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Monsieur N. (2005)
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Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:14
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.3/10
Theatrical Release:Jan 21, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: On a snowy winter's day in Paris in December 1840, a body is returned and exhumed in a large, official ceremony. France's famous former ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, has died, and these are his... On a snowy winter's day in Paris in December 1840, a body is returned and exhumed in a large, official ceremony. France's famous former ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, has died, and these are his remains, supposedly. Antoine de Caunes's MONSIEUR N. offers a fictitious mystery in the retelling of Bonaparte's (Philippe Torreton) final years. What he suggests is that the emperor may have escaped from exile, having faked his own death. In the years between 1816 and 1821, Bonaparte is a captive of the English on the remote island of St. Helena. He spends his days gardening, beekeeping, and writing his memoirs. A small inner circle of his compatriots surrounds him, most notably Cipriani (Bruno Putzulu). This otherwise tranquil existence is colored by the island's fallible characters. The unforgiving governor, Hudson Lowe (Richard E. Grant), is driven to deviant behavior over the rising cost of guarding a single prisoner with thousands of British soldiers. Furthermore, a jealous quibble develops between two ladies who vie for Bonaparte's love--an English woman named Betsy Balcombe (Siobhan Hewlett), and the wife of one of Bonaparte's generals. It seems that many want to curry favor with the former emperor, in order to eventually profit from his death. The story is told from the point of view of a young English lieutenant, Basil Heathcote (Jay Rodan), who is assigned to shadow Bonaparte during his exile. MONSIEUR N. employs a CITIZEN KANE-like narrative structure, using Heathcote's interrogations of the island's principal characters to trigger flashbacks to St. Helena 20 years earlier. Featuring breathtaking cinematography while posing an interesting question about history's possibilities, MONSIEUR N. uses the hazy real-life details of Bonaparte's death to suggest some believable conspiracy theories. [More]
Starring: Philippe Torreton, Richard E. Grant, Jay Rodan, Siobhan Hewlett
Starring: Philippe Torreton, Richard E. Grant, Jay Rodan, Siobhan Hewlett, Bruno Putzulu, Elsa Zylberstein, Frederic Pierrot
Director: Antoine de Caunes
Director: Antoine de Caunes
Screenwriter: Rene Manzor
Producer: Pierre Kubel, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Composer: Stephan Eicher
Studio: Empire Pictures
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Reviews for Monsieur N.
Casting, acting, production values, scripting and pacing all make for grand entertainment for discriminating filmgoers.
Unfortunately, that same suspense -- Poisoned wine! Secret pacts! Doppelgangers! -- is sometimes a little too stiff, making Monsieur N. play at times like a second-tier Agatha Christie mystery.
This richly produced tale of the last years of the famous 19th-century conqueror has a certain captivating quality about it.
de Caunes has mounted a handsome production, [but] the film’s “surprises” are inherently predictable...
A film of polished ensemble performances, burnished period interiors and fine landscapes, but it's a little bloodless.
Though at over two hours the movie is too long and too slow, de Caunes sustains a sense of mystery and ambiguity to the end of what is both a satisfying character study and a stately quasi-thriller for amateur historians.
As modest conspiracy-mongering, the movie is perfectly robust, earning its dramatic impact from its classical sense of intrigue and Philippe Torreton's testy performance in the title role.
Even when the script takes a turn for the chatty, there's always something pretty to look at.
Screenwriter Rene Manzor weaves a tangled web of speculation, but de Caunes, following his vampire feature debut Love Bites, has no clue how to dramatize this intrigue.
Monsieur N, Antoine de Caunes's densely plotted costume drama, suggests that Napoleon's demise might have been an elaborate hoax through which he escaped into anonymity.
Handsomely designed and photographed, impeccably played, and both satisfyingly complex and ingeniously plausible.
With some excellent staging, fine cinematography and first-rate acting, the film largely overcomes the awe it demonstrates for its principal character and succeeds in creating a mystery where perhaps there is none.
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| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
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| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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