Ridley Scott is back out promoting one of his films – Napoleon in this case – which means a bit of press tour gold again…
There are two joyful things to look out for when Ridley Scott makes a new film. The first, of course, is the film itself, with Scott still a director with the stature to get non-franchise films of scale off the ground. Sometimes even with Jared Leto talking funny.
But then there’s also the second treat: the press tour.
Ridley Scott, doing interviews for films such as The Last Duel and House Of Gucci was offering superb value for money a year or two back, batting back questions and, well, ‘having his say’ over the current state of cinema.
This month, he has a new film out too: Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. And when the trailer for the movie landed earlier this year, it was historian Dan Snow who took to social media, to break down some of the historical issues he saw with the film.
Here’s his breakdown…
@historyhit Dan Snow reviews the recently released trailer for #napoleon #historytok #historymovie ♬ original sound – historyhit
In a new interview with the New Yorker, Scott has responded to that particular bit of criticism with slightly less than five minutes of video: “Get a life”, he said.
That’s the headline bit, perhaps. But the interview also talks about filming the battle of Waterloo in the movie across five days, with Scott using 11 cameras to capture the action. Filming in the UK, with what’s described as a production ‘war room’, overseeing hundreds of extras and making sure those 11 cameras had something to see, rather than the reliance being on visual effects.
Napoleon heads to cinemas later this month. You can find the New Yorker piece here. And that Ridley Scott press tour has, thankfully, only just begun…
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