Photos
Quotes
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Napoléon : I want you to meet my wife at last. When you get to know her...
Letizia Bonaparte : I don't need to meet her to know what she is. You made a bad marriage, Napoleon. You deserve better.
Napoléon : Then, at the very least, you could write congratulations to her.
Letizia Bonaparte : Me? I wouldn't know how.
Napoléon : I've prepared a letter for you. All you have to do is copy the words and sign it. Please.
Letizia Bonaparte : I'll try to find the time.
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Charles Talleyrand : They like seeing me as the devil but I shouldn't think that would scare you, because people tell me that you're not afraid of anything.
Napoléon : Of one thing. Stupidity.
Charles Talleyrand : Oh, then you must tremble every day of your life.
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Napoléon : We need that artillery. Tell squadron leader Murat to retrieve those cannons. He is a human tidal wave. Nothing can stand in his way.
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Napoléon : Why don't you come with me?
Joséphine de Beauharnais : To Italy?
Napoléon : Yes.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : Do you see me following an army? Ruining my shoes in the mud, wearing wrinkled dresses, sleeping on straw...
Napoléon : Sleeping? Sleeping? There are other things to do besides sleeping.
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Madame Tallien : General, I have some good news for you. I have managed to obtain a length of cloth, enough for not just one pair of britches, but two.
Napoléon : Well, I thank you twice.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais : General, I've shocked you. A soldier shocked by a lady's words.
Napoléon : It was not the words, madame. It was the image they evoked.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : The image of a little girl frolicking in the sun?
Napoléon : Of a woman, naked. A beautiful image of you.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : Now I'm the one who's shocked.
Napoléon : You shouldn't have taken the risk.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : The risk?
Napoléon : Of being alone with me and the feelings you have aroused.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : You wouldn't dare.
Napoléon : Oh, no. Not here, not now, but tomorrow, when I see you again.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : Because you presume you'll see me again.
Napoléon : Yes, I will. Won't I?
Joséphine de Beauharnais : What time tomorrow?
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Napoléon : Tonight I have a woman to love, and tomorrow I must take Italy back from Austria.
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Napoléon : I made inquiries.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : About my daughter?
Napoléon : About the world around you. I know nearly everything about you, Josephine.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : But my name, apparently, is Rose.
Napoléon : Your lovers call you Rose. Your husband has decided to call you Josephine.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : But my husband, General, is dead.
Napoléon : Is dead, yes. The prior one. I'm talking about your new husband.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : My new husband?
Napoléon : Yes. Come now. There is nothing so extraordinary about a widow remarrying.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : No, not at all. Only that I don't have any prospect in sight.
Napoléon : You're looking at him, madame.
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Napoléon : I warn you, citizen, that I follow a pledge to its end or mine. Don't ask me to answer for any blood that's shed. If I draw my sword, it will remain drowned until the order of the republic is restored.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais : What a splendid uniform, General. Can I touch it? It's pure wool. Excellent quality. Are you turning into a fashion peacock?
Napoléon : The new general of the army of Italy can't command in rags.
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Joseph Fouché : In other words, you're asking me to support the plot.
Napoléon : I don't consider ridding the country of a bunch of rogues and swindlers to be a plot.
Joseph Fouché : Yes. While I may not always approve of the government's policies, I am a member of it.
Napoléon : You'll be a member of the next one. You will be my minister of police.
Joseph Fouché : That's very generous of you, but I am already minister of police. So if you have no other argument...
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Charles Talleyrand : What about you? Are you interested in political power?
Napoléon : Me? The glory I won in Italy is all I could possibly wish for.
Charles Talleyrand : Yes, of course there's glory, but then there's money too.
Napoléon : On that regard, I was very well paid by the enemy. I have other plans.
Charles Talleyrand : Oh, do tell me. I'll be as silent as the grave.
Napoléon : Mathematics. I became an artilleryman thanks to mathematics. My one dream is to return to my former vocation.
Charles Talleyrand : To mathematics?
Napoléon : Yes. I hope to be elected to the institute in the domain of physical science and mathematics.
Charles Talleyrand : And that's all?
Napoléon : For the moment.
Charles Talleyrand : I see. To your modest ambitions.
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Napoléon : I've finished with that woman, that...
Joseph Bonaparte : You can barely bring yourself to say her name.
Napoléon : Because it's a curse. I hate her name. I hate the sound of her voice, her perfume, everything. It's over. Finished!
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Charles Talleyrand : I've heard grumblings about your proposal for a new constitution. I must say I expected something more revolutionary from you.
Napoléon : I like order. I fought for the republic. I'm not a revolutionary.
Charles Talleyrand : I share your fondness for order, but when you... when you speak of a concentrated government, you don't pretend to mean, concentrated in the hands of one man, do you?
Napoléon : You ask questions that sound like answers.
Charles Talleyrand : Yes, well, because it's always difficult to find someone who would wield that kind of power who would not become a dictator.
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Napoléon : Do you think it's necessary to close the windows, as if we were conspirators plotting?
Joseph Bonaparte : I'm sure the house is being watched. When a government is at bay, they'll stop at nothing.
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Joseph Fouché : I have my informers. This system has saved your life many times over.
Napoléon : And you didn't inform me?
Joseph Fouché : The bombs were all found in time.
Napoléon : Bombs. Who planted them?
Joseph Fouché : The royalists, with England acting as their banker. A bomb is more expensive than a vial of poison, or a dagger.
Napoléon : So this is what politics is like.
Joseph Fouché : No, this is what hatred is like, Monsieur Premier Consul. Hatred.
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Napoléon : If my brother can't make those people obey him, what good is he to me as the president?
Charles Talleyrand : Sire, he is their president, not their general. Deputies cannot be ordered around as easily as a regiment.
Napoléon : We'll see about that.
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Napoléon : Admire the work of my cartographers, St-Hilaire. This is Egypt in the days of the Pharaohs. Everything is in here, even the canal.
Geoffroy St-Hilaire : The canal, General?
Napoléon : Didn't you know that the Pharaohs built a canal, joining the Nile to the Red Sea?
Geoffroy St-Hilaire : No.
Napoléon : Initiated under the king Nekau and completed under the Ptolemies. This prodigious work stood the test of time for almost a thousand years, until it disappeared, swallowed up by the sands.
Geoffroy St-Hilaire : Do you believe one could find the vestiges of this canal?
Napoléon : Without any doubt. If we started excavating in this area, we would unearth marvels that would reveal to the world the extraordinary splendor of the Egyptian civilization. Yet a better idea would be to dig another canal, one that would connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, starting from Suez, for example. What do you think?
Geoffroy St-Hilaire : Well, the thing is, General, my interest is in zoology, so as far as I'm concerned, these stories about canals...
Napoléon : My dear St-Hilaire, a scholar must be curious about everything. I, for instance, had the Koran translated for me.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais : Do you know that when I was a child, a fortune teller predicted that one day I was going to be greater than a queen. Today I have the feeling she saw right. This is my palace. And you will be the king.
Napoléon : Husband is good enough. I don't like kings.
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Joseph Fouché : When we imprison a man, it's usually because he has broken the law. In other words, when it's too late. Personally I'd rather prevent him from committing a crime.
Napoléon : But you have to know to prevent it.
Joseph Fouché : Yes. Know everything about everyone.
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Napoléon : War is not the worst, Talleyrand. The worst would be allowing them to treat France like the village idiot of Europe. The one who is slapped and then says thank you. What do you know about war? You've never been to war.
Charles Talleyrand : Alas. A soldier who can neither attack nor, more especially, flee, in sufficient haste, is a liability. Otherwise I might have pursued a military career.
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Roederer : And here are Queen Marie Antoinette's apartments. Not very cheerful, I'm afraid.
Napoléon : The price of power.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : I hope they've changed the sheets.
Napoléon : Don't be silly.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : It's morbid. If you must live in the Tuileries, can't we take a different apartment? This one feels haunted.
Napoléon : Superstitious nonsense. Once it's refurnished to your taste, you'll be happy. And whenever you need a change, we can go to Malmaison.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : I need a change right now. Let's go.
Napoléon : No, don't be childish. Maybe tomorrow.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : When we got married, I could ask you anything. And you always said yes right away. Now it's always maybe tomorrow. You love me less, Bonaparte.
Roederer : I am sorry. Maybe we should have thought of redecorating the rooms before...
Napoléon : She'll get used to it. It would be a sorry set of affairs if my wife were the one person in France to contest my authority.
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Napoléon : The English are calling upon my men to desert by flooding our lines with this drivel. It'll have no effect on them!
Maréchal Joachim Murat : I'm not so sure. The men have had enough. Most of the time we have to force them to obey!
Napoléon : Have the officers discipline them again. That's why they're here.
Maréchal Joachim Murat : The officers, they say that you torture your soldiers, and that you will never be able to seize Egypt.
Napoléon : I have, Murat, Egypt is ours, almost ours. Cairo is a French city. The Nile Delta has been pacified, and all there is left to subjugate a few Turkish regiments.
Maréchal Joachim Murat : Turks and Arabs, supported by the English. Be realistic, Bonaparte. We can't go on, especially with the plague on our heels.
Napoléon : The doctors assured me that the epidemic could be contained.
Maréchal Joachim Murat : The doctors can do nothing against fear.
Napoléon : I can.
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Caroline Bonaparte : I'm here to bring you Murat's support.
Napoléon : Murat? Who authorized you to speak for Murat?
Caroline Bonaparte : He and I love each other.
Napoléon : Murat is over 30, and you're not yet 20. I don't think our mother will approve. I don't think I will approve!
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Joseph Bonaparte : Listen, listen to them! Just say the word, and you'll have twenty five million French citizens behind you!
Napoléon : Right now, I'm hungry.
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Napoléon : How should I address you? Monsignor, since you were a bishop, Your Excellency because the Revolution made you ambassador to England, or Minister because you are in charge of France's foreign relations?
Charles Talleyrand : Most people call me Talleyrand. Just Talleyrand.
Napoléon : Ah, yes, like just "God"?
Charles Talleyrand : Or Satan.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais : The general must have been far too busy during the revolution to take an interest in poetry. I know what it is, a soldier's life. I was married to an officer.
Napoléon : Yes. General de Beauharnais. Charged with the surrender of the city of Mayence, and guillotined.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : Yes, that was my husband.
Madame Coigny : Who was nearly followed to the scaffold by his wife, but for the grace of God.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : I would say more the caprice of politics.
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Madame de Staël : Is it true, dear Rose, that you cut off your lovely curls, rather than let the executioner mangle them?
Joséphine de Beauharnais : You make me appear vain and absurd to the general.
Napoléon : On the contrary. To face death with pride takes courage, madame.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : It takes courage to face life alone, with two children.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais : Do you want a cup of chocolate, General? It's hot. It's delicious. We drank lots of it in the West Indies.
Napoléon : In the West Indies?
Joséphine de Beauharnais : I was born there. My father owned a plantation with more than 200 slaves. It was a paradise of sunshine and sugar. Imagine. When I was a little girl, I used to bathe in a river among irises and orchids. I loved to swim in it naked.
Napoléon : I come from an island too, madame. But the women there rarely bathe. And when they do, it's fully dressed, all in black.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais : Good morning, General. I see you've been taken captive by my children.
Napoléon : Captivated, madame, not captive.
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Napoléon : What's so funny?
Joséphine de Beauharnais : You're funny.
Napoléon : Because I'm mad about you.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : No, because you're just mad. And I love that.
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Joseph Bonaparte : I'll wait for you outside. Probably smells musty in there. I'll wait for you out front.
Napoléon : It does smell a bit musty.
Joséphine de Beauharnais : Soon it will smell of joy, of life, of love.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais : You say that as if you already have a glimmer of an idea.
Napoléon : Oh, not a glimmer. A revolution, Josephine.
