Monsieur N. (2003)

Director:

Antoine de Caunes

Writers:

René Manzor (scenario), Pierre Kubel (original idea)

Stars:

Philippe Torreton, Richard E. Grant, Jay Rodan

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Philippe Torreton	...	Napoléon Bonaparte
Richard E. Grant	...	Hudson Lowe
Jay Rodan	...	Basil Heathcote
Elsa Zylberstein	...	Albine de Montholon
Roschdy Zem	...	Marshal Bertrand
Bruno Putzulu	...	Cipriani
Stéphane Freiss	...	Gen. Montholon
Frédéric Pierrot	...	Gen. Gourgaud
Siobhan Hewlett	...	Betsy Balcombe
Peter Sullivan	...	Thomas Reade
Stanley Townsend	...	Dr. O'Meara
Igor Skreblin	...	Ali
Blanche de Saint-Phalle	...	Fanny Bertrand
Jake Nightingale	...	Carpenter
Bernard Bloch	...	Von Holgendorp

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

love quadrangle | prison | historical event | lieutenant | prisoner | 

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Taglines:

Le plus grand mystère de notre histoire tient en une seule lettre

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France UK

Language:

French English Corsican

Release Date:

12 February 2003 (France)

Also Known As:

Napoleón: La última batalla

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

€15,920,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,149 (USA) (18 March 2005)

Gross:

$16,802 (USA) (18 March 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, France 3 Cinéma, France Télévision Images 2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Napoleon is seen working on a crossword puzzle. The first such puzzle appeared in 1913, almost a century after the scene supposedly took place.

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Connections

Featured in Monsieur N, l'aventure du tournage (2003)

User Reviews

Difficult to follow

Although I am a native English-speaker I usually have no trouble following dialogue in French but I found the dialogue of this film very hard to follow.

I agree with a previous reviewer that the background music is obtrusive. Another problem is the switching from English into French, Corsican Italian, English and back again, which makes it harder to "tune in" to the speaker, and the British actors speak French with a heavy accent.

There are only French subtitles, and these are only for the parts of the dialogue which are spoken in English. Also, they cannot be read unless you have your screen format set to full wide-screen, so you are watching the film through a letterbox slot!

I did not find this to be Richard E Grant's best performance, and I agree with another reviewer that the "ageing" make-up was clumsy.

I shall watch it again, to see if I can pick up any more of the dialogue. It could have been a good film, but it was let down by what I think they call post-production. Perhaps they ran out of money? I expect they spent a lot on the costumes and locations.