Like the opposite of a winter invasion of Russia, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon director’s cut has appeared very suddenly on Apple TV+ – and is available to watch right now.
Fans of 19th century battle sequences, weird flirting and vegan hats rejoice – Ridley Scott has been beavering away on his Napoleon director’s cut, and it’s just stealth-dropped onto Apple TV+.
Total Film broke the story, alongside a lengthy interview with Scott. In it, he discusses the 48 extra minutes the cut adds onto the film (bringing its new runtime up to a bum-numbing 205 minutes). As is to be expected, given the name of his new edit, it sounds like the director prefers this version, as it allows him to dig more into the relationship at the heart of the film between the titular emperor (Joaquin Phoenix) and his long-suffering wife, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby).
“The extra [48 minutes] is not entirely devoted to Josephine, but it’s devoted to them, together.,” Scott said. “You start to get who, what, where, and why. Some may prefer it as a cut. And, that said, I think I do.”
But the new cut doesn’t just add more awkward flirting and horse noises – according to Total Film, it also touches on a quick Battle of Marengo, an assassination attempt and some of Mr Bonaparte’s more, um, vulnerable moments.
“I begin Waterloo with him on the lavatory!” Scott says, presumably with relish. “I think it’s great, because he’s actually bleeding from the ass. He has piles. And piles can easily develop as a horseman. When he’s in Russia, there’s blood on the saddle. And then someone looks in and says, “Piles, my lord!” Everybody thought it was so comical to start off the Battle of Waterloo with piles. I thought it was great. That’s life, man.”
The theatrical cut of Napoleon was released last November to fairly widespread acclaim, albeit with a few caveats. While we absolutely loved it, the film did come under fire from certain circles for its pacing and long runtime. The director’s cut seems unlikely to fix one of these problems, but if Scott’s cut of Kingdom Of Heaven is anything to go by, the longer edit of the director’s epics might hew closer to his original vision.
Read more: Bonnie And Clyde, Napoleon, and the problem with historical accuracy
But even at over three hours, this cut is still a way off the reported four-hour version long-rumoured to be stuck somewhere in the Apple vault – and according to Scott, that’s a version we might still see one day…
“We cut a four-hour version,” he told Total Film. “So if this goes well… I think: why wouldn’t they [release] it? It doesn’t cost them anything. All you do is press a button. If you like the long version, then there’s a four-hour version. You’d have to [colour grade it], that would have to be done. You have to mix it. The four-hour version is always on the Avid, on the machine.”
That’s our evening sorted then. After that, we’ll start the campaign for the four-hour cut. If we keep going, maybe we’ll eventually get to see Napoleon’s story told in real-time. We can hope…
