Every documentary should be as good as this. (Many do not have such a majestic subject.) First it is a biography of Napoleon. Then it is a tribute to the impetus that he gave to the achievements of intellect, to archeology in Egypt and Rome, the decipherment of hieroglyphics, and much more. There is also of course the ambivalent entanglement of Napoleon and art. And we are shown the recovery and actualisation of music (a Te Deum) performed at one of his coronations (which until recently was thought to have been lost). The narrative deftly blends these elements.
One man, by making himself "consul" of France (later Emperor) brought to the world much of what we now consider indispensable for democracy. The Code Napoleon specified that everyone would be subject to the same laws. It was to be a social system based not on birth but on merit.
Art. Napoleon loved it. And he knew its power: "high" art for the sophisticated Parisians, and derivative versions for the provinces and the masses. So he looted art, lots of it, especially from Italy. Great art must be for the people! It is not to be sequestered by church or nobility. He believed that people should be able to come to Paris (the new Athens), to see the world's greatest art. And that is what we still do today: we go to Paris, and to London, New York, Rome, Madrid, Florence, Vienna, to be moved and to be enriched by the art. Napoleon would approve.
History is the interaction of broad general trends with the intense engagement of remarkable individuals. Napoleon was the towering figure of his age. In these times of frantic virtue signalling, it is therapeutic to celebrate the qualities that make a few individuals more noble and more splendid than ourselves.
Dictators have studied Napoleon, and they've tried to imitate his success. But we need to remember that in France under Napoleon there was no secret police, or torture chambers, concentration camps or mass executions.
The sub-titles, when people are speaking in languages other than English, are usually legible. Jeremy Irons imparts a fine gravitas to his presentation - it's quality work.
