Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Napoleon Movie Review - Get a Life! SPOILERS

 I caught a $6 matinee of this this morning. It was worth all six of them and little more.

As many of the reviews are already indicating, the film falls well short of capturing the true essence and complexity of Napoleon Bonaparte and his legacy.

Honestly, the experience reminded me of the telephone game where the starting player tells a story to one listener who then retells it to another and so on. At the end, the final listener retells the story and one can compare how much it differed from the original telling, knowing that parts will be forgotten, left out or condensed or even exaggerated. That's the movie. The basic chronology is there but everything you'd expect differs from the reality or is ignored.

The film starts with promise and I was dazzled by the depth of detail in the portrayal of revolutionary France.  But the corner cutting starts almost immediately. We see the 'whiff of grapeshot" Napoleon gave to the royalists in 1795 but its significance is left hanging and the memorable phrase is never used. I spose we are to walk away with the view that Napoleon was ruthless but they don't really make the point. If that was the point, they preceded it with the brutal execution of Marie Antoinette. A rough time was had by all.

Furthermore, the film's historical accuracy leaves much to be desired. While artistic license is expected in any historical drama, "Napoleon" takes liberties that border on negligence. Important events are condensed, distorted, or omitted altogether (no Italy, no fighting in Egypt and Middle East, no Peninsula, no 1809 scrap with Austria, no campaigns of 1813) resulting in a narrative that feels disjointed and detached from the reality of the time. For a figure as pivotal as Napoleon, a more nuanced and faithful portrayal would have been not only more respectful to history but also more engaging for the audience. I did like the small set piece of Russian partisans luring away and ambushing French curaissiers - who probably wouldn't be tasked with such a job.

The pacing of the film is another significant flaw. It does rush through crucial moments in Napoleon's life and it's probably hampered by time. This hasty pacing though undermines the audience's ability to connect with the characters and understand the broader historical context. It's a missed opportunity to explore the complex web of political, social, and military factors that shaped Napoleon's rise and fall. It basically collapses under its own weight, and at the same time, it shows too much and yet explains very little focusing on the importance of an heir for the new emperor without ever saying that a familial legacy would bring him to social par with the hostile Emperor's and kings he was surrounded by.

Visually, the film is often spectacular, but it often sacrifices historical authenticity for the sake of cinematic flair. Generally, the costuming was great -Napoleon's in particular -but some were bizarre, as were specific situations  - no pompoms on shakos, the British fought in lines 3-5 ranks deep, reverse slope tactics meant hiding behind dirt barricades like a siege line with wooden stakes driven throughout, inaccuracies in the depiction of battles, and a general lack of attention to period detail all contribute to a sense that the filmmakers prioritized style over substance. Austerlitz is almost unrecognizable despite some flashes of good combat scenes - the breaking ice on the lake scene in particular is far from what happened. Cossacks had what looked like carriage-less mortars instead of licornes? Someone must has whispered "flags are glorious"to Scott and the French cavalry charge has  a dozen french flags in the van of a mob of assorted cavalry.

This is one of those examples where the reality is quite a bit more interesting than the film portrayal. apart from the British squares, you likely wouldn't recognize the events disguised as the battle of Waterloo.  Here, at the sight of cavalry, Wellington orders his men to basically leave what are basically barricades, advance toward the French and form squares in their face. Later, Napoleon leads a climactic cavalry charge himself. No Maitland, no Guard reculĂ©, no Hougemont, La Haye Saint, or Ligny. For a historical epic, the film's production team missed a valuable opportunity to transport viewers back to the pivotal and riveting battle of the 19th century. So many wonderful tales and anecdotes come from that battle - hardly any are used. The name Waterloo itself has become synonymous with failure and the point is too lightly applied.

The other thing that mentally kept me out of many moments, was the decision to let Joaquin Phoenix play Napoleon throughout his 20s without de-aging him. Can the technology really not handle that at this point?

In conclusion, "Napoleon" fails to live up to its potential as a compelling historical drama. A more thoughtful and accurate portrayal of Napoleon Bonaparte's life and legacy would have elevated the film beyond mere spectacle, allowing audiences to grapple with the complexities of this enigmatic historical figure. Instead, the film succumbs to the pitfalls of historical inaccuracy, oversimplification, and a lack of depth, leaving viewers with a superficial understanding of one of history's most fascinating and transformative personalities. Napoleon, cinephiles, as well as history buffs deserve better. I really was happy to be swept away by a riveting narrative and it simply never came; blissful immersion remained out of reach.

It's almost hard to believe this is the same Ridley Scott who brought us The Duelists in 1977. When Scott was confronted with charges of playing too loose with history, he replied with, "Get a life." Indeed. Reading the history is likely more enriching than this film was.

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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

15mm ACW - Stone Mountain - Ragged Rebs Firing

A brief foray into 15mm begins here with a generic Virginia regiment for Johnny Reb.

I was watching game play videos of War of Rights and got inspired to get in and whip out a regiment. Now, to be clear, I don't need anymore Confederate units painted up, but I have an unpainted brigade in the storage trays and just decided to dip in using Contrast/Speed paints. Won't take long, methinks, lovely figures at the end.

All that said, this is the worst thing I've painted all year - I don't like the pants, the patches, the blanket rolls, the faces. I also didn't clean them up very well so there are seams everywhere. Plus, as I've learned, speed paint works best with lots of fine details, not with, let's be honest, pretty poor sculptures with few folds, shallow textures and merely suggestive anatomy and gear.

That's not to say Stone Mountain (SM) minis don't have their charm - they do, but I think my older, layer painted SM minis from two decades ago appear better than these do. So - lesson learned!

Here's the WIPs, undertaken with high optimism!




The other two regiments in the brigade are from Essex - where speed paints may very well work better - will have to wait for inspiration to strike again.

Another thing, perhaps my largest number of painted figures are 15mm ACW figures, and well over half of them are not pictured anywhere on this blog! They are pretty old, among my earliest painting endeavors. Most units are solid, a couple execrable, and a few that are pretty good. I'll schedule a photo shoot and get them up here in the next few months. 

Meanwhile, here's some more staged shots:  




Ugh - the basing annoys me too, but they are in keeping with the rest of the army. Were I to start over, I would use more of the billion tufts I made and make the grass more uneven, with bare patches of earth in the customary fashion. 

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Monday, November 6, 2023

25/28mm Trent Miniatures - Haitian Revolutionaries

I have enough pieces finished already to play this particular theater - be it zombies, or Cthulhu cultists but couldn't resist picking up these great minis from what was Trent Miniatures. There's still some sculpts I don't have including a pack called "Maroons" that I'd like to get at some point.

Skin here is the Foundry Dark African Flesh triad - I like it!
 


For the skin on these models I used the Foundry Triad called African Flesh

The center dude with the pistol was wearing a Napoleonic-era French tunic. Since this is set over a hundred years after that period I tried to imagine what the colors might look like assuming the fabric had avoided total disintigration: red piping and turnbacks became pink, the blue became very light and the whites became yellowed.



Here they are deployed on the tabletop. In this Caribbean horror setting they'll never fight the French, but I'm not sure if they need to be the good or the bad guys yet!

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Saturday, November 4, 2023

Fall In 2023 - Friday, November 3

 Another day trip to Lancaster! I was in attendance here for just a few hours and have just a few observations.

First - tons of folks around so attendance appeared to be in good shape going into the weekend. The weather was good so travel delays should have been at a minimum.Vendor booths were crowded and there were plenty of full games in play. The vibe was positive and bustly throughout and appropriate to the size. 

I think I prefer the Wyndham (formerly the Host) to the downtown convention center location. It feels more homey and relaxed whereas downtown has a more upscale and cosmopolitan vibe. For one there for an entire weekend it's not clear to me what would be preferential. And I can't speak to the quality of the rooms. The Wyndam also has better lighting and perhaps better sound control. At Historicon there were a fair amount of micced-up game masters who needed to be heard over the din.

Maybe it's the times, but I did notice more African Americans than in ages past. Also I noticed many more women at the tables this year - mostly spouses I'd guess rather than gamer gals out on a lark. More importantly, I noticed a lot of kids (both boys and girls) playing at the many kid friendly tables throughout the venue. Not there to game, I don't typically look much at the great printed convention book that comes with admission, but saw that there was a dedicated and concerted effort to attract the tykes, this is much more so than I had noticed in the past. Welcome developments indeed!

As to the games - this is just a midday snapshot (on opening day no less) and not necessarily representative of the entire con, but I felt the displays were getting better and better. Here are the tables that caught my eye - first up the entryway spectacle:












 Also in the lobby: 

Bloody Romans!


All Quiet on the Martian Front - beautiful game!

Impressive hardware!


Drowning in tactical options! You could go forward, or try a frontal assault, or maybe go straight in, shooting all the while. Heh, I kid of course but still, a tremendous spectacle!

 

I can never resist getting shots of the perfect little boards for the Flames of War tourneys:

 










I was perhaps too early, but the competition space was pretty quiet. Wally's Basement was to be held in the same spot but was going to start much later than I could remain.

 On to the Distelfink! Er, now the Lancaster Ballroom.




Sometimes I take shots for my own personal reference - I love this jungle scatter terrain in this shot and the next!


Great table overall!



Soldiers are secondary. Create a natural and peacetime landscape first, THEN bring the war to it.

(Cigar box) Battle mats > billiard ball felt

Crescent Root pre-painted buildings are stunningly good and very difficult to acquire!






This was in another room - VERY cool set up - a contender for my favorite.



Back to Distelfink!

This AWI set up is also a contender - lovely pastoral set up, marred by human conflict


Beautiful, simple game!

Perhaps another finalist is this MWWBKs Zulu War game. A little cluttery in the backfield but looks great!


Groin shots are a hazard hard to avoid for photographers!

Hot Napoleonic action at Papelotte in the Waterloo campaign.



On to the side shows:


An errant Starbucks cup menaces this snowy landscape

ooh! cemetery!

Nice and crowded Rebels and Patriots game

One of the kid friendly games - Gnome Wars


This Pony Wars game had just wrapped as I got there.

Finally some Wars of Ozz games in the HAWKS room


Definitely something completely different!

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