Christmas with Napoleon

We spent Christmas with my son and his family.   He has never been interested in Wargaming, nor anything to do with the Napoleonic period.   His passion has always been creating a home cinema.   His first attempt was when he bought his first house, just as we were moving to Spain in 2006.   I had sold my house in the UK, and was dismantling my wargames room which was built in our garage.   He removed the whole table and used the wood to build a cinema in his new garage.

He had gone through many versions, but now inside the house where it is much warmer and more comfortable.   These have included a projector on the wall facing a large TV screen.   He has also dabbled with 3D, which was very impressive.   But his latest set up is by far the best yet.   There is a very large screen (see above) with the electrics and sound system fitted into the wall around the sitting room.   The overall effect is very similar to sitting in a cinema.  The screen is huge, the picture crystal clear and the sound sharp and all surrounding.

He could not wait to demonstrate it with an evening watching "Top Gun: Maverick".   I have seen it before, but never like this.  

I told him that we would love to see both Waterloo 1970 and Napoleon 2023 on his system.   He was happy to oblige, but not prepared to sit through them himself.    So he set it up so that we could watch each one on alternative afternoon

 

I have seen Waterloo many times.   The first time was in a cinema in Germany in 1970, just before our first visit to the battlefield of Waterloo.   There was a visitor centre showing Waterloo, but it was in black and white and (I believe) made in 1929!

Since then I have watched the 1970 version at least twenty times.   We bought a video and then a CD and would watch it every couple of years.   For me this is the definitive film of the battle.  The acting is excellent, particularly Rod Steiger as Napoleon.   The uniforms as very accurate, especially for a popular film.   The story line is acceptable, and the scenery very similar to the battlefield.

I had watched Napoleon only once, and like almost everyone else was very disappointed.   The acting was wooded and unconvincing.   Joaquin Phoenix was the worse choice for Napoleon, particularly for the younger version.   Bonaparte was only 24 at the siege of Toulon   Phoenix was 49 when he made Napoleon.  

The battle scenes were impressive, if you knew nothing about the Napoleonic period.   I quite enjoyed the Toulon sequence, mostly because I don’t know very much about the siege.   However Austerlitz was pathetic.   I have visited the battlefield twice, and it looks nothing like the terrain shown in the movie.   Worst still there was no attempt to follow the sequence of the battle, which had it been done would have been impressive.   To concentrate on the frozen lake, and in particular to show the artillery covered in sheets at the start of the battle, is nonsense.   The very story about the losses on the frozen lake have long been discounted.   I recall reading that the lake was dredged only “a few bodies were found”

The battle of Waterloo was even worse.   Once more no attempt was made to follow the sequence of the battle, or to explain how it developed.   I have read many accounts about Wellington’s reverse ridge tactic, but never that he built trenches.   Napoleon leading the Guard on the final attack is well recorded, as is the fact that he handed over command well before they came within range of the enemy lines.   And I have never read an account of Napoleon leading a cavalry charge, which he appears to do at every battle in this move

But, for me, the most annoying thing was the large number of very large French flags carried by the French troops.    One seems to have been issued to every 50 men.  

Despite the above I did enjoy watching both movies on such an impressive sound system.   It was just like sitting in a very comfortable cinema with the latest audio and visual effects.  

Despite its age Waterloo was, and is, by far the best movie.   Even after 54 years the acting, uniform details, battle scenes and the gripping story line made this a most enjoyable movie to watch.