Movies - Monsieur N.

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	Movies - Monsieur N.

Monsieur N. is a 2003 French movie directed by Antoine de Caunes. It tells the story of the last years of the life of Napoleon Bonaparte (played by Philippe Torreton), imprisoned by the British on St Helena. Napoleon retains a loyal entourage of officers who help him plot his escape, and evade the attentions of Sir Hudson Lowe (Richard E. Grant), the island's overzealous Governor.

Plot

Tagline: A single letter contains history's greatest enigma.

Heathcote (Jay Rodan), a young English officer, arrives on the Island where Napoleon is being held prisoner. His mission is to keep a close watch on his military idol. Lowe, the new Governor of the island, has just arrived too and rules the island like a prison. Napoleon's valet and childhood friend, Cipriani (Bruno Putzulu), waits on this little world. The microcosm of the French court stands united in continuing to treat Napoleon with the utmost respect.

An escape plot is hatched by an American Pirate and the former Grande Armee general. They plan to carry the Emperor away from Saint Helena on board the mythical Flying Dutchman and it becomes increasingly clear to Heathcote that Napoleon has a plan. Heathcote remembers the day when he lost Napoleon who galloped off across Deadwood Plain. He now realises that this allowed Napoleon to calculate the time needed to reach the coast. Everything for the escape goes as planned but, at the last minute, Napoleon seems to change his mind. Napoleon's rescuers are killed in the course of a bloody battle.

We see Napoleon on his deathbed clearly finding some comfort in the priest at his side. In front of Napoleon's coffin, Heathcote gathers together the threads of the story and realises that Napoleon's only chance of leaving the island was to stop being the Emperor. Cipriani laid down his life so that Napoleon could live an ordinary life at last. Heathcote likes to think that this return to a simple and anonymous life is the finest proof of Napoleon's tactical genius.

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