Cast: Ian Holm, Iben Hjejle, Tim McInnerny, Tom Watson, Nigel Terry
Director: Alan Taylor
Producer: Uberto Pasolini
Screenplay: Kevin Molony, Alan Taylor, Herbie Wave, based on "The Death of Napoleon" by Simon Leys
Cinematography: Alessio Gelsini Torresi
Music: Rachel Portman
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Classics
According to the history books, Napoleon Bonaparte died in May 1821 on the island of St. Helena. According to Alan Taylor's The Emperor's New Clothes, it wasn't Napoleon who ended his days on St. Helena, but an imposter. Napoleon had previously escaped his captors and returned to France, where the news of his death made it difficult for him to be accepted as anything other than a melon seller with delusions of grandeur. Thus, Napoleon, once the most powerful man in the world, was forced to live as a commoner, and, in the process, understand that some things in life are more satisfying the power.
When it comes to matters of history, "What if?" is usually the most commonly asked question. Hindsight may be 20/20, but that doesn't stop us from wondering how different things might have been under other circumstances. There's also a tendency, in this conspiracy-theory era, to question the deaths of famous figures. Did Hitler really kill himself in that bunker, or did he live to a ripe old age in some South American country? Did Elvis really die of a drug overdose, or has he retired to obscurity somewhere? Did Princess Diana perish in a car crash, or was a fake death the only way to escape from the paparazzi limelight? Speculation like this, when applied to Napoleon, forms the seed of Simon Leys' novel "The Death of Napoleon", which was adapted for the screen as The Emperor's New Clothes. Of course, this is entirely fiction (and not meant to be taken as anything more substantive) - a fairy tale (as suggested by the title) written to answer another "What if?"
The movie begins on St. Helena, the island to which Napoleon (Ian Holm) was exiled following his defeat at Waterloo. He has a plan to escape - his aides have smuggled a lookalike, Eugene Lenormand, to the island. Eugene and Napoleon will switch places and he will make his way to Paris, pretending to be a deck hand. Once he is there, Eugene will announce himself to be a fraud, Napoleon will declare himself, and the people will rise up for their emperor. Napoleon states, "I place my trust in only two things: my will and the love of the people of France." But, once Napoleon has returned home, he discovers that fate has conspired against him. Eugene likes playing the part of the emperor too much, and is unwilling to relinquish the fruits of the role. So Napoleon must live the life of a commoner, and, in the process, he has the good fortune to fall in love with a peasant woman, Pumpkin (Iben Hjejle), who does not believe that Eugene is the Napoleon, but will accept him as her Napoleon. (Sounds like pillow talk, I know...)
The Emperor's New Clothes is a lighthearted, feel-good film that embraces the time-honored truth that the most powerful thing in life is love. Granted, the real Napoleon never would have settled down to live with a common woman, but this Napoleon does, and, in the doing so gives us the moral of this story - acceptance of the changing world and our place in it is the only way to keep time from passing us by. The film also toys with issues of identity. What really constitutes who we are - the images and memories in our mind, or the opinions of those around us? If only Napoleon accepts himself to be Napoleon, and everyone else believes him to be Eugene, who is he really? Is identity fixed, or can we mold it to suit are circumstances? The Emperor's New Clothes doesn't dig deeply into these issues, but it certainly touches upon them.
Playing the dual role of Napoleon as Eugene and Eugene as Napoleon, Ian Holm turns in another fine performance. Quirks in mannerisms and body language easily differentiate the two individuals. This is actually the third time Holm, who is probably now best-known as Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings, has played Napoleon. He previously essayed the part in a mid-1970s mini-series called "Napoleon and Love", then again in Time Bandits. Iben Hjejle, the attractive actress from High Fidelity and Mifune, is affable as the unaffected Pumpkin, the woman who teaches Napoleon things he never knew about life when he was a world leader.
The film's director is Alan Taylor, whose primary experience is in television (although he directed the feature film Palookaville). Taylor's approach to this material - mixing occasional humor with undemanding drama - works well enough that we don't care about the logical inconsistencies and plot holes. To that end, The Emperor's New Clothes ends up as a pleasant diversion.
© 2002 James Berardinelli