a series of historic French palaces and other imposing locations, was judicious and intelligent. All the filming and photography work, despite not being brilliant, fulfills its role well and does what it has to do. The editing looks good to me. The battle scenes are actually very well staged, despite being few and not relevant... at least if we take into account the countless fights that Napoleon experienced, personally. The soundtrack, amidst all this, is the aspect I have to criticize the most, oscillating between the irritatingly pompous and the bland.
