It was sad when the star of Alien, Chariots of Fire, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy passed away from Parkinson's disease aged 88, and with any great actor that dies, I always choose to watch one of their movies, and I found this one, directed by Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World, Terminator Genisys). Basically, set in 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte (Sir Ian Holm), after six years exiled on the isle of St. Helena, plans to make his escape. Switching places with lowly French deckhand Eugene Lenormand (also Holm), Napoleon will make his way to Paris, at which time Eugene will announce the switch, allowing Napoleon to reclaim his throne. However, things go wrong when the ship Napoleon is serving on docks in Belgium instead of France. Napoleon is forced to make his way to France by land and sees what the former Waterloo battlefield has become. He is finally met at the French border by a loyal agent, Sergeant Justin Bommell (Clive Russell), formerly of the Imperial Guard. Bommell gives him the name of another agent in Paris he can trust, Lieutenant Truchaut. Arriving in Paris, Napoleon is surprised to find that Truchaut (Sergio Ballo) has recently died. Pretending to be an old comrade of the Lieutenant, Napoleon accepts the hospitality of Truchaut's widow, Nicole, whom everyone calls "Pumpkin" (Iben Hjejle), and makes the acquaintance of her other lodger, Dr. Lambert (Tim McInnerny) and her adopted young son, Gerard (Tom Watson). But back on Saint Helena a crucial flaw reveals it, Eugene enjoys living in luxury and refuses to reveal the switch. Napoleon's French entourage find themselves unexpectedly powerless, as Eugene stuffs his face with sweets, dictates his own obscene version of Napoleon's official memoirs, and even manages to convince his British captors that he is the true Napoleon. With no news from Saint Helena, Napoleon becomes part of Pumpkin's life. When her fruit-selling business is close to failure, he applies his own talents for planning and organisation, and the business becomes prosperous again. As affection develops between Napoleon and Pumpkin, and jealous Dr. Lambert searches for some kind of dirt on "Eugene." Going through his bedroom, Lambert is shocked to find a small portrait of Napoleon's young son and realises who he truly is. On Saint Helena, Eugene abruptly drops dead following a stomach complaint (in real-life, Napoleon reportedly died of gastric cancer). Realising that it is not Napoleon, the British garrison commander lays out their options: either announce the fraud, and face heinous punishment, or maintain the illusion, and all will be well. They decide to continue the ruse, claiming they have a "dead emperor". When "Napoleon's" death is announced throughout France, the real Napoleon abruptly remembers his original plan and tries to convince Pumpkin of his true identity and take his rightful place on the French throne. Napoleon is furious when Pumpkin is horrified and dismisses him as delusional, pleading that she loves Eugene, but hates Napoleon for taking her husband away. With no-one in Paris to vouch for his identity, Napoleon finds himself an Emperor without an army, or a friend. He is reduced to going to Dr. Lambert, who, in revenge for being beaten for Pumpkin's affections, manages to lure Napoleon onto the grounds of a sanitorium, where it seems every patient is dressed up as Napoleon, and pretending to be him. Lambert leaves, expecting him to be taken in by the attendants, but a shaken Napoleon escapes the grounds by climbing over the wall, suffering a nasty cut on his hand from the above fence. Emotionally and physically exhausted, he returns home to Pumpkin's house. She lovingly tends his wounds, and whispers in his ear, "you are my Napoleon." One night, Napoleon tells the story of what happened to him, it seems that Gerard, if no one else, believes his story. Napoleon decides he is happy living a simple life with Pumpkin, and destroys all his mementos of his former life, except his old Imperial Guard uniform, which he leaves at the local military post as a gift for Sergeant Bommell, with the message "Eugene Lenormand has moved on." The end text says that Napoleon Bonaparte lived out the rest of his life in Paris and was buried next to Pumpkin; while Eugene Lenormand's body was brought back to Paris and interred with high honours in Les Invalides. Also starring Nigel Terry as Montholon, Hugh Bonneville as Bertrand, Eddie Marsan as Louis Marchand, Murray Melvin as Antommarchi, Chris Langham as Maurice, and Russell Tovey as Recruit. Holm looks like he is enjoying himself in the dual roles, as both the deposed ruler and the lookalike taking his place, and there is good support from Hjejle, McInnerny and others. It is obviously not factual, you can just go along with it and enjoy the humour and charm of the story, a likeable historical comedy drama. Worth watching!
Review of The Emperor's New Clothes
