One Of The Most Striking Moments In Napoleon Kind Of Happened, But Not Really
Sir Ridley Scott is back with another historical epic with a big sense of humor in "Napoleon," a movie that looks at a great man doing important things while also showing him to be a bit of a giant baby — see also the hilarious Ben Affleck in "The Last Duel" or Jared Leto's incredible transformation as Paolo Gucci in "House of Gucci."
Also in Ridley Scott fashion, "Napoleon" is full of epic action and historical inaccuracies. From a scene where Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon literally shoots the Great Pyramid of Giza, to an incredible moment where the Napoleonic army wins a battle by drowning the enemy under an icy lake. That latter scene is a recreation of The Battle of Austerlitz, which the film depicts as having Napoleon luring the enemy Austrian and Russian armies onto an icy lake. Then, he orders the lake bombarded, trapping and drowning hundreds if not thousands.
It is a fantastic scene — the kind of epic, large-scale cinematic battle we don't really get anymore, especially for non-WWII-era films. The scene shows Napoleon's tactical genius in an almost comical way. It's one thing to just destroy your enemy. It's another to shoot the ice under your enemy's feet and make them drown and freeze to death like this was an anime like "Code Geass" — or more accurately, "Legend of the Galactic Heroes," an anime that actually references Napoleon and his tactics.
Sadly, reality was not as exciting as the fiction in this instance. Napoleon did win the battle in a smart and decisive way that continues to be studied today. However, it was more complex, a bit more reliant on luck, and far less cinematic.
The Battle of Austerlitz
The real Battle of Austerlitz still featured a risky and bold plan from Napoleon, and did involve him defeating not one, but two Emperors. And there actually was an icy lake that the army fired upon. That being said, things went down a bit differently.
In reality, the big tactic Napoleon used was not to drown his enemy — especially since the icy lake was fully visible that day, with no snow covering for a surprise reveal. Instead, Napoleon tricked his enemy, luring them into thinking the French army was smaller and rather weak in the days before the battle. He faked a retreat, abandoning the obvious advantageous high ground of Pratzen Heights, and deliberately made his right flank weaker by deploying part of the French army below the Heights to entice the Russians and Austrians.
As the Russian forces took the bait and attacked Napoleon's soldiers on the Southern part of the Heights, the left flank of the Napoleonic army flanked the Russian forces, splitting them in two. At the same time, reinforcements arrived swiftly to overwhelm and defeat the Russians. As the Russian forces fled around and across the lake, Napoleon's gunners opened fire on the ice. It was this that created the myth of Napoleon's forces drowning thousands of Russians. According to "Napoleon: A Life" by Andrew Roberts, however, "Recent excavations of the reclaimed land at Lake Satschan turned up only a dozen corpses and a couple of guns."
Napoleon's big feat wasn't trapping his enemy on an icy lake. Instead, it was that he defeated the combined armies of two nations while outnumbered and giving up the high ground thanks to an effective trap and the timely arrival of his reinforcements.
No one does it like Uncle Ridley
Sure, it'd be easy to criticize "Napoleon" for its historical inaccuracies, but the truth is that Napoleon's mind for logistics and organization isn't very cinematic. Besides, the sight of an army falling to icy water as they retreat from defeat, the cold blue water turning red with the blood of the soldiers, is infinitely better and more memorable.
Indeed, there is plenty to dislike about "Napoleon," like its pacing, but there is no denying that Ridley Scott has an incredible sense of scope and an eye for grand battle scenes. The director, working with cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, manages to find a balance between romanticism and gritty reality. Both "Napoleon" and "The Last Duel" show the thrills, the excitement of cinematic combat, whether it's medieval knights brutally beating each other with swords, or massive cavalries charging directly into cannonfire. Scenes like the Battle of Austerlitz feel like giant classical paintings brought to life.
And yet, both movies also focus on the horrible, harrowing, and gnarly reality of warfare. After all, the first time we see Napoleon charging into battle, he is immediately stopped by his horse being hit by a cannonball — the camera closing in on the bloody, guts-filled hole in the horse's chest. Scott seems to really love the sight of cannons firing, but he also shoots the resulting blast like it was a gritty WWII war drama. There are enough shots of soldiers and horses being blown to bits to make you think you're watching "Band of Brothers." Having the Battle of Austerlitz more closely resemble reality may be accurate, but reality can never beat the rule of cool.