tnhelliott First off I need to say that Ian Hom is amazing. To be able to play two different characters of two different persuasions and bearings is mind-blowing. This film is whimsical and fun and a very good "what if" of history. Parts of it are sad and parts are humorous and all of it is good. A human element is given to characters whom are known to history solely for their deeds and every character in the film has depth of field and a real personality. Many of the scenes are played out in textbook fashion with a beginning a middle and an end with rising and falling action and yet each scene propels the story line further and is a driving force to the film as a whole. My personal favorite moment in the film is the melon scene where Naploean as an exile in his own country still becomes a general of a an army of melon merchants. Sheer brilliance and very beautiful in its humanity. This film shows that although a person can't change whop they are, everyone can change direction and find love.

Alex Brown This is a charming little film, a dramatisation of what might have happened to Napoleon if he hadn't died in exile.Returning to Paris, Bonaparte attempts to get back his role and lead France again. He is taken in by a widow and, inevitably, falls in love with her and the rest you can pretty much work out for yourself.Ian Holm is very believable in his role as the little emperor.

drrap This gem of a film deserved a far wider release than it got --shame on Paramount for not daring to place this gem in theatres. In a year where "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" occupied some smalltheatres for months, I had to wait until October to see "TheEmperor's New Clothes," a far better movie and not at all limited toart-house appeal, as the studio seemed to think.Sir Ian Holm is brilliant, affecting, and engaging in his third turn asthe diminutive Emperor, and relative newcomer Iben Hjejle is aperfect foil as the sweet yet tough-skinned "Pumpkin." But whatmakes this film is not so much its wonderful cast and perfectperiod settings, it's the visual magic of Alan Taylor, who opens andcloses the film with the candlelit wonder of an antique MagicLantern. In that nineteenth-century version of visual narrative, greatmen rose from humble origins to "GLOIRE" in a few hand-paintedframes -- only, as Holm's Napoleon insists, "that's not how itended." It would be a crime to reveal how this film ends, but it'show it unfolds which makes it shine -- what, after all, is anEmperor? Is he a suit of clothes? An attitude? A pose? Holm'sdouble role as the emperor's doppelganger shines a new, comic,yet serious light into this more than twice-told tale.

fothergill Ian Holm gives his usual sharp performance. The film is heavily dependent upon that, though Iben Hjejle gave a respectable portrayal of an up and coming produce merchant. The what-if historical situation is perfectly suited for this treatment and is squeaky clean enough for the whole family. The rest of the supporting cast was spiffy enough, but unremarkable, with the exception of the Tim McInnerny, who, as the Parisian doctor, is strongly understated.Lacking in this completely French story is French style acting or sensibility. The Italian production company pulls off the film with aplumb but lacks any French personality.I highly recommend this movie as a remedy to over-the-top action films and acutely self-indulgent Opray movies.