We were sad on May 5, 2021. A page was turned: the bicentenary circle ended with the death of Napoleon. How were we going to take care of ourselves? The Bonapartist nature abhors a vacuum, so Ridley Scott, Sony and Apple have decided to offer us a (new) film about the great man. Could this be THE long-awaited movie? Reviews were more than mixed and Joaquin Phoenix's performance was much commented upon.
Is it easy to interpret Napoleon? Or rather Bonaparte? Or Napoleon and Bonaparte? A total and complex character, strange and penetrating, charming and terrifying, slender then obese, agile then heavy... Playing a part or the whole life of the Corsican (1769-1821) is a challenge. Many have tried, few have succeeded. A good Napoleon in cinema is a Napoleon captured at a definite moment in his life - the most affordable being that of fall and exile. Great biographical frescoes are often missed. The actor must also think of the victorious and ambitious general, the brilliant and angry emperor, the dependent and conquering lover, the fallen and embittered man.
On the occasion of the film's release, we selected more than 100 actors who donned the bicorne hat (we must be missing some), rated them out of 20 and ranked. A little comment accompanies our "tops" and "flops". All this under the watchful and expert gaze of Thierry Lentz, director of the Fondation Napoléon. Abel Gance, Sacha Guitry, les Monty Python... From these few lines, a century of cinema contemplates you.
The top 30 commented
1. Albert Dieudonné (Napoleon, 1927)
A no-brainer. By his silhouette, his look and even his behavior, Albert Dieudonné had to finish number 1. Didn't he show up for the casting in imperial costume in front of Abel Gance? The filmmaker told on France 3 in 1976 his first meeting with the then 37-year-old actor. "I said to him: 'Now Albert, you are going to say what you will say to the army of Italy: soldiers, you are naked, etc.' And here he is, saying it, in this atmosphere, so full of this character, with his real costume, in the real setting, I said: "well, you'll play the part!" » Napoleon, that's him! But, beware, he is the Napoleon of legend, exactly what the director wanted him to be. The film is brilliant, as is Dieudonné's performance. And considering the staggering (and, let's face it, boring) length of some of the scenes, he's the longest-running Napoleon in all of cinema history! But Napoleon is a sun: whoever rubs too close to him risks getting burned. Dieudonné's career did not recover from this performance. The cinematic exile lasted until his death in 1976. A death that he will stage while being buried in his Napoleon costume. For eternity. One thinks of Chateaubriand's judgment. "Living he missed the world, dead he possesses it.
»Albert Dieudonné in Napoleon (1927). Bridgeman Images
2. Pierre Mondy (Austerlitz, 1960)
Pierre Mondy, an underrated actor and brilliant director, was 35 years old when he played a Napoleon who has... 36 years old. Perfect alignment of the arteries. The actor is mesmerizing in the role of the emperor preparing and executing his greatest military victory. Without having exactly the physique, Pierre Mondy has the nerve to be Napoleon. He adds that disarming smile noticed by all who have met the real emperor. Mondy's anger in the scene where the "pirouette de Boulogne" is decided is masterful. If the curse did not affect the popular actor (The Pink Telephone, The 7th Company or Les Cordier), he did not find a role worthy of him. Unfortunately.
Pierre Mondy in Austerlitz (1960). Bridgeman Images
3. Christian Clavier (Napoleon, 2002)
Bad tongues like to make fun of them. "Already under Jacquouille, Napoleon pierced." Crowned with the success of The Two Visitors (in which he plays the public accuser Jacquouillet at the end of the second opus, faithful to a very successful Bonaparte - absent from the credits) and a solid performance in Les Misérables, the French box office boss is offered by Jean-Pierre Guérin and Gérard Depardieu to put on the bicorne. Skepticism is rising, and some dare: "What is this binz?" "I asked my teacher Pierre Mondy how to play Napoleon. He told me, 'Put on your hat and think about your taxes: that's when you have the look,'" says Christian Clavier. On a more serious note, if he is in trouble with Bonaparte, especially on the Pont d'Arcole (still old - he is 50 at the time of the film), the actor of Les Bronzés is imperial as Napoleon. The physical resemblance is there. His pent-up energy, ready to burst forth at any moment, is a strength to play the great man. Above all, Clavier has thought of the role, better intellectualized. He understood the emperor's carnal relationship with France; knew how to play the game with his brothers and his servants ("He accepted to be betrayed, never to be disappointed"); has perfectly brought this tumultuous and heartbreaking love story with Josephine to life; and, above all, succeeded in sublimating the place of destiny in Napoleon's life. Twenty years after its broadcast on France 2, it is one of the last remarkable and noticed performances. What's more, it allowed the emperor to remain as popular as ever (nearly eight million viewers). Bad tongues never have the last word.
4. Rod Steiger (Waterloo, 1970)
One of the most Hollywood performances in a film directed by a Russian (Sergei Bondarchuk). Strange coalition. Steiger perfectly translates the Napoleon of turmoil, that of the battle that escapes him - Waterloo - that of internal turmoil. Tired, more than coated, desperate, Napoleon is (and has) lost. We believe in it: this Napoleon is at home in battle scenes set to the millimeter that we will not find in any "Napoleonic" film. And we'll never see such a re-enactment of a battle with all these extras again. The last minute of the film is of unparalleled dramatic intensity.
5. Philippe Torreton (Mr. N., 2002)
The Napoleon of St. Helena: sad and secretive, capable of devastating outbursts. A very great film by Antoine de Caunes and an immense composition, when you know the descriptions made by his companions on this lost island. Napoleon was master of himself, played with his courtiers and his jailer, the terrible Hudson Low, who wrote: "After a few days with Napoleon, I lost no time in imbuing myself with a truth which time has only too well confirmed: misfortune had degraded my prisoner, or, to speak better, it had brought him down to the first rungs of his existence. It was Bonaparte with all his weaknesses as a man, with all the intemperance of his character, with all his Italian prejudices. Insensibly brought back to this point of primitive life, he was no longer to be found that moral force which had placed him above humanity. Without philosophy in misfortune, he wore himself out in curses against fortune, against that fortune which had so largely favoured him in the best years of his life as a giant. Nothing equalled his hatred of those who witnessed his great misfortune." It is this great misfortune that Torreton manages to convey perfectly.
Philippe Torreton in Monsieur N. (2002). Bridgeman Images
6. Roland Blanche (The Hostage of Europe, 1988)
This is one of the nice surprises of Napoleon's filmography. Roland Blanche is formidable in this Napoleon who doesn't know what is happening to him: to have risen so high, to have dominated Europe, and therefore the world, to hold the destiny of hundreds of millions of people in his hands and to descend so low, on a tiny stone, totally passive in the face of his destiny. With her glassy eyes and waxy complexion, Blanche is quite close to the St. Helena original. His physical deterioration is one of the most realistic in history. The final shot is a masterpiece: it is not Roland Blanche's face that we see, but the death mask of the emperor.
7. Marlon Brando (Desiree, 1954)
The biggest star of the time proves that you can be a great actor in a bad movie. Marlon Brando is a bewitching general, a charming First Consul, a disturbing emperor and an insignificant exile. The performance deserves to be highlighted because one feels, looking at him, like Madame de Staël in December 1797, dizzy by his seductive smile. But as for opponent number 1, it's after that that things get bad. At the end of the day, in Napoleonic cinema, isn't it the atmosphere and the understanding of the character that counts?
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8. Dennis Hopper (The History of Mankind, 1957)
Watching this young American, 21 years old, play Napoleon (and not Bonaparte!), one has the impression of being in front of a sculpture by Canova. Hopper, with his antique features, his bronze complexion and his triumphant youth, is Napoleon in Mars unarmed and pacifying - one of the scenes takes place in front of a bronze of Napoleon. A short appearance, but full of grace.
9. Patrice Chéreau (Farewell Bonaparte, 1985)
In this very successful film about the Egyptian campaign, Youssef Chahine offers Patrice Chéreau the opportunity to play a Bonaparte of rare depth. Far from myth, he is calculating, ambitious and a liar. The line is probably too thick – it's clearly a militant film – but this invading (and not liberating) Bonaparte gets its credibility from the actor's acting and his dark and vengeful gaze.
10. Aldo Maccione (The Great Stampede, 1975)
«
Adventure is adventure." Aldo Maccione turns everything we thought we knew about Napoleon on its head, in a zany film. With "class" to boot.
11. Daniel Mesguich (Josephine or the Comedy of Ambitions, 1979)
He has, without doubt, the look that most closely resembles the young Bonaparte. And what a youth! What a passion! Daniel Mesguich's performance is a perfect balance between the slightly adolescent passion, the sense of duty and the brutality of the man of the eighteenth century. It's a perfect integration of the actor into the film's purpose. This also matters because, let's never forget, it remains first and foremost cinema. Isn't that Ridley?
12. Vladislav Strzelczyk (War and Peace, 1966)
Apart from the French, what people can know Napoleon so well? The Russians, of course. In the adaptation of Tolstoy's masterpiece, Strzelczyk, who is more than 80 metres tall, is stunning as an emperor stripped of his bad manners, as if he had finally entered the great aristocratic world.
13. David Suchet (Sabotage!, 2000)
One of the most comfortable Englishmen in the role. Skilfully wearing the bicorne hat and wielding the spotting scope with efficiency, Suchet, who is as old as Napoleon was ever (54 years old), delivers an astonishing and offbeat performance. The film, a real turnip, is in fact a zany comedy filled with more or less subtle gags. It's almost like a boulevard movie. It's only natural that Suchet feels at home there.
14. Jean-Marc Thibault (Napoléon II, l'Aiglon, 1961)
Probably the Napoleon who dies the best in cinema.
15. Ian Holm (Bandits, Bandits, 1981 and The Emperor's New Clothes, 2001)
Marie Walewska is credited with the best definition of Ian Holm's performance in this little gem by Terry Gilliam: "You are two men in conflict with each other. The first is governed by the head, the second by the heart." Twenty years later, uchronia places Holm as an old Napoleon back in Paris.
16. Janusz Zakrzeński (Ashes, 1965)
A very good performance from this serious and diligent Polish actor in the role of the emperor.
17. Daniel Gélin (Napoleon, 1955)
Napoleon as seen by Guitry? As unexpected as Talleyrand as seen by Guitry... But it's Guitry!
18. Volodymyr Zelensky (Rzhevsky versus Napoleon, 2012)
The future Ukrainian president who plays the emperor in a Russian burlesque fresco... The summary of this performance seems to go back ages as the life of the actor-chief of state-warlord has changed. Wearing the bicorne rather well, Zelensky is almost the same height as Napoleon and is a decent age (34) when playing the conqueror who wants to invade Moscow. The nods of (cinematographic) history are always astonishing.
Volodymyr Zelensky in Rzevsky Versus Napoleon (2012). Kvartal95
19. Pierre Vernier (Caroline Chérie, 1968)
Accustomed to Jean-Paul Belmondo's films and made popular by the soap opera Rocambole, Pierre Vernier delivers here a beautiful performance of General Bonaparte in this film that is very pleasant to watch - there is also the always excellent Bernard Blier. The only scene with Gaston de Sallanches is a good moment.
20. Terry Jones and Simon Russell Beale
Seeing Monty Python's Terry Jones flying to the sound of La Marseillaise with two small propellers to simulate the disaster of the R101 (an airship that crashed into Beauvais in 1930) proves that if Napoleon had no sense of humour, those who admire him do. We can also mention the scene of The Black Viper, a hilarious British series where Simon Russell Beale plays a bloated Napoleon who justifies his invasion of England to one of his disciples. Extract:
Napoléon : «Nous envahissons parce que les Britanniques pensent qu’ils sont si forts! Ils pensent que nous, les Français, sommes des lopettes… Ils nous appellent les femmelettes.»
Duc de Darling : «Avec tout le respect que je vous dois votre majesté, nous sommes des femmelettes. Nous avons inventé la tapisserie, le soufflé et la liqueur douce. Nous serons massacrés dès que nous gravirons la colline.»
Napoléon : «Ne désespérez pas. Je suis fermement convaincu que Dieu déteste les Britanniques. Il interviendra miraculeusement et nous enverra une victoire glorieuse sur ce champ de Waterloo.»
Duc de Darling : «Oh bravo ! Au fait, votre uniforme est vraiment magnifique aujourd'hui.»
Napoléon : «Oh merci, je pense qu'il fonctionne.» Avant de sursauter quand un boulet approche.
À lire aussiLes Monty Python, six garçons toujours dans le vent
22. Werner Krauss (Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène, 1929)
Un Napoléon crépusculaire de bonne facture.
23. Serge Lama (Napoléon, 1982)
Première entorse au contrat : il ne s’agit pas d’un film, mais d’une comédie musicale. Oubliez Michel Sardou : l'empereur de la variété française, c'est lui, Serge Lama. En 1970, il écrit Une île, formidable chanson sur l'exil de l'empereur entre mélancolie, regret et introspection. C’est brillant et fin. Avec ses cheveux longs, les comparaisons avec Bonaparte se multiplient. Lui vient l'idée de créer une comédie musicale sur la vie de l'empereur. Ce sera un style opérette. Souvent drôle («À quarante ans, je mangerai trop, j’ deviendrai gros, j’en suis certain. À quarante ans, p’tit caporal crèvera son ch’val sous l’embonpoint»), imaginatif («L'apparence d'une couronne ou l'espérance d'un palais jettent dans vos bras le même homme. Le même qui vous combattait»), érotique («Enfin tes lèvres que je baise. Enfin ton ventre que je cloue. Pardonne-moi ma polonaise, je suis affamé comme un loup») ou kitsch («Ah si j’avais un enfant d’elle, un enfant qui aurait mes ailes et mon bec, mais son ventre est sec»), ce «Napoléon» chantant fait mouche dès 1982. Lama est un Bonaparte guignolesque presque cartoonesque ; Serge est un Napoléon plus laborieux, car pas assez sérieux. La comédie musicale fut l'Austerlitz de Lama : un succès commercial fantastique avec des salles bourrées à craquer. Mais aussi son Waterloo intello, la gauche médiatique triomphante goûtant peu cet éloge impérial. «C’est triste comme la grandeur
»À lire aussiSerge Lama : «La chanson vit des temps moroses»
24. Fabrizio Rongione (C’était Bonaparte, 2002)
Deuxième entorse au contrat : il s'agit ici d'une fresque théâtrale signée Robert Hossein et Alain Decaux. Grandiloquente comme toujours avec le metteur en scène, elle glorifie le parcours du jeune général jusqu'au sacre (avec un pont d'Arcole à couper le souffle). Fabrizio Rongione est saisissant de ressemblance : les traits creusés, les cheveux longs et souples et ce teint italien renforcent l'illusion. On y croit.
25. Charles Vanel (Waterloo, 1927)
Il a le regard et le profil de l'empereur déclinant et légèrement perdu à Waterloo. Film muet de plus de deux heures, Waterloo célèbre la victoire de la coalition et les plans sur l'empereur sont finalement assez rares. Bien avant celui de la peur, le salaire de la gloire.
26. Viggo Larsen (Napoléon à l’Ile d’Elbe, 1909)
Le préféré de Jean Tulard, donc forcément l’un des meilleurs. Au moins, avec le Muet, personne ne peut critiquer la voix et le ton.
27. Marc Schneider (L'Empereur de Paris, 2018).
Ici, l'empereur, c'est Vidocq (Vincent Cassel) mais une magnifique scène a lieu dans le cabinet des Tuileries, avec Fouché (Fabrice Lucchini) et, dans un coin, Ney (l'excellent réalisateur du film, Jean-François Richet)... L'empereur (le vrai), passe et lance quelques regards perçants. Richet fait tenir le rôle à Mark Schneider et c'est un peu triché : cet Américain né en 1969 «est» depuis vingt ans le Napoléon dans les reconstitutions historiques (en concurrence avec le Français Franck Samson). Où va-t-on si on demande au (presque) vrai Napoléon de faire du cinéma!
À lire aussiL'Empereur de Paris: Vidocq, l'ordre sans la morale
28. Joaquin Phoenix (Napoléon, 2023)
Au moment de jouer Napoléon, Joaquin Phoenix a 49 ans. À cet âge, l'empereur vit ses derniers mois sur un rocher miteux : il est en surpoids, immobile et commence à «gatouiller». Phoenix, lui, court et grimpe lors du siège de Toulon, puis drague Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby, de 14 ans sa cadette alors que la vraie avait six ans de plus que Napoléon). Passons sur cette faille spatio-temporelle de taille. L'acteur est une sorte d'anti-Napoléon : peu expansif, figé, sans cesse essoufflé, capricieux, bagarreur, presque vulgaire, sensible (pas sur le nombre de morts, mais sur ses difficultés conjugales) et toxique. Napoléon pleure beaucoup, parle peu, susurre et ordonne par des gestes. Parfois quand il s'adresse à Joséphine, Phoenix devient Robert de Niro dans Taxi Driver: «You talkin' to me.» Ou ressemble à Didier Bourdon parodiant Sylvester Stallone dans «Jésus II, le retour». Bref, une énorme déception au vu de la carrière de l'acteur et du projet pharaonique de Ridley Scott. Reste quelques scènes brillantes, notamment sur le champ de bataille où Phoenix a le regard du génie militaire quand d’autres se perdent dans celui du gladiateur. Suffisant pour sauver la prestation? «Joker»!
Joaquin Phoenix dans Napoléon (2023). Apple TV+
29. Charles Boyer (Marie Waleska, 1937)
Regard noir et effrayant. Les mauvais jours, Napoléon devait ressembler à Charles Boyer.
30. Jean-Louis Barrault (Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary, 1941)
Une interprétation intéressante du jeune Bonaparte loin des représentations picturales. Les dialogues sont seulement trop modernes.
31. Raymond Pellegrin (Napoléon, 1955)
Il prend la suite de Daniel Gélin quand il s’agit de jouer Napoléon et s’en sort aussi bien. Chapeau (de chez Poupard, évidemment)!
Le reste du classement
32. Philippe Adrien (Cadoudal, 1972)
33. Roger Carel (Le voyageur des siècles, 1971)
34. Émile Chautard (L’aiglon, 1914)
35. Emile Drain (10 films)
36. Trevor Howard (Eagle in a cage, 1965)
37. William Humphrey (4 films)
38. Stefan Jaracz (2 films)
39. Sacha Guitry (Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary, 1942)
40. Hervé Jolly (Les Grandes Conjurations : L'Attentat de la rue Saint-Nicaise, 1978)
41. Stacy Keach (The Man of Destiny, 1973)
42. Claude Rains (Hearts Divided, 1936)
43. William Sabatier (Waterloo, 1970)
44. Georges Saillard (Bonaparte et Pichegru1804, 1911)
45. Pierre Santini (La Guérilla ou les Désastres de la guerre, 1983)
46. Eli Wallach (Les Aventures du brigadier Gérard, 1970)
47. Joe E. Tata (The Time Tunnel, 1966)
48. Jean-François Stévenin (Napoléon et l’Europe, 1991)
49. Pierre Massimi (France, images d’une révolution, 1989)
50. Erich Ponto (Der Feuerteufel, 1940)
51. Billy Quirk (The Man Worthwhile, 1921)
52. Terry Camilleri (L'Excellente Aventure de Bill et Ted, 1989)
53. Paul Muni (Seven Faces, 1929)
54. Max Mégy (Madame sans gêne, 1941)
55. George Hernandez (Monte-Cristo, 1912)
56. Gustaw Holoubek (Marysia i Napoleon, 1966)
57. Ernst Schröder (Waterloo, 1969)
58. Heinrich Schweiger (2 films)
59. Ferdinand von Alten (Madame Récamier, 1920)
60. Jean-Louis Allibert (Rencontrons les Champs-Élysées, 1920)
61. Yannis Baraban (Joséphine, 2004)
62. Alan Badel (Omnibus, 1953)
63. Ernest Batley (The Battle of Waterloo, 1913)
64. Simon Callow (The Man of Destiny, 1994)
65. Alain Chabat (Night at the Museum 2, 2009)
66. Scali Delpeyrat (War and Peace, 2007)
67. Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu (Austerlitz, la victoire en marchant, 2006)
68. Frank Finlay (Betzi, 1978)
69. Vladimir Gardin (War and Peace, 1915)
70. Kenneth Griffith (The Man on the Rock, 1938)
71. Thomas Langmann (Toussaint Louverture, 2012)
72. Denis Manuel (2 films)
73. Gérard Oury (The Beautiful Spy, 1953)
74. Saul Rubinek (Mentors, 1999)
75. Severin Mars (The Agony of the Eagles, 1921)
76. André Reybaz (The Trumpet of the Berezina, 1966)
77. Mathieu Kassovitz (War and Peace, 2015)
78. James Tolkan (War and Love, 1975)
79. Bruno Solo (Madame sans gêne, 2002)
80. Giani Esposito (Thunder over the Indian Ocean, 1966)
81. Theo Frenkel (Checkmated, 1911)
82. Jean Godet (Kiki, 1932)
83. William De Vaulle (Tea: with a kick, 1925)
84. Frank Currier (The Misleading Lady, 1920)
85. Philippe Collin (Civil Wars in France, 1978)
86. Jean Chaduc (Pamela, 1945)
87. Roger Coggio (Marie Waleska, 1969)
88. Grégoire Colin (Napoleon wal Mahroussa, 2012)
89. Pierre Blanchar (A Royal Divorce, 1938)
90. John Bennett (The Strange World of Gurney Slade, 1960)
91. Julien Bergeau (Madame sans-gêne, 1961)
92. Pedro Elviro (Loco y vagabundo, 1946)
93. Herbert Lom (2 films)
94. Jean-Louis Jemma (Cadet-Rousselle, 1954)
95. Robert Manuel (The Famous Escapes, 1972)
96. James Mason (Omnibus, 1953)
97. Dennis King (The Philco Television Playhouse, 1949)
98. Henry Gibson (My Beloved Witch, 1968)
99. Robert O. Cornthwaite (The Horseman in the Mask, 1955)
100. Lawrence Dobkin (Napoleon's Return from Elba, 1955)
101. Booth Colman (Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, 1952)
102. Max Barwyn (The Fighting Eagle, 1927)
103. Ron Cook (1 movie and 1 series)
104. Doumel (Alexis gentleman chauffeur, 1938)
105. Lloyd Corrigan (Napoleon's Last Offensive, 1933)
The last four
106. Verne Troyer (Masked Avenger, 2000)
Napoleon was small (not for the time, but his 69 meter is hard to find today). From there to having him played by the smallest actor in the world (81 cm)...
107. Pavel Knorr (1812, 1912)
The actor takes the broth.
108. Eric Fraticelli (Ulanskaya ballada, 2012)
It just goes to show that being born on the same island as the great man does not guarantee that you will enter the imperial costume.
109. Daniel Auteuil (Napoleon and I, 2006)
But what has one of the greatest French actors come to do in this mess? Auteuil plays the exile on the Elbe and fails to save this very disappointing film. Napoleon yes, but without us.