Film director Ridley Scott is taking aim at a historian who cited inaccuracies in "Napoleon," Scott's latest film.
The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the infamous French emperor, brings various historical events to the big screen. As Variety noted, viewers can expect scenes including the beheading of Marie Antoinette and the Battle of Waterloo.
However, not all events are fully accurate, according to TV historian Dan Snow. In a TikTok post, Snow dissects the trailer, which includes scenes of Napoleon shooting at the pyramids in the Battle of Pyramids and depicts Marie Antoinette with long, frizzy locks.
"Napoleon didn't shoot at the pyramids," Snow said in part, further noting that Marie Antoinette "famously had very cropped hair for the execution, and, hey, Napoleon wasn't there."
Asked to respond to historical fact checkers, Scott said, "Get a life," according to The New Yorker.
Previously, in an interview with Empire, Phoenix briefly spoke about the film's historical accuracies.
"If you want to really understand Napoleon, then you should probably do your own studying and reading. Because if you see this film, it's this experience told through Ridley's eyes," Phoenix said.
In pursuit of historical accuracy, Scott and his team dedicated significant research efforts for "Napoleon," spending five days filming the Battle of Waterloo to authentically portray tactics like the British army's formation of human squares with bayonets pointed outward, along with careful study of how French and British soldiers loaded their bayonets.
Scott's attempt to portray Napoleon is not the first major Hollywood effort; Stanley Kubrick previously tried, unsuccessfully, to bring the French emperor to the big screen.
Scott told The New Yorker that he once received Kubrick's unused screenplay, finding it unsatisfactory as it covered Napoleon's entire life, while his own film, written by David Scarpa, focuses on Napoleon and Joséphine de Beauharnais' marriage.
The question of whether "Napoleon" will place Scott back into the Oscar contention remains uncertain. Despite his numerous nominations for directing and producing, including his acclaimed film "Gladiator," he has yet to secure an Academy Award win.
"You know, I haven't gotten an Oscar yet," Scott told The New Yorker. "And, if I ever get one, I'll say, 'About f***ing time!'"
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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