Word: napoleon
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Though he earned his place in history as a ruthless emperor and military genius, Napoleon Bonaparte was also a peerless megalomaniac. In the final years of his forced exile on the South Atlantic island of St. Helena, the fallen master predicted that his hated internment by Britain would only enhance his myth. "If it hadn't been for the crucifixion," Napoleon reasoned, "Jesus would not have become a god." It was a truly Napoleonic comparison, but contained a kernel of truth: the Napoleonic legend is enjoying something of a resurrection these days in France...
While the French don't revere Napoleon as divine, they do consider him among the nation's most glorious sons. In October, producer Robert Hossein opened his Broadway-like stage extravaganza, C'était Bonaparte ("Thus Was Bonaparte") amid considerable media attention and box-office jostling. Days later, French TV aired the €40-million Napoléon mini-series, pulling in around 7 million nightly viewers during its four-episode run, with a cast that included Gerard Dépardieu, Isabella Rossellini and John Malkovich. Next February, popular French actor Antoine de Caunes will make his directing debut with...
While the flurry of entertainment activity is exceptional, Napoleon scholars note that their man has always ranked among the most studied figures in history. More than 80,000 books have been published on the "petit caporal" and experts say he's been the world's most frequently portrayed character in theater and film. But the current French interest in Napoleon may also arise from nostalgia for the nation's former glory. Modern French world-beaters - from former business tycoon Jean-Marie Messier to the champion national football team - have suffered spectacular crashes. Napoleon did too, of course...
...Napoleon is more than just the stuff of legend. His accomplishments remain alive in France today. Though some say his control of the press, repression of opponents and creation of a secret police make Napoleon the godfather of totalitarianism, his record also includes founding the legal code, central bank, public administration, and higher education system on which the French still rely. Similarly, Napoleon also established France's Legion of Honor - then named himself to it almost immediately...
...Marigny. The play, a Freud-meets-Dali folly that Malkovich first mounted three years ago with his home troupe at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, is his directorial debut in French. He's also getting broader exposure playing the cynical and snakelike statesman Talleyrand in a miniseries on Napoleon currently running with great fanfare on French television. The role requires Malkovich to ooze the delicious malevolence he has made his signature, most memorably as Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons. In person, though, Malkovich is nothing like his scary screen personas. "I'm not the least bit cynical or manipulative," he says...