From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most historically accurate and romanticized moments from Ridley Scott's Napoleon Bonaparte biopic.
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00:00 "I will win by fire."
00:03 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most historically accurate and romanticized
00:08 moments from this Napoleon Bonaparte biopic.
00:11 If you have issues with the creative liberties, you can send any complaints to Ridley Scott
00:16 at getalife.com.
00:18 We guess we'll give a spoiler alert, but can you really spoil history?
00:23 "Your majesty, we are discovered."
00:26 "Good."
00:27 10. Napoleon's height
00:30 Right.
00:31 When Joaquin Phoenix got cast, some questioned if he was too tall to play Napoleon.
00:35 "You are just a tiny little bird that is nothing without me."
00:40 The so-called "little corporal" is often portrayed as cartoonishly short, contributing
00:45 to the term "Napoleon complex."
00:47 "Son!
00:48 You're Napoleon complex."
00:49 "All he's known for."
00:50 "Bro!"
00:51 "And that's just a short guy who's just like, tough all the time, for no reason."
00:54 "Napoleon complex should mean like, yo, you are that guy.
00:56 You're him."
00:57 While Napoleon wasn't the tallest man on the battlefield, his short stature has been
01:01 grossly exaggerated.
01:03 Napoleon was said to be 5 feet 2 inches, but those measurements predated the metric system.
01:09 Going by modern measurements, Napoleon was closer to 169 centimeters, or around 5 feet
01:15 6 and a half inches.
01:17 Phoenix is only slightly taller at 5 feet 8 inches, making him an appropriate height
01:21 to play the average-sized corporal.
01:24 While the size is accurate, Phoenix notably started shooting the film in his late 40s,
01:28 which is closer to how old Napoleon was when he died.
01:31 "I am destined for greatness."
01:33 Number 9.
01:34 Napoleon was at Marie Antoinette's execution.
01:37 Wrong.
01:38 "No doubt you've seen the chaos in the streets."
01:43 The last Queen of France notoriously met her end at the guillotine on October 16, 1793.
01:49 While the film's depiction of the execution is mostly faithful, Napoleon is among the
01:54 crowd, which doesn't add up with the timeline.
01:57 From August 29th to December 19th that year, Napoleon was engaged in the Siege of Toulon,
02:02 which marked the first major turning point in his military career.
02:06 "Bonaparte fought bravely, leading his men in the assault on the fort guarding the heists,
02:12 suffering a wound in the thigh from an enemy bayonet."
02:14 Toulon, France is roughly 840 kilometers away from Paris where Marie Antoinette was executed.
02:20 There's no way Napoleon could have been at the Place de la Concorde when the former queen
02:24 lost her head.
02:25 Napoleon's presence here emphasizes the transfer from one controversial leader to another,
02:30 but the filmmakers definitely try to have their cake and eat it too.
02:34 Number 8.
02:35 Breaking ice at the Battle of Austerlitz.
02:37 Right.
02:38 Throughout the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Austerlitz just might have been Bonaparte's
02:42 proudest achievement.
02:43 Although the film fast-forwards through much of the battle, it highlights one of the most
02:47 infamous moments.
02:48 "Wait!
02:49 Let them think they have the higher ground."
02:53 With Napoleon solidifying his victory, enemy soldiers began to retreat across the frozen
02:58 lakes.
02:59 "Ice!
03:00 It's a trap!"
03:02 Napoleon nonetheless ordered 25 cannons to fire upon the icy battleground, causing fleeing
03:07 soldiers to fall into the shallow yet freezing water.
03:10 The exact number of casualties from this move is up for debate.
03:15 Napoleon claimed it was 2,000, but he was known to exaggerate.
03:18 "But even so, it was a horrific end for so many brave men."
03:24 Historians argue that the real number of drowned men could be anywhere between 2 and 200.
03:29 In any case, this scene captures Napoleon at his most merciless.
03:34 Number 7.
03:35 The Fire of Moscow.
03:36 Right.
03:37 Not every victory is as fulfilling as one initially assumes.
03:41 The film sees Napoleon and his troops arrive in Moscow to find it's already been abandoned.
03:46 Napoleon was indeed surprised as the French invaded the practically empty Russian city,
03:50 anticipating a fight.
03:52 Shortly after, any hope that Alexander I would be forced to negotiate a peaceful resolution
03:57 went up in literal flames.
03:59 "Mountains of red, rolling flames," Napoleon recalled later, "like immense waves of the
04:05 sea.
04:06 Oh, it was the most grand, the most sublime, and the most terrifying sight the world ever
04:14 beheld."
04:15 Rather than surrender to the French, Russia opted to burn down its sacred city.
04:19 "But as they were to prove seven years later in the ill-fated Moscow campaign, Russian
04:24 forces on the retreat could prove elusive foes.
04:28 And Napoleon's force found themselves unable to pin down the retreating Russians."
04:32 While there are varying accounts of how the fire started, it's generally believed that
04:36 Count Fyodor Rostopchin made the orders.
04:39 This is among the few moments in the biopic where Napoleon appears legitimately unsettled,
04:44 which coincides with the real-life military leader's disturbed reaction.
04:48 Number 6.
04:49 Napoleon Attacked the Pyramids.
04:51 Wrong.
04:52 The Battle of the Pyramids took place on July 21st, 1798.
04:56 With a name like that, one might jump to the conclusion that Napoleon attacked the Egyptian
05:00 pyramids, as the film suggests.
05:03 When naming the battle, Napoleon actually drew inspiration from the Great Pyramid of
05:07 Giza.
05:08 Alas, the title was misleading.
05:10 The battle took place roughly nine miles away from the pyramids near a village called Embebe,
05:15 which is located across the Nile River with Cairo on the other side.
05:19 "At the Battle of the Pyramids, in only two hours, Napoleon the Conqueror atomized the
05:23 20,000 Mamelukes of the Sultan of Constantinople.
05:28 The new master of Egypt also wanted to be the civilizer of Middle Eastern people."
05:32 Although the pyramids were visible from the battlefield, they were hardly within firing
05:36 distance.
05:37 Napoleon's forces did stumble upon artifacts like mummies when the French invaded Egypt.
05:42 However, if Napoleon had taken a shot at any of the pyramids, the damage would have been
05:47 noticeable.
05:48 Number 5.
05:49 Napoleon Left Egypt to Confront Josephine About Her Affair.
05:53 Wrong.
05:54 With rumors regarding his wife's infidelity circulating, Napoleon abandons his post in
05:58 Egypt and returns home.
06:00 It's true that Josephine had an affair with a French officer named Hippolyte Charles,
06:04 but the film distorts the timeline.
06:06 Napoleon first heard rumors of the affair before France invaded Egypt.
06:10 Josephine convinced her infuriated husband that such gossip wasn't true.
06:14 The rumors resurfaced during Napoleon's time in Egypt.
06:17 "It is true that at that time Bonaparte believed the rumors that Josephine had betrayed him.
06:24 He was on his campaign in Egypt, but there was also a lot of malice behind those rumors.
06:30 They benefited the members of the Bonaparte family who disliked Josephine, and they also
06:36 benefited General Bonaparte's opponents."
06:38 Rather than rush home in a rage, though, Napoleon wrote to his brother, asking him to arrange
06:43 a divorce.
06:44 Although this wasn't the end of their marriage, Napoleon and Josephine continued to drift
06:49 apart.
06:50 "I am the most important thing in the world."
06:53 While in Egypt, Napoleon gained a mistress in Pauline Fauresse, who was nicknamed his
06:57 Cleopatra.
06:58 The film mentions Napoleon's affairs, but figures like Fauresse are absent.
07:03 4.
07:05 Napoleon Divorced Josephine Because She Couldn't Produce an Heir
07:07 Right.
07:08 "I had so much compassion for her because it was a brutal time, and he was brutal to
07:13 be with."
07:14 The affairs by no means helped their marriage, but it was Josephine's inability to deliver
07:19 an heir that ultimately drove Napoleon away.
07:22 Confirming that he wasn't infertile, Napoleon had illegitimate sons with Éléonore de Noël
07:27 de La Plaine and Marie Wolefska.
07:28 "And so the French government put pressure on Napoleon to divorce Josephine and find
07:35 another wife, one who would actually continue the Bonaparte line."
07:38 Despite still having feelings for Josephine, Napoleon argued it would be in France's best
07:43 interest if he had a legitimate heir, asking for a divorce.
07:47 Napoleon reluctantly agreed, and the marriage ended with a public ceremony on January 10,
07:52 1810.
07:53 "She doesn't have to worry about anything material.
07:56 Her situation and her position are secure.
07:59 But her purpose in life is gone, and she falls into a deep depression."
08:04 Within two months, Napoleon married Marie-Louise of Austria.
08:09 Another four months later, Marie-Louise was pregnant with Napoleon II.
08:12 The film doesn't delve deep into Napoleon's second marriage, focusing on the devotion
08:17 he felt towards Josephine even after divorcing.
08:20 "You are nothing without me."
08:23 Number 3.
08:24 How Napoleon Learned of Josephine's Death - Wrong
08:27 The film shows Napoleon returning home to find out that his beloved Josephine died during
08:32 his absence.
08:33 Although they had been divorced for almost four years, this revelation still crushed
08:37 the real Napoleon.
08:38 The emotion displayed in the scene might be authentic, but the setting is wrong.
08:43 When news first reached Napoleon during his exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon didn't
08:48 receive the grim news from another person either.
08:50 Rather, he read about Josephine's passing in a French journal.
08:53 "He only hears the news much later.
08:56 He experiences the deepest sorrow he has felt in his life.
09:00 He suffers from her absence until the end."
09:03 Devastated, Napoleon locked himself in a room for two days, refusing to converse with others.
09:08 While this plays out differently in the film, it does convey Napoleon's grief and vulnerability,
09:14 setting the stage for what would be his biggest defeat.
09:16 "As the weeks passed, Napoleon grew bored playing at Emperor of Elba.
09:23 He never took his eye off France."
09:25 Number 2.
09:26 Napoleon Was Shot Through the Hat During the Battle of Waterloo - Wrong
09:30 When people think of battles that Napoleon fought in, Waterloo immediately comes to mind,
09:35 albeit not for the most flattering reasons.
09:37 Three months after Napoleon regained control in Paris, his reign officially came to an
09:42 end with this fateful battle.
09:44 While the film gets a fair deal about Waterloo right, it goes full Hollywood when one of
09:48 the enemy soldiers fires a shot at the fleeing Napoleon.
09:51 The ammunition just misses Napoleon's skull, instead leaving a sizable hole in his hat.
09:57 If you want evidence this didn't happen, look no further than the actual hat that Napoleon
10:03 reportedly dropped at Waterloo.
10:05 It was the one Napoleon wore on June 18, 1815 when he was defeated by the British forces
10:11 commanded by the Duke of Wellington and General von Blücher's Prussian army.
10:16 Sold at auction in 2018 for more than $400,000, the hat possesses some wear, but no gaping
10:22 holes.
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10:40 Number 1.
10:41 Napoleon crowned himself.
10:42 Right.
10:43 "Shall we vote?"
10:44 That hat might have been Napoleon's most iconic article of clothing, but it was a crown that
10:49 he desired above all else.
10:51 At his coronation in the film, Napoleon snatches the crown and places it on his head, much
10:56 to everyone's shock.
10:57 "I found the crown of France in the gutter and placed it atop my own head."
11:04 Historians have debated exactly how this played out.
11:07 A legend suggests that Napoleon grabbed the crown from Pope Pius VII, demonstrating his
11:12 newfound power as emperor.
11:14 "Almost as if the revolution had never happened, there was now a single ruler, a state church,
11:21 an honor system, and a new nobility."
11:24 The movie reflects this myth, although in reality, the Pope knew what Napoleon intended
11:29 to do with the crown.
11:30 Thus, this wasn't as radical as the film makes it out to be.
11:34 That said, Napoleon did crown himself and Josephine emperor and empress.
11:39 Napoleon held the position for nearly a decade, being exiled twice with the latter sticking.
11:44 What are you going to do today, Napoleon?
11:46 Leave your response in the comments, gosh!
11:49 "I promise you brilliant successes."
11:51 Did you enjoy this video?
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11:59 [music]