Benedito Dias Rodrigues
l bought this movie because Monica Bellucci of course a Italian Goddess l love her but watching the movie l realize that Monica's character is merely decorative unfortunately,the plot is around the Teacher Martino (Elio Germano) and Napoleon (Daniel Auteuil)...when the Tyrant went to island of Elba in exile he needs a person to write your memories even Martino hating Napoleon he accept the invite to have a chance to kill him,the movie works like a Italian comedy as always with those extravagant characters talking loud in your language is very funny,the casting is amazing they acting very well on their roles which complete this good picture!!!
greenylennon
I learned a thing: you have to take this film like a funny period comedy, if you don't want to be disappointed. The film's enjoyable because it's a delicious comedy. I think the over-hype damaged it: the too much glorified Monica Bellucci appears in few scenes and isn't so good as they wanted to let you believe. She sounds unnatural, false: the best actress in this film is Sabrina Impacciatore, who speaks with a perfect Tuscan accent and shines together with Massimo Ceccherini. Elio Germano is very, very good: the most promising young Italian actor, according to me. Daniel Auteuil looks like Napoleon, but I preferred other actors. So, the most hyped performances were also the worst.Costumes and production design are okay: sure, American period movies are more accurate about these things because have bigger budgets, but the Italian ability rewards the lack of money. A nice period comedy, in short, with a first-rate casting (except for Bellucci and Auteuil).
Gordon-11
This film is about a young teacher who has strong opinion about Napoleon as a bad person. The teacher plots to get near Napoleon and kill him, but fate decides otherwise.The production of the film is worth commenting. The sets are lavish all lavishly decorated down to every detail. Even scenes of the rather run down streets are well composed and realistically decorated. Costumes are excellent. Monica Bellucci gives a memorable performance in her argument scene in her bedroom with Martino. I think the plot is more comedy oriented, so the development of the bond between Napoleon and Martino is not strong enough. Otherwise, the film is entertaining to watch.
Federica Boldrini (federicaboldrini1984)
Screened this morning for the press at Roma film festival, "N - io e Napoleone" is easy to love. First of all it can count on great production values, as very few Italian films nowadays can, with wonderful settings and costumes. The cast is great too. Director Virzì constantly speaks of the young lead Elio Germano as "a young De Niro". Now, of course he is going a way too far, but sure the boy can act. I loved his performance, and he did a great job with the (tuscan) accent. Daniel Auteuil is a great actor and did very well as Bonaparte. It's really great to see him acting in Italian, I hope to see him working in Italy again very soon. The supporting cast worked well too - people like Valerio Mastrandrea or Sabrina Impacciatore may seem unlikely choices, but they all gave fine performances. Even Massimo Ceccherini, best known for appearing in his own moronic films and in trashy TV reality shows, fitted in well and was actually funny. The low point of the cast was the "Diva" Monica Bellucci. Sure, she was slightly better than usual, but she managed to look (and sound) utterly unnatural even in the part of baronessa Emilia, in which, with a good dose of self irony, she used her own umbro accent. The script, by veteran Furio Scarpelli and Virzì himself is clever, with lots of laugh out loud lines, and a few very emotional moments too. Sure, the ending left me puzzled. The message is kind of ambiguous: the whole film says that political ideals can bring you to blind hate, but if you get closer you will learn that the object of your hate is after all a little human being like everyone else, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes pathetic, so that suddenly it's difficult to hate him; then, in the last few minutes it says that after all it would have been better to shoot him in the head at the beginning. Personally, I dislike very much this notion. "Io e Napoleone" is still a pleasant film, the best presented at the Festival so far (the other being Fur and the Hoax). My rating is 8/10