Joaquin Phoenix is back with director Ridley Scott as Napoleon for the titular film after 23 years. The Napoleon director has opened up about how he decided the Oscar winner was perfect for the part.
“History,” Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “is a set of lies agreed upon.” He got that right, but nobody seems to be able to agree about him. Hated by the English, feted by the French (or most of them anyway), the little Corsican is either a bloodthirsty tyrant or a modern Caesar, depending on who you ask. Because he encapsulated so many contradictions, rose so high and fell so far, he continues to fascinate more than 200 years after his death.