Return of the Hero

Napoleon: Destiny and Death

April 2021 •French

May 5, 1821. Napoleon Bonaparte, deposed emperor exiled on the island of St. Helena, is about to take his last breath. The son of a Corsican family, he has been close to death on many occasions since, as a young captain in the revolutionary army, he seized Toulon from the royalists in 1793.

Imperial Venus

December 1962 •Italian

The romanticized gallant adventures of Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister. First "engaged" to the Conventionnel Fréron, then separated from him by her brother for political reasons, Pauline joined Napoleon in the Italian army, where she fell in love with the comté de Canouville. But the First Consul married her to his friend, General Leclerc, whom she followed on the expedition to Saint-Domingue. Unconcerned about fidelity, she began to love her husband just as he was about to die of yellow fever. Back in France, she was soon consoled by other gallants. Napoleon, now emperor, hastened to marry her off to Prince Borghese, but he was unable to make her love him. She soon returned to Paris to lead the life of a gallant woman, incognito, and again met Canouville, whom the emperor tried in vain to separate from her. But soon the Russian campaign begins, and her lover is killed. All that remains for Pauline, this time disconsolate, is to reconcile with her brother on the road to exile.

The Black Hussar

October 1932 •German

In 1812, during the French period, large parts of Germany are occupied by the troops of Napoleon. Several paramilitary Freikorps units battle the French forces, among them the Black Brunswickers led by the 'Black Duke' Frederick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. After the War of the Fifth Coalition, the Black Hussars are pursued by Napoleon throughout the country, but frequently take refuge with the noble-minded German people.

The Last Days

October 1999 •Polish

Romance brings two warring families together in this historical drama. As citizens fight for independence in 1810s Lithuania, Tadeusz, the son of a murderer, and Zosia, a young woman, come together for a wedding against a backdrop of changing politics, ancient traditions, and the uncertain future of a country.

The Charge of Texel

October 2023 •French

1795, Holland. The French vanguard is pushing towards the north, through a strong blizzard, beyond the enemy lines. At the head of the cavalry, Major Lahure learns that a British fleet, seeking to escape to England, is trapped by the ice off the coast, and prepares one of the boldest ventures of its time.

For Napoleon and France

March 1914 •Italian

Two siblings lose their parents amidst turmoil in revolutionary France and are adopted by a peasant family. Once grown up, the older brother enlists in the Napoleonic Wars.

Love and Death

June 1975 •English

In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.

War and Peace

August 1956 •English

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

Madame Sans-Gène

January 1972 •Czech

Also People

March 1960 •Russian

Based on an excerpt from the novel by L.N.Tolstoy "War and Peace." The war of 1812. The defeated Napoleonic army is retreating. Three Russian soldiers settled in a snowy forest near a fire: a young (Zaletayev), an elderly and a middle-aged one. Zaletayev fantasizes — as if he had captured Napoleon. The soldiers laugh good-naturedly at him. After dinner, they fall asleep... Two Frenchmen go to the clearing — an officer and a soldier. Russian soldiers wake up and, seeing that the officer is barely standing on his feet from cold and hunger, take him to the colonel. The French soldier sits down to the fire. The Russians give him porridge and vodka. The soldier, encouraged, sings a french song. Zaletayev echoes him. A tired Frenchman falls asleep on Zaletayev’s shoulder. The soldiers carefully shelter him. “Also people,” an elderly soldier says with a sigh.

That Hamilton Woman

April 1941 •English

The story of courtesan and dance-hall girl Emma Hamilton, including her relationships with Sir William Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson and her rise and fall, set during the Napoleonic Wars.

Schill's eleven officers

August 1932 •German

La leyenda del tambor

September 1981 •Spanish

In June 1808, Napoleon's troops invade Spain. A boy named Isidro will beat his drum in the mountains of El Bruc, making the French army believe that thousands of armed men are waiting to confront them.

H.M.S. Defiant

April 1962 •English

Defiant's crew is part of a fleet-wide movement to present a petition of grievances to the Admiralty. Violence must be no part of it. The continual sadism of Defiant's first officer makes this difficult, and when the captain is disabled, the chance for violence increases.

The Pride and the Passion

July 1957 •English

During the Napoleonic Wars, when the French have occupied Spain, some Spanish guerrilla soldiers are going to move a big cannon across Spain in order to help the British defeat the French. A British officer is there to accompany the Spanish and along the way, he falls in love with the leader's girl.

Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.

April 1951 •English

Captain Horatio Hornblower leads his ship HMS Lydia on a perilous transatlantic voyage, during which his faithful crew battle both a Spanish warship and a ragged band of Central American rebels.

Sharpe's Peril

November 2008 •English

Our story begins at the end of Sharpe's Challenge. Sharpe and Harper are en route to Madras when they encounter a baggage train from the East India Company traveling through hostile territory. Chitu, a legendary bandit leader in control of the area, strikes fear in the members of the party. When an attack occurs Sharpe takes control of the situation, leading the group 300 miles through enemy territory and training the disorganized, rag-tag group to be proper soldiers. Despite all these responsibilities, Sharpe still manages to find time for a little romance...

Bequest to the Nation

April 1973 •English

Set before the Battle of Trafalgar, this is the story of relationship between Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton during the Napoleonic Wars.

Bruc: The Manhunt

December 2010 •Catalan

Spain, 1808. The Napoleonic Army suffers its first defeat at the hands of a single man: a drummer boy who used the Montserrat mountains to echo his drums and send the enemy troops into a panicked retreat. When the news reaches Napoleon, he furiously orders the captain of the Imperial Guard to bring back the head of the young hero responsible for his army's defeat…

Sharpe's Company

May 1994 •English

Spain 1812 The Duke of Wellington plans to lay siege to Badajoz. A murderous figure from Sharpe's past uses a beautiful woman revenge himself on Sharpe, now the father of her child. Sharpe has reason to be happy, he holds his daughter for the first time and is given command of the Light Company again, together with his captaincy. But will his happiness be short lived?