Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" has faced harsh criticism from French journalists due to historical inaccuracies and an anti-French stance

The film "Napoleon" from Ridley Scott is dedicated to the great commander and emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte, but apparently, the French themselves are not very impressed with this story.

Here's What We Know

In addition to the fact that the film was harshly rejected by French film critics, it did not debut particularly brightly on its first day of distribution, grossing $946,000 and selling 120,000 tickets, according to Comscore France. By comparison, "Oppenheimer" in the same market sold 150,000 tickets on its first day.

"Napoleon", starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, faced harsh criticism from French journalists due to alleged historical inaccuracies and an anti-French stance.

Phoenix's performance also drew ridicule from a number of reputable publications, such as radio station France Culture, which compared the actor's Napoleon look to "dusty wax figure".

The harshest review was published by the national newspaper Le Figaro, which suggested that the film should be renamed to "Barbie and Ken Under the Empire". On television, the film sparked heated debates on talk shows and on news channels such as BFMTV, where politicians voiced their opinions on the film.

But Scott brushed off the venomous critics, telling the BBC that "the French don’t even like themselves".

Still, this is Scott's best start in France in years. His last two films, "House of Guccii" and "The Last Duel," sold just 33,895 and 22,000 tickets respectively on their first day in French cinemas.

However, "Napoleon" is still a long way from the success of Scott's "Gladiator" in France, which debuted in 2000 with 195,000 ticket sales.

Source: Variety