All language subtitles for BBC.1990.eng

In my hour of misfortune,

I came to sit at the hearth
of the British people,

to petition justice.

For they took away
the dark red wine of my country.

My wife and son.

Their government's hollow behaviour
has forfeited all honour,

and sullied its flag.

I bequeath the horror
of my death to England.

Planted here on this hideous rock,

where it rains nothing but salt.

They hope to douse my spirit.

But what will you achieve?

Nothing.

Because you have left me my mind,

which is sharp
and will spear history.

MAN: Napoleon wanted to control
people's minds.

He was an elitist, not a liberal.

WOMAN: Napoleon didn't love France,
he only ever loved himself.

Napoleon made France a police state.

His ambition crippled France.

Oh!

But I am in exile.
It is safe to blame me.

His imprint upon history is stained
with blood from Moscow to Haiti.

Napoleon was a dictator.
He was a dictator.

He was a dictator.

He betrayed the revolution.
He betrayed the revolution.

He betrayed the revolution.

I've had medicine once already.

I must defend myself.

I am merely a citizen of France,
I am merely a soldier.

Greatness was thrust upon...

Oh, you doctors.

You would promise life to a corpse
if only it would take pills.

Sir, you have a fever,
you need treatment.

I did not seek this position,
you asked for me.

Then go.

If I have dysentery,

it's because Sir Hudson Lowe
has me drinking brackish water.

He's trying to kill me by stealth.

What is the news, Las Cases?

The news of the Empress
and your son, the King of Rome?

There is no news.
That is, we are still awaiting news.

What is the news of me?
What are they saying about me?

You're hiding the paper.
It is nothing, nothing at all.

Just what you would expect
from Bourbon propaganda.

Well, they write here that you
are a despot, the scourge of Europe,

and that liberal ideals are
all the rage in your absence.

These Bourbon liars.

As if to be free, it was simply
enough to desire freedom

and then everybody could be free.

These ideals that come
so easily to the pen

were forged in France's revolution,

cemented in the blood
of her battles.

Such ideals will become
the morality of all nations.

Liberal ideals might even
flourish in England.

How easily they forget.

It was I who saved the revolution
when it was falling to pieces.

No matter what lies they publish,

their persecution only renders me
a messiah.

The revolution
will always be inseparable

from the name of Napoleon.

You're from Paris, aren't you?
Yes.

Paris, you see.

Had you wanted to be
Emperor of France,

you'd have had no problem
with your birthplace.

But I was from Corsica.

To be of foreign origin
was like being a bastard.

Something that had to be hidden.

Not that I'm ashamed.

What sort of man disowns
his birthplace?

We weren't poor, we weren't rich.

I was an ordinary boy.

But I knew I was destined
for greatness.

I can still remember
the smell of the land.

The light.

Where's Las Cases?
He's taking breakfast.

Did you sleep well, Las Cases?
It's the air here.

I haven't slept soundly
since we left France. Mm.

This morning I found myself
wondering about Corsica.

About Corsica? Mm.

What would have happened
if I'd stayed in Corsica?

If you'd stayed in Corsica?

I'd have been a nobody. Ah, I see.

The point you're making is that
it was your destiny to leave?

I didn't sleep well.

Well, we could have worked.
You should have called me.

I am reduced to reading books
in an endless journey of words.

Give me a battle!

All these words, your words,

they will be your defence
against the historians.

Yes. That will be
my greatest victory.

Immortality.

My boyhood was...

My boyhood was spent at the best
military school in France,

at Brienne.

From nine years old,
I had to be French.

Can you imagine,

if I'd wanted the company
of Corsicans?

Obviously, I didn't go back.

As an officer of the revolution,
I returned to help Paoli.

But his refuge in England
had made him soft.

I wanted Corsica to become
completely French.

He still wanted self-government.

He betrayed Corsica.

Inevitably, we came into conflict
with one another.

My family property was lost.

Corsica, it's a wart
on the face of France.

Of all the insults heaped upon me,

the one, the one
that could always get through

was to be called "the Corsican".

To understand Napoleon, I think
you have to understand Corsica

and the Corsicans.

The Corsicans, you see, have always
had a very strong belief in destiny.

They believe that each person
has a particular destiny

all through their life.

Napoleon believed that his destiny
was to be great

and he often spoke of it.

Can you imagine,
I was so thin then...

But Corsicans have always
produced warrior heroes.

Some were military leaders,

but some were also
enlightened rulers

and law givers.

Like Pasquale Paoli, who gave
Corsica a democratic constitution

in the mid 18th century.

As a young man,
Napoleon idolised Paoli.

He wanted to be like him.

He was in Corsica to greet Paoli
when he returned

at the time of the French Revolution
after 20 years of exile in England.

He thought he could play
a great role

as Paoli's right-hand man
in Corsica,

but that was a mistake.

He misjudged the situation,

and Civil War broke out,

and Napoleon found himself
on the losing side.

HE HUMS

Toulon was the turning point for me.

Before then, I was only a captain.

After Toulon, they made me up
to a Brigadier General.

Do you remember, there were...

18,000 counter-revolutionaries,
mostly English, holed up in Toulon?

There were mountains to the north,

there were fortifications
to the east.

And the English fleet
in the port below.

I had a plan. My idea was not
to attack Toulon itself at all.

Instead, we took the high ground
to the south of the fleet

and then bombarded them
in the port below.

They would have to set sail
or be destroyed.

Toulon would fall.

Toulon fell.

And I was bloodied.

By an English pike
to the inner thigh,

if memory serves me.

A half pike.

Victory was mine.

Well...

Well.

NAPOLEON HUMS A TUNE

Napoleon would have us believe
that he saved the French Revolution.

But Napoleon always had his eye
on the main chance.

He very carefully avoided
any postings where there was

no chance for glory or where
he might get forgotten, although

he himself didn't mind forgetting
or losing the occasional army.

He left one in Egypt in 1799,
arriving back in Paris just

after the news of a great victory
that he'd won over the Turks.

Now, it's very difficult
to court-martial a successful

general, even if he has just
deserted his army.

Once back in Paris, Napoleon began
mixing with politicians who didn't

like the way the revolutionary
government was shaping up.

Those politicians thought that
they could use Napoleon for

a coup d'etat.

In fact, Napoleon used them.

Morning, sir.

So, has he slept at all?

He just had a bad night.
He's had them before.

He hardly slept at all
while on campaign.

But how would you know?

I thought that you'd only recently
become so well acquainted.

I was present at the moment
of the Emperor's abdication.

Well, when did you come back
from England?

What?

Well...

..I thought that you weren't in
France in the revolution.

I was a nobleman, which was devoid
of its traditional advantages

for a period in France.

I visited England
but I hurried back to

my own country as soon as it was
civilised to do so.

I lost track of your movements.

That was all.

London was hard work.

Whilst there I wrote the Atlas.

No doubt you've heard of it?

Oh.

I'm led to believe it has sold
a considerable number of copies.

Oh, you're being modest, Las Cases.

No, it wasn't only writing
that occupied your time.

Weren't you on the expeditionary
force that sailed to Quiberon?

When nobody got off the boat.

Be careful with those papers.

I've just put them in order.

We cannot afford any further
delay to my work.

I hadn't realised he was so young.

24 when he won his first battle,

29 when he conquered Egypt.

30 when he took over France.

Well, that is why I'm here,
to ensure, through his own words

of course, that
the Emperor's fame endures.

You were saying,
when the call came...?

Well, when the question of
the Emperor's removal was discussed

I immediately asked permission
to participate in his fate.

Of course.

What an opportunity, eh?

What foresight!

He was amazed.

I shall never forget it.

"Do you know where your offer
might lead you?"

Those were his exact words.

"I have made no calculation of it,"
I replied.

My offer was accepted.

So...

Here you are on St Helena, eh?

Some men are like candles.

I'm not sure I understand
what you mean.

Well, they burn with this light
while other men spend their lives

waiting to be consumed by it.

That is not my case.

I am here because I've enjoyed
modest success as a writer.

Surely, you would not wish his deeds
to go unrecorded?

Oh, no, no. I'm sure you're right.

I was in Egypt, you know?

In the English fleet.

Yes, I believe you have told me
that story before.

How would you describe
your style of writing?

Describe?

Why?

I'm curious.

Do I ask how you cure your patients?

I am a writer. You are a doctor.

Let us leave it that way.

How can you describe such a gift?

It alights, defying analysis.

Well, he will be waiting.

Ah, Las Cases...

You know that he thinks that
the Empress will visit him

here with his son?

Yes.

Well, what is your inclination
from the English camp?

Is there any truth to these rumours?

Well, I'm worried the effect
they have on him,

his morale.

We should be careful not to
raise his hopes.

I am certain there is no chance
of any such visit taking place.

My only concern is to protect him,

so that he can finish this most
important work without distractions.

Ahem. Oh, he's waiting?

I'm coming!

Ah, Las Cases?

Oh.

MEN SINGING IN FRENCH

Soldiers...

..of the army of Italy!

You are ill-fed.

And almost naked.

Your patience and courage
do you honour.

I shall lead you to the most
fertile plains on Earth.

There you will find great cities...

..and rich provinces.

There you will find honour...

..glory...

and wealth!

FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

Morning.

Morning, sir.

So how was your ride?

Ride?

The horses barely have a chance to
stretch their legs

on this rock, O'Meara.

When I think of the rides
I have undertaken, across mountains

covered with cloud through
the dust of Europe's great plains,

the horses I've lost in battle,
the distances my army has marched...

Where is my illustrious
memorialist?

THEY LAUGH

I was still a boy when
I discovered this talent

that was to make me the most
famous man in France.

I had an instinct for war.

I understood its pure geometry.
I loved to calculate.

I constantly reinvented.

Planning.

Like a woman before labour.

THEY CHUCKLE

I fired men to fight for the chance
to share in my destiny.

So you had them march
to music from the opera?

Yes!

Yes, I did.

Yes.

Oh, death, well...

It has taken some of my finest men.

Generals who were my best friends.

And the battles that we won...

..against the Austrians at
Ulm and Austerlitz.

The Prussians at Jena.

We conquered Europe.

We changed the face of the world.

You're my best friend in the world.

We were France's finest men.

Ha-ha-ha!

You had another night in the
English drinking clubs, O'Meara.

Don't you lecture me on my health!

Well, I am the doctor.

It's expected of me, eh?

It's the walk up the path.

My head wasn't ready for it.

Oh, you're an honest man.

What do you think of me?

What do I think of you?

Mm-hm.

I think you're ruthless.

Well, the dead of one of my battles
could always be made up.

A few wild nights in Paris.

Does that offend
the sanctity of life?

Well, I'm a doctor.
I'm not a priest. I...

I wasn't thinking of the men
your ambition has killed,

but of your brother.

My brother?

You forced your brother Jerome
to divorce his wife.

Well, he was underage.

He had deserted ship.

Anyway, she was an American
and came without a throne.

I had to think of France.

And of her empire.

He thanked me later.

And what of his wife?

I never met her.

I...

I've been hearing these...

..voices.

Perhaps it's your conscience.

No.

Do you ever think that
you made a mistake?

The greatest mistake I ever made...

..was with the colonies.

I should've let them
keep self-government with

their own black leaders
like Toussaint Louverture.

I should not have re-enslaved them.

Look after yourself, Doctor.

Look after yourself.

"People wanted me to be Washington,

"a great liberal.

"Give me America
and I will be Washington.

"But put Washington in a France
which was crumbling to the core

"and invaded from outside,

"he would've done the same as I."

BIRDSONG

So will you not take lunch?

No.

Well, he's still asleep.

I'm not sure he'll eat today.

That was an extremely fine cheese.

You would've enjoyed it.

Come here.

Where have you been?

I-I came earlier.
You let me sleep!

I-I-I was told...
We should have been working.

I get no peace at night
but that is when you sleep

so that we have to make
use of the day.

Oh, look at the shadows
creeping across the floor!

But I have been working.

You have been working?

Yes, catching up in my notes.

And what will all your notes be
worth when the source is dead?

What will your catching up
be worth then?

But I... Or will you just
make it up?

I... Is that how history is
going to remember me,

as a figment of a righteous
imagination?!

I was instructed not to...
You were instructed?

Who gave you such instructions?!

I have dysentery. No more.

Oh, the light's gone now!

Well, there are still two hours
if we go outside.

Next time somebody tells you
I am ill, Las Cases,

and my door is shut, you knock.

I...understand.

It's beautiful.

I want you to have it.

Oh, no, I couldn't.
It must be worth a fortune.

200,000 francs.

It is a gift.

Once I could've given you
any order you wanted.

Now I trade in baubles.

You insult me by refusing?

Oh, no, no, no. I...

I didn't mean it.

Just that I don't know
what to think.

Josephine's daughter wore
that at my coronation.

When your book is a success and
you're attending fashionable

dinners, you must find a pretty neck
to wear it, Las Cases.

Josephine...

Now, there was a woman who had
mastered the art of extravagance.

HE LAUGHS

But she could conduct herself
with such grace.

Even when lying down in bed.

She must have been the most
difficult woman I ever met.

She would say no to everything
I said.

It's not because she disagreed.

Just as a defence.

"Would you like to go to Malmaison?"

"No.

"I mean, yes."

I loved her.

Yet she made me lose
my faith in women.

She betrayed me.

A son by Josephine would have
completed my happiness.

But I needed an heir
to carry on the succession.

Marie-Louise.

Ah, she was sweet.

And innocent.

She was only 18.

She would say to me,

"I've come. I want more,"
then blush.

HE LAUGHS

She gave me an heir.

Well, she was the niece of
the last King of France.

Napoleon loved the trappings
of empire.

He wanted to establish a dynasty.

He created a court full of courtiers
to flatter him.

Josephine is alleged to have
spent more money than

Marie Antoinette, the guillotined
wife of Louis XVI,

much criticised for
her extravagance.

And yet Napoleon criticised
what he called

the decadence of the courts
of the 18th century.

He thought the French state had been
made effeminate and weak

by the unnatural influence of the
women of the 18th-century salon.

His state was to be, above all,
virile and masculine.

And women at his court were to be
decorative and docile.

Paradoxically, as a young man
Napoleon had been strongly

attracted to a woman very much
in the mould of the 18th-century

salon hostesses, Josephine,

an older woman, a woman with power
and patronage to dispense.

As he grew older and acquired
his own power,

the attraction waned.

But women were clearly fascinated
by Napoleon.

Everyone pays tribute to his charm
and his charisma.

But when matters of politics
intervened, Napoleon could be

cynical and ruthless in his dealings
with men and women alike.

He divorced Josephine to marry the
daughter of the Emperor of Austria.

By the criteria of
the English government,

every throne in Europe would be
shaken to its foundations

if I were not
a legitimate sovereign.

THUNDER

Oh, this island!

William III was a usurper
of the English throne as he was

brought in chiefly by the aid
of foreign bayonets.

George I, hoisted to power
by a few nobles.

But I, Napoleon Bonaparte,
was called to the throne

of France by the votes
of over four million Frenchmen.

So what is legitimacy?

"I, Napoleon Bonaparte,

"was called to the throne of France

"by the votes of
four million Frenchmen.

"So what is legitimacy?

"I rest my case."

BAND PLAYS LA MARSEILLAISE

I created order

and harmony.

I restored the Church.

I gave France a belief in its laws.

I needed a symbol of power.

The crown of France
was lying in the gutter.

I simply passed by and pick it up.

The world was on its knees,
begging me to govern it.

The coronation of 1804 was really
an attempt to congregate

various levels of French
society around a crown.

Although I doubt at this stage
whether Napoleon was

seriously considering hereditary
monarchy, he was however very

keen on entering the European
club of kings and queens.

And partly in pursuit of this
he put his relatives on the various

empty thrones of Europe.

His brother Louis was given
the throne of Holland.

Another brother, Joseph,
the throne of Spain.

European kingdoms were being
transformed into a system

of outdoor relief
for the Bonapartist family.

And in 1808 he gilded
this imperial edifice with

a system of aristocrats, counts,
dukes and barons in an attempt

to confer an aristocratic prestige
upon the regime.

It never really succeeded.

The pure royalists continued to
treat Bonaparte with some contempt.

WAVES LAP

France is my only passion,
O'Meara.

Do you believe that?

Yes.

She has never betrayed me.

I think I shall soon be free...

STONE SPLASHES

..of this rock.

Hudson Lowe knows he cannot
keep me here forever.

I think I shall go to America.

After all, I did give them
Louisiana.

And I shall be reunited with my son.

BIRDS SQUAWK

LAUGHTER

What?

This is how my countrymen saw me.

Tunnelling under the sea to pop up
in England like some mole.

O'MEARA LAUGHS

It's what we were all
led to believe -

how your hunger for power was
so insatiable that even

after your fleet was beaten at
Trafalgar, you'd stop at nothing!

I'll never understand the English.

I agreed a peace with England
in the Treaty of Amiens

and it was your ministers that broke
that peace and declared war.

Why couldn't she just live with
a revolutionised France?

Because England had been at war with
revolutionary France for ten years.

We all thought that Boney
would invade.

I was going to invade,
but not through some tunnel.

I was going to come in on barges,
3,000 vessels coming in

on the tide, 20 men in a horse
apiece, artillery at the ready.

This was the army that was
to win at Austerlitz.

It was the finest France ever had.

Had it all planned.

Four days' march would've seen me
in London.

Oh, you underestimate the English.

Your first step onto English
soil would've been

a signal for a million men
to take up arms!

Even if you had triumphed,

they would've burnt London rather
than let it fall into French hands.

No!

Remember Moscow burnt
around your ears.

True.

But the English aren't Russians.

If I were a Russian,

if I'd had a Russian
heart in my army,

I'd rule the world by now.

No, no, no, the English...

The English are far too fond of
money to destroy property.

You were offended when I called you
"a nation of shopkeepers".

I simply meant that you were
men of commerce, of trade.

Trade is the basis
of English wealth.

It was not intended as an insult.

No, the ordinary people would have
welcomed me as a liberator

who demanded no more taxes,

only offered the hope
of a new constitution.

I'd have let them
abolish royalty, nobility,

and given themselves liberty,

freedom, equality.

At last, old enemies could have
been like family.

You take an Irishman's word for it,
I...

..I remember when France had that
fellow General Hoche,

to Ireland to export your
French Revolution

and then the English came

and slaughtered anybody they thought
might have collaborated with them.

Oh, they can be very vindictive,
the English.

Believe me, they would have burnt
London street by street.

Careful!

And now, I... I drink with them.

HE SPUTTERS

Oh!

Oh, what else is a man to do

with these endless evenings?

HE SIGHS

You rest there for a moment,
I'll call for Marchand.

No, no, let...

No, let...

Oh...no...

No, let... Let me be. I...

..I have lots of good friends
amongst the English.

HE CHUCKLES

Are you all right?

HE LAUGHS, COUGHS

It...it makes me unfit, that's all.

Hudson Lowe has it in for me.

When I first came here as your
doctor, I was fascinated to meet

the famous Napoleon who'd killed
his way through Europe. I...

..I did not know I'd grow
to admire you.

Now I'm confused by my loyalties.

My concern for your health
has alarmed the English

and they confuse concern
with loyalty.

You know how they look for plots.

You're leaving.

Not if it is within my power
to stay.

HE SIGHS
I have always trusted you, O'Meara.

Will they finally let me
die quietly? No.

You will have a new doctor,
he's a Corsican.

A Corsican? His name is Antommarchi.

Do you know him?

I believe his speciality is anatomy.

His speciality, what does that mean?

Well, as far as I can understand,

his work to date has been in
the dissecting rooms.

You mean he is intimate
with corpses?

So I am to be looked after
by a dissector.

I didn't know Hudson Lowe had
that depth of irony within him.

I have never met a man
who puts himself

so securely behind bars
of his own making.

Ha!

He barely dares sleep for fear
that you might escape

whilst his eyes are closed.

He shall surely drive
himself insane.

WAVES LAP

Napoleon's big problem was
beating the British.

He thought about invasion but
the problems of getting an army

across the Channel were horrendous.

So he thought he could bring
Britain to her knees

by destroying her economy.

Napoleonic France created
an European Economic Community,

in which France was
the dominant partner.

And through two decrees,
Napoleon tried to shut off

that community to British exports.

But the new British Industrial
Revolution was creating

the things that
the Europeans wanted.

Napoleon couldn't keep them out.

He just didn't realise -
and neither did the British

government of the day,
for that matter -

they neither realised the strength
of the new British economy.

The year 1805 was a real turning
point in European history.

The Battle of Trafalgar confirmed
Britain as a sea-based superpower.

Whilst Napoleon confirmed
France as a land-based power,

by driving his armies into
central Europe,

defeating the Austrians at the
Battle of Austerlitz, near Vienna.

By 1808,
France dominated the continent,

either directly
or through her allies.

But 1808 was also a turning
point for Napoleon.

His invasion of Spain,

another attempt to defeat English
penetration of the continent.

The mass resistance of the Spanish
against the invading French

armies imposed enormous strains
and tensions upon the regime.

No wonder Napoleon referred to
it as "the Spanish ulcer".

It ate away at the foundations
of the regime itself.

It was Madame de Stael
who wrote in 1811,

"France is a garrison where boredom
and military discipline rule."

She was right.

FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING

Marchand was worried you might
miss dinner. Have you been out?

I have been working on the book.

Do you remember comparing
yourself to Washington?

HE SIGHS

O'Meara is leaving.

Leaving?

Hudson Lowe has ordered him
off the island.

But I don't understand,
O'Meara is one of them.

Lowe will do anything to isolate me,
it's a game.

He starts these rumours...

..that I'm to be released,
sent to England or America.

I am left with nothing other than to
keep you all at arm's distance.

What will I do without O'Meara?!

How will I know if
the Empress has arrived?

For all I know, she's here already.

Here, on St Helena?

It is obvious they don't trust
O'Meara any more,

what if she has made the journey
and has been detained by Lowe?

Who knows what lies
he is entertaining her with!

What if he has told her
I will not see her?!

I do not think that such a thing
as her presence

on this island could be kept secret.

What are you trying to tell me?

Nothing.

She's coming to surprise me -

that is the only explanation
for her silence.

I have written
entreating her to visit.

Seeking news of my son.

I hear nothing.
She's not a cruel woman.

Don't torture yourself
with such thoughts.

This news has upset me.
I have no appetite for food.

We must work whilst
we still have the time.

I have been accused of taking away
my fellow citizens' liberty,

but I doubt if any of them suffered
such a prison such as this.

Hudson Lowe will not destroy me!

And the world will remember you
through this book.

I am loath to mention this matter
at this particular time,

but I am forced to do so,
nonetheless.

It happens to concern O'Meara.

I have reason to believe that he was
planning to write his own book

about our time here.

Now, surely it is better that there
should be one true record

and that it should be
set down in style.

They're all writing books!

All?

Oh, Count Montholon and
General Gourgaud -

everyone except General Bertrand.

Even Marchand keeps a diary.

Marchand...?

But yours will be the best,
Las Cases,

because you are the famous writer.

I am not concerned for myself,
it's just that the reader

may be saturated with fanciful
variations on your deeds.

And it would be a shame
if the scribblings of a doctor,

every little cough and splutter,
were to be published first.

No single man can
know my whole mind,

though there are those who claim to.

Such men must be cleverer than I
if they think

they knew my real intentions.

I sometimes think I didn't
know them myself.

For years, I worked 16 hours a day.

I used to dictate to six
secretaries at once

and do you know how I could do this?

Because I filed away ideas in
my mind like a chest of drawers.

When I wanted to interrupt
one occupation,

I simply shut its drawer
and opened another.

When I wanted to sleep,
I simply shut them all and I slept.

I was the most powerful man
in France.

Europe.

I could have made you
a Duke, Las Cases.

I would have made you a Duke.

You could have had Pedemonte,
or Napoli.

HE LAUGHS

Ten years of revolution have not
changed the French at all.

They don't love liberty and
equality, what they love is honour.

That's why I gave them
public distinctions.

A legion of honour.

I understood the public mood.

Every day, I'd have the papers read
and analysed for anything

that might influence public opinion.

Philosophy, religion,
political ideas, etc,

anything that might cause a ripple
among the masses.

That's why I was successful.

Napoleon was mistaken.

You couldn't wipe away ten years
of revolution.

Liberalism in France was growing,
not withering.

An essential weakness of his regime
was its inability to tolerate

any opposition, even discussion.

Napoleon wanted to control
what people thought,

as well as what they did.

But his detailed files
on people's movements

and his attempt to
censor their opinions

only resulted in a culture
characterised by philistinism.

And anyway, the criticism went on.

Napoleon refused to listen
to public opinion.

He hated the key liberal right
and Madame de Stael, for example,

but his attempts to silence her
and to send her into exile failed.

Only after his fall from power
did Napoleon turn to the Liberals

and ask for help.

But by then, it was too late.

Napoleon's state arguably was
the first modern police state.

He used his police to keep an eye on
the threats from the political left

and that threats from
the political right.

He also used his police to ensure
that he got his annual supply

of conscripts for his armies.

Napoleon allegedly said,

"I have an income of
half a million men a year."

Now that's one quote that didn't
get into Las Cases.

Nobody loves peace more than I do.

Each of my battles was a diplomatic
step toward peace in Europe.

What my enemies call peace...

HE COUGHS

..is another name for my
destruction.

For me, peace is simply
their disarmament,

so who is the more moderate?

The country I fear...

..is Russia.

I do not want war with Russia.

I should not have stayed at
the Kremlin for 35 days.

I should have left after 14.

You were unlucky with the weather.

HE LAUGHS

I remember reading that
Voltaire said the Russian winter

began in November, not December.

But I've never trusted his stories.

HE COUGHS

I went to war to bring about
a general peace,

because Tsar Alexander broke
our alliance against the English.

HE COUGHS

I thought if I could deliver
a blow at the very

heart of his empire...

If I could just strike at Moscow...

It was the most sublime...

..the most terrifying sight
the world has ever seen -

that city, submerged under
a sea of rolling flame.

HE COUGHS

But what did Alexander gain
by burning his capital?

100 years from now...

..Europe, and especially England,
will regret my failure,

when they see the finest countries
of Europe overrun.

They will say, "Napoleon was right."

The French people will remember
my achievements.

They're there for everyone to see.

Nobody can deny my achievements.

I fear your enemies will try
to do just that.

Then my enemies will find they bite
against granite.

My history is made of facts,
which no words can destroy.

Well, let us make a list
of your achievements.

Well, there were the great harbours
of Antwerp and Cherbourg.

The canals linking the Dutch ports
with the Mediterranean.

And the roads you built over the
Alps were grander than anything...

You don't understand!

I have sacrificed everything
for my dream.

I wanted to unite
the great European interests,

these nations united by geography
but separated by politics.

I wanted to make all of these
peoples one single national body.

One race European family with...

..with France at its hub.

Universal education,
one constitution, one currency.

A European Supreme Court,
one set of laws.

If I had succeeded,
how might Europe be now?

And no-one dare question that I was
the greatest man known to history.

KNOCK AT THE DOOR
Yes?

Yes, Marchand.

I'm sorry for disturbing your game,
Your Majesty,

but Governor Lowe has asked if Count
Las Cases could call upon him.

At this hour of the night?

Yes, sir.

Inform Mr Hudson Lowe that
the gentlemen will finish

their game first.

Yes, sir.

HE SIGHS

Who will I play now?

I won't be...

..needing you any more tonight,
Marchand.

HE EXHALES HEAVILY

Hold me, Josephine.

Oh, it's so cold in here. Mm...

Why won't you hold me?

I will be with you soon.

And my brave generals.

We are drawn to the marvellous...

..the unknown, as an irresistible
attraction.

As I sit here, I'm back in Paris
and about to enter the opera.

I can see the public.

I can hear their acclaim, I can see
the actors walking across the stage.

I can hear the music.

Why can I not leap across
the distance of the centuries?

Why can I not see the future...

..as well as the past?

Is the one more extraordinary,
more miraculous than the other?

HE SIGHS

I am here.

I'm only a man.