I feel unsatisfied walking out of that theater after three hours of melancholy and confusion. I understand every single word and every single scene, but when they connect into a whole film I don't understand anything. To start off, the costume/production design, naturalistic sceneries, the two meticulously-depicted ancient warfares --- one amid the doleful squall of Austerlitz and another atop the dampened prairie of Waterloo --- and all other technical stuff are spotless. However, there's an anxiety-inducing problem with the narrative --- the movie has no focus. No climax, no resonating themes like Oppenheimer, just one plain, linear, chronological plot; and even that we get multiple baffling time jumps throughout. The plot is so simple that everything in the film was taught in my AP World History class last year in one day, except it nibbles on some superficial details. Highlighting the relationship between Napolean and Josephine is a unique take, and I do see efforts from the two esteemed performers to capture their mutual toxicity and intricacy, but this love story has barely anything to do with the movie's main arc, Napolean's personal rise and fall. Nothing! Two basically unrelated storylines unfolding in the most bland way possible. Also adding to this insipid mess is the score, which is composed primarily of classical or really old-sounding French folk --- what happened to Radiohead from the trailer? God Ridley I don't wanna say three hours of my life is wasted but it kinda is!
I didn't think it was possible but, I think Oppenheimer's winning the Oscar.
I didn't think it was possible but, I think Oppenheimer's winning the Oscar.