Monday, June 29, 2009

Gem Review: The Emperor's New Clothes


In a plot to restore Napoleon Bonaparte to his thrown, a replacement is secretly brought in to fool the Brits keeping him prisoner. Then Napoleon serves aboard a merchant ship that's supposed to sail to France where someone will meet him.

Alas, the captain decides to sail to a more profitable destination and no one meets the emperor. He finds his way into Paris but the man who might help him recapture his place have all grown old and died. One of them so recent as to be fresh in his coffin.

The man's widow lets Napoleon stay the night as he introduces himself as the identity of the man who replaced him. The conspirators hoped that the impostor would wait until the real emperor could rally people, then he'd announce he's not the man. But he started to enjoy the lavish lifestyle and soon refused to tell his captures of the emperor's escape.

The real Napoleon helps the window manage her business and they become lovers. He tries to make contact with some other men who fought with him at Waterloo, but he can't find anyone reliable.

His replacement writes a book filled with lies of his exploits. He becomes enraged and goes into a shop and gets a uniform for himself and starts to claim his place. His new lady thinks he's gone insane and asks a doctor friend to consider putting him in an asylum. While there, he realizes that no one is going to believe him so he climbs the walls and goes back to his woman.

He decides he's better off just living this simple life than trying to recapture his once glorious life.

The subtle charms of Ian Holm's emperor will make you believe this story. You'll start to wonder if it could be true. You'll also fall in love with the sweet woman with a kind heart.

Pop down to Bandon or place a hold on this delightful film.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282768/

Buy this DVD from Amazon: The Emperor's New Clothes

PS I bumped this up to a gem after I started out as a good. It grew on me more as I savored the memory of watching it.

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