Monsieur N.

Monsieur N.
File:Monsieur N. movie.jpg Monsieur N. film poster
Directed by	Antoine de Caunes
Produced by	Pierre Kubel
Written by	René Manzor
Starring	Philippe Torreton Richard E. Grant Elsa Zylberstein Jay Rodan Frédéric Pierrot
Distributed by	Empire Pictures
Release dates	12 February 2003 (France)
Running time	120 min.
Country	France United Kingdom
Language	French English Corsican
Budget	€15,920,000

Monsieur N. is a 2003 British-French movie directed by Antoine de Caunes. It tells the story of the last years of the life of Napoleon Bonaparte (played by Philippe Torreton) who was imprisoned by the British on St Helena. Napoleon retained a loyal entourage of officers who helped him plot his escape, and evaded the attentions of Sir Hudson Lowe (Richard E. Grant), the island's overzealous Governor.

The film suggests that Napoleon could have escaped to Louisiana, where he died, and that the body exhumed and now at Les Invalides is that of Napoleon's officer Cipriani. The movie also suggests that Napoleon and his young new English wife could have attended the ceremony of "Napoleon's" burial in the Invalides.

Reception

The film was well received and has a 70% "fresh" rating on film critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.

The film received a positive but guarded review in The New York Times, which praised Philippe Torreton's performance but thought the narrative too complex for an audience not initiated in Napoleon's history.

External links

• (French) Official site
• Monsieur N. at IMDb