Dir. Alan Taylor , UK , Italy , Germany , 2001, 107 mins
Cast:
Ian Holm, Iben Hjejle, Tim McInnery, Tom Watson
With the current trend for cinematic period drama (Girl With A Pearl Earring, Cold Mountain) The Emperor's New Clothes is the latest to throw its three-cornered hat into the ring.
France, 1821: the island of St. Helena where the Emperor (the title Napoleon took for himself) has been exiled by the British, and where history records he died. In Alan Taylor's (Palookaville) fantastical imagining however, Napoleon - the real Napoleon - did not die but escaped through the use of a double, Eugene Lenormand (both roles played by Ian Holm, Lord of the Rings).
Lenormand stays and takes over the role of the pompous military mastermind. Napoleon, as lowly deckhand Eugene, is smuggled on board a ship bound for Paris where he plans to re-emerge victorious, as the leader the British could not restrain.
But several factors conspire to thwart this strategy. The ship takes an unexpected detour to Brussels, leaving Napoleon - Eugene - stranded in Antwerp. By foot, barge and coach, and through the help of loyal followers in hiding, he makes his way to France. By the time he finally arrives in Paris , it is only to find that his contact, Truchaut (Ballo), has just died.
Somewhat reduced in status, and robbed of his luxurious comforts, Eugene must make do with the initially hostile hospitality of Truchaut's widow Pumpkin (Hjejle, Mifune), a failing melon-seller. Also in the household is adopted urchin Gerard (Watson) who adores Eugene , as well as the occasional presence of the malevolent Dr Lambert (McInnery) playing the straight man for a change though, if just a bit camp!
While Eugene makes the best of a mediocre situation - taking charge of the melon selling operation with military zeal for example - the biggest blow to his overall campaign comes with the death of the ersatz emperor back on St. Helena . Eugene finds he suddenly is a man unable to prove the most important possession: his identity.
The man unmade becomes a slightly ridiculous figure. Where previously Napoleon as Eugene has been a likeable and respectable character whom we long to see succeed, (characteristics that also win Pumpkin's heart from under the jealous machinations of Dr Lambert), once he becomes trapped as Eugene Napoleon, he becomes a desperate and ludicrous person.
Only Dr Lambert can prove Eugene 's real identity. But having been spurned by Pumpkin, this is the least likely thing that he would do. When Eugene grows more desperate (borrowing a costume, for example, to ape the man he used to be) the doctor retaliates by attempting to trap him in a mental asylum. With a grim irony Eugene becomes one of many of the hospitals inmates - all of whom dress like and believe themselves to be 'Napoleon'.
There's almost a blurring at this point: is Eugene really Napoleon any more? That is the ultimate theme of this film. Do identities change? Is it better - a happier, healthier option - to evolve and accept new situations? Similarities with Martin Guerre/Sommersby are apparent. Eugene must learn to wear these new clothes, and they are not nearly so glorious as Napoleon's, though perhaps more noble in many ways.
The Emperor's New Clothes is pure fairy tale, a kind of mix between Munchausian fantasy and alternate history lesson. The artifice of certain scenes, of the special effects and so on signify that perhaps Taylor wants us to see through the framing device just as Gerard sees Napoleon's 'other' history through a projector. Of course, at the end of the day, perhaps there are many alternate hi stories that we never see. Only one version of many is recorded by historians and politicians, leaving 'imaginists' in film and fiction to suggest what those other endings may have been.
Such artifice adds to the fairytale atmosphere, and adds a certain amount of charm. But while the plot itself purports a positive storyline, the playing of the latter half of the film is somewhat downbeat and subdued. Like the man himself before disasters in Russia and at Waterloo, there's a residual feeling that The Emperor's New Clothes peaks too soon.
Ruth Bushi
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