NAPOLEON - AND JOSEPHINE

Renowned filmmaker and Director Ridley Scott's much awaited "Napoleon" is running in theatres now. Akhila and I went to see it a few days ago. We thought the movie worth a watch with my giving it half a star more than Akhila. The battle scenes are gripping particularly the final one of Waterloo with a vivid picturisation of the tactics used by the Duke of Wellington. 

Generally, American and British critics have praised the movie while the French have panned it. Incidentally, Napoleon's disputed descendant, 37-year old Jean-Christophe, his great-great-great grand nephew via Napoleon's youngest brother, Jerome, found faults with the film but still recommended that people see it. I am neither a critic nor a historian. So I shall refrain from commenting on the movie or the accuracy of the film's story. But the movie has brought Napoleon -and Josephine- to life again with a flood of articles since its release. Here are some titbits.

Napoleon has fascinated historians over the ages and is globally third behind Jesus Christ and Hitler in the number of books written about personalities. But he surpasses all in the number of movies made for cinema or television with over 1000 films about him. The first film was made in 1897, almost immediately after the invention of movies. It was "Napoleon Meets the Pope" by the Lumiere Brothers. By 1914, the year World War I began, 180 films devoted to him had already been made! Hailed as a classic was a silent movie "Napoleon" made in 1927, 10 years before Ridley Scott was born. Many of us might recall "Desiree"(1954), "War and Peace" (1956) and "Waterloo" (1970) with Marlon Brando, Herbert Lom and Rod Steiger respectively in the role of Napoleon.

Profokiev wrote an opera based on Napoleon and Beethoven was inspired to compose his 3rd symphony, "Eroica", and dedicate it to him. Shortly after, Beethoven felt disillusioned by the acts of the ambitious Napoleon and withdrew the dedication.

On a lighter note, there is a Bugs Bunny cartoon on Napoleon in which Bugs, disguised as Josephine, begins by asking Napoleon, “What's up, Nappy?" and then continues to bug him to the point of almost being guillotined!

In France, the number of books about him total more than 45000, the highest devoted to a single subject. Books are still being written about him winning numerous awards even now. Frenchmen revere him as an icon while the world debates whether he was a hero or a self-serving megalomaniac, ruthless in pursuing his ambitions no matter what the cost in human lives. One way or the other, he retains his popularity; 20 'Bicorne' hats identified with him survive and one of them was auctioned at 1.9 million Euros (US $ 2.1 million) on 19 November this year.

Napoleon fell head over heels in love with Josephine, a widow seven years older than him. Her real name was Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie and she was commonly called Rose which was not liked by Napoleon. So he named her Josephine. Napoleon adored his eldest brother named Joseph and according to the renowned psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, Napoleon gave his lover the name Josephine so that he could 'transfer to her a part of the tender feelings he reserved for his eldest brother.'

Overcoming some opposition, he married Josephine fudging ages in the registration to narrow the age gap to 1 1/2 years; he moved up from 25 to 26 1/2 and showed Josephine as 28 instead of 32. In his absence on battles, Josephine had affairs which he came to know of and accosted her with the issue. She was defiant and apparently told him, "You are just a tiny little brute that is nothing without me." Ridley Scott has brought this out in the movie in a scene in which Josephine makes Napoleon repeat a number of times, "I am nothing without you."

Napoleon loved her passionately but Josephine could not bear him any children even after 13 years of marriage. He finally divorced her and married the Austrian archduchess, Marie-Louise, who bore him a son. Nevertheless, he remained deeply in love with Josephine and when he learnt of her death in 1814 while exiled in St. Helena, he locked himself up in his room for two days and did not eat or talk to anyone.

When he himself passed away seven years later, the last word he uttered was "Josephine."