Napoleon film: Why does everyone love France so much?

And could you imagine a French film about Abraham Lincoln?

Last night I watched the new Napoleon movie and I thought it was great.

Joaquin Phoenix was amazing. The battle scenes were incredible. And I feel like I learned a whole lot about the man himself, all while eating popcorn. What’s not to love?

Well, apparently a lot.

There have been some pretty rough reviews of the film, especially from the French critics. And I get it. Why is Hollywood making this movie? Could you imagine how weird it would be to see a French film about, say, Abraham Lincoln, where all the characters were speaking French?

And then I can also understand why historians might get wound up. I heard that some of the finer points of the truth were ignored or smoothed over. "Napoleon never rode his horse there” and “her hair wasn’t short then” and so on.

In fact, I read the whole long list of “goofs” and got irritated. I watched the film to be entertained - and I was. And that’s that.

When the director of Napoleon, Ridley Scott, heard the negative reviews from French film critics he said something along the lines of: “Meh, the French don’t even like themselves”. Ha!

In any case, the whole thing got me thinking about France itself. This movie was the latest Hollywood offering in a very long line of films about French history. Les Miserables. Marie Antoinette. The Man in the Iron Mask.

And then, think of all the foreign movies based in Paris and France. Midnight in Paris, Moulin Rouge, every single Audrey Hepburn movie, etc.

Why do people love France so much? It’s the million dollar question. It’s also the reason I have a job. It might even be the reason you’re reading this page.

Is it because of the rich history, the food, the art, the monuments, the stereotype about the enigmatic Parisians? Perhaps all of the above? I don’t know. But I sure feel lucky to live in the midst of it and share it with you all.

But enough about all that, here are some Earful Tower things I shared this week.

On the blog I posted the list of my top five episodes and blog posts of 2023. The most read page from The Earful Tower this year was…. 12 things to do on a rainy day in Paris. Over 20,000 readers checked it out this year, looking to stay dry.

I was glad to see that the other popular posts included the one about the Rose Line, golden rules for the French Riviera, and my tips for what to do on your first trip to Paris.

Then, on the podcast, I answered 15 questions from Patreon members about my big ABCson. This is an episode that’s tailor-made for fans of the show, so if you’re brand new around here you shouldn’t even touch it. Start with some of those links above first :)

But if you are a fan, here’s the episode.

Lastly, I shared a list of six of my favourite Paris bakeries right here. This post is free to read via the Patreon website. You can even sign up as a free member on Patreon now, which is a pretty new feature. Please do if you enjoy the bakery post.

And if you really like The Earful Tower and can contribute to make it better in 2024, you can sign up as a paying member and get all the bonuses.

You’ll hear from me again on Monday morning when we’ll be sharing our 2024 Bucket Lists on the podcast.

Until then!

Oliver