Emperor's new clothes? Why France is ready to embrace Napoleon again

A Hollywood war epic about the world's most famous Frenchman - directed by an Englishman was bound to contain its share of historical inaccuracies.

- Angelique Chrisafis

So Ridley Scott's big-budget battle extravaganza, Napoleon, which opens worldwide next week, has inevitably seen every aspect of its trailers scrutinised in France.

From the age of the actors (Joaquin Phoenix is older than the military leader he plays and Vanessa Kirby is younger than his wife, Joséphine), to a scene in which Napoleon's cannons fire at the Egyptian pyramids when in reality his troops were miles away, nothing has escaped.

But, far from shunning the Hollywood treatment, French historians, film clubs and Napoleonic re-enactment societies are embracing the film as a chance to address Napoleon's controversial story and make history accessible to a wider audience. Scores of sold-out special screenings will be held across France, with hosts and audiences dressed in period costume, and historians leading debates and dissecting the film.