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37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
As Good As it Gets in 6 Hours, July 28, 2003
Apparently, many reviewers feel disappointed that the six-hour A&E miniseries on Napoleon did not include every battle, every major incident in the life of the famous Corsican. Let's be realistic for a moment. Even 1,000+ page books likes Chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleon do not cover all aspects of the Emperor's life. In order to provide the kind of in-depth coverage of Napoleon's 22-year career from Toulon to Waterloo, this mini-series would have to have been about 20-24 hours long and obviously cost about four times as much. Does anyone think that is going to happen in our quick-buck entertainment industry? Instead of grumbling about what the mini-series omitted, viewers should appreciate A&E's effort and recognize this mini-series for what it is: marvelous. My review of Napoleon: the Miniseries will discuss what material was included in these six hours, what was minimized, and what was omitted. The producers of Napoleon get scant credit for packing six major Napoleonic battles (Arcola, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, Aspern-Essling, and Waterloo) into this six-hour format. Each battle gets at least 5-10 minutes of coverage, which is enough to convey at least some of the highlights; reviewers who expected a Bondarchuk-style coverage of each action are unreasonable (and even he omitted key details in his film on Waterloo). Key events that receive significant treatment in the mini-series include: Napoleon's suppression of the Paris uprising in 1795, the Coup of Brumaire, an assassination attempt, the murder of Duke d'Enghien, the Treaty of Tilsit, Marie Walewska, the imperial coronation, Napoleon's abdication, the Hundred Days, exile on Elba and St Helena, and his death. Key personalities who receive major speaking roles include Marshals Ney, Murat, and Lannes; Talleyrand, Fouche, Josephine, Marie-Louise, Joseph, Lucien, and the Tsar Alexander. All in all, this is a huge amount of material. The mini-series covered five battles or campaigns in brief, usually with one quick scene or brief mention: the Egyptian Campaign, Trafalgar, the Peninsula War, the Russian Campaign, and the 1814 Campaign in France. A number of personalities, mostly military men, are also briefly depicted: Captain Muiron, Davout, Augereau, Berthier, Bernadotte, Soult, Grouchy, Eugene, Blucher, and Wellington. The only incidents briefly depicted are Napoleon's schoolboy days at Brienne, which are covered in two historically inaccurate scenes. Obviously, a great deal of material just could not fit in the six-hour format. Ten major battles or campaigns were entirely omitted: the siege of Toulon, most of the 1796 Italian campaign, the Pyramids, the Syrian campaign, Marengo, Auerstadt, Friedland, Wagram, Borodino, and Leipzig. Omitted incidents include most of Napoleon's first 26 years, Napoleon abandoning armies in Egypt & Russia, and the Treaty of Campo Formio 1797. A number of significant marshals, such as Massena, Oudinot, and Junot are not mentioned once. I think the only valid criticism that can be made about these omissions is that the producers tended to enhance the importance of a few minor characters such as Muiron or Roustam, at the expense of historically more important figures like Berthier. There are a number of criticisms that could be made about how the historical material is presented. First, the transitions between most of the major events are poor; this mini-series desperately needs brief narrative blurbs to describe what is happening or just happened (e.g. we see the retreat from Moscow, but there is no mention of the scale of this catastrophe. A brief slide could have said, "Napoleon invaded Russia with 600,000 men and only 40,000 made it back to Poland.). Second, there is a general failure to properly introduce Napoleon's family members or marshals properly. The result is that these characters keep appearing out of nowhere and viewers unfamiliar with this period will be wondering, "just how many brothers and generals does this guy have?" Finally, the mini-series makes no real effort to attempt to explain the reasons for Napoleon's rise or fall; things happen, one after another, until he ends up on St Helena. Obviously the 6-hour format is again partly the culprit for this failure to analyze or explain, but part of it lies in the fact that the film tends to see events though Napoleon's eyes (which helps to engender empathy in the viewer). Napoleon was indeed oblivious to many of the events and people working toward his downfall, and this mini-series imposes that same tunnel vision upon the viewer. In sum, Napoleon: the mini-series could not possibly hope to cover all of this man's very busy life in only 6 hours, but A&E makes an honest effort and the result is the best portrayal of the Emperor's life to date. The writers should also be congratulated for depicting Napoleon in a manner that gains empathy for his insights while not hiding his misdeeds. If anything, this is the kind of film that should spur viewers to read more about Napoleon in order to find out more about omitted details. Thank you A&E!
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