In 1821, on St. Helena, Napoleon loyalists switch the emperor with a look-alike ship hand and send the little tyrant secretly off to Paris to revive the Old Order. I love improbable movies like `The Emperor's New Clothes,' especially the docudramas that feed our lust to know the insides of great figures.

You may not know Ian Holm's Napoleon that well because Holm concentrates more on the mannerisms than the script. Yet the best lines are good, such as when the emperor, disguised as a seaman, boards a ship and says, "A position above decks would have been more appropriate.' Or when his love interest, Pumpkin, responds after he tells her his true identity: "You're not Napoleon! I hate Napoleon! He has filled France with widows and orphans! He took my husband. I won't let him take you." There are truths there to make a revolution.

Our hero tries his hand at selling melons, marshalling his crew with his great leadership rhetoric, and wins the love of Pumpkin, her son, and himself after 6 years of humiliating, loveless exile.

When the film opens with the young son showing colored slides of the emperor's life on a primitive projector, you can feel the romance and the warmth for the rest of the film. When you wake with Napoleon on ship to see a stunning sunrise, you know Alessio Gelsini Torresi is a cinematographer worth watching.

This sweet film, softly extolling the grandeur of simple love, takes it final cue from Candide, where that weary traveler laid his weary heart in his garden. This Napoleon had said, "I place my trust in only two things: my will and the love of the people of France." He finds now a redemptive will to survive and, without egotism or violence, a love of one person to satisfy an empire.

This is good old-fashioned romance, history, and fiction all in one small but unforgettable film, a bit like the subject himself.

I watched the first screening of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' at the London Film Festival. The film seemed to disappear from the public eye after that, even though I personally thought that it was a good film.

In summary, this film is about Napoleon who wants to get his lost power back, and he pretends he is a peasant in order to eventually rise up and seize it. During this time, he meets a woman he falls in love with. The film explores how his life evolves over the longing of love and power, and there is the realization that he cannot achieve both.

This film is moving and witty. One of the most memorable scenes was when Napoleon tries to convince others that he is Napoleon, but he is not believed, and they take him to an asylum where there are many others there that believe that they are Napoleon.

I was surprised that this film did not get respected; it is a forgotten gem.

This is a carefully crafted, beautifully acted "what if" story about Napoleon Bonaparte. It is literate, inventive, and has a beautiful music score to boot. The female lead, Iben Hjejle, is a revelation! I wish she would make more films outside of Denmark.

The story centers around Napoleon's exile after Waterloo, and a plot to have him escape (using a double), return to France to raise an army and regain his throne. But something unforeseen happens along the way, when his double, back on St. Helena, decides he is enjoying being Emperor Napoleon too much to give it up. That leaves the real Emperor Napoleon, secretly back in Paris, with a problem: nobody believes he is who he says he is...

Let's not reveal any more of the plot in this outstanding film (provided you can enjoy a movie with no nudity and cursing, and virtually no violence).

Magical arthouse gem (released here on Paramount's "Classic" label) which deserves a wider release...and rescue from the curse of small theater presentation...(I saw it improperley masked on a tiny screen which appeared to have a very vociferous nest of fledglings behind it...and the film still glowed...my first raves have to be for the superb photography and inspired digital wizardy which made the audience's journey back to 1821 so enchantingly real). Very clever and charming script manages to manipulate the myths, legends, and cliches surrounding Historys favorite mini meglomaniac and find a spark of humanity missing from most movie representations (except for Abel Gance's masterpiece...which is beautifully saluted in this movie's final snowy scene). Ian Holm sinks into the role of the exciled emperor and the burlesque turn of the galley swabber recruited to impersonate him with equal aplomp...(to be honest I would have relished a bit more of the impersonators delicious descent into debauchery). Excellent supporting performances, beautiful score, and unique unsentimental portrait of the period (with unvarnished representations of 1820's undertaking, hygine, and nontreatment of mental illness). A film to treasure if just for the gentle subtlety of it's central romance...including a tryst on a rooftop overlooking Paris during a thunderstorm which ranks as one of the loveliest shots in years. A sweet smart little gem which belongs in the collection of every cinema connosuire

A big measure of how I rate a movie comes from how I feel at the end of it. I was feeling really good after this one.

Quick plot outline: Napoleon (an awesome Ian Holm) is exiled on the isle of St. Helena, but someone has been found who looks exactly like him. So he has concocted a simple plan: have him and the look-alike switch places, and then after Napoleon arrives in Paris, have the fake announce to the world that he is a fraud, in essence telling the world Napoleon has escaped and therefore paving the way for Napoleon to return to the throne. But the plan doesn't go as predicted: the ship Napoleon travels on sails by France for one, and the fraud is not quick to give up his oh-so dreary exile. When Napoleon does arrive in Paris, as per the plan, he stays with Madame Truchaut, the wife (Iben Hjejle) of a now deceased soldier who had started a fruit-selling business after his military career had ended. Napoleon and Madame Truchaut get to know each other and her kindness begins to chip away at his hardened heart. Needless to say while this is happening, the fake is not quick to tell to the world he is an impostor as he's been cleaning the poop decks of Napoleon's ships for years. And the real Napoleon begins to see the real cost that his reign cost France.

The basic story is not new but it is done really well. Ian Holm is a VERY believable Napoleon, always walking like a soldier, talking in a straight and curt manner, and in general giving the impression he was born in a war room. He's also quite funny as Eugene Lenormand, the fake who's playing Napoleon. The film could have easily been a flop - mixing a love story with Napoleon is obviously a sticky wicket. But it doesn't get too serious for it's own good, or too funny. It's a great mix. The film doesn't spend too much time on the fake, which it easily could have for laughs. The story is about the real Napoleon, and it stays focused. There is also a great scene where a rival for Madame Truchaut's affections, a doctor (an unctuous Tim McInnerny), tricks Napoleon into coming to a mental institution, where Napoleon sees a whole bunch of crazies pretending to be him. He looks at himself: is this the legacy he left France? Is he looking at himself and not liking what he sees? It's a cool scene. It makes it all the more powerful as the doctor knows his identity, and seems to get a twisted yet humbling satisfaction from humiliating and defeating the great Napoleon, not to mention freeing up Madame Truchaut for himself.

But I was still smiling a lot through the movie, and that's something I don't find a lot these days. Maybe you will too. Highly recommended.

"The Emporer's New Clothes" is a revisionist historical romantic comedy which tells of Napoleon Bonaparte's escape from exile on St. Helena and return to France to reclaim his throne. Traveling incognito, Bonaparte (Holm) hooks up with a comely widow Pumpkin (Hjejle) who takes some of the starch out of the "Little Corporal's" skivvies while setting his crusty old heart aglow. A charming period piece with exotic locations, this film pairs a tour de force by Holm with an all too rare performance by versatile beauty (Hjejle) in a happy mix of drama, subtle comedy, and light hearted romance. (B)

I probably would not have seen this movie if not for the rave reviews I read here. There were so many positive comments, it seemed I couldn't go wrong. You were all correct.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed this film. It was absolutely superb! The characters and story line were very good. It could have happened the way it was shown.

A wonderful, warm, charming, funny film. Don't miss this one. I gave it a 10/10.

I had the pleasure of seeing The Emperor's New Clothes. What a treat. The story was delightful, the cast sublime, the cinematography glorious, and the soundtrack one I would like to purchase...so, you can tell I loved everything about the film. The story is a lovely fairy tale and the best I've seen since the "Princess Bride."

Ian Holm plays Napoleon and is perfect, as are all his co-stars. There is so much I'd like to say about the film, but I don't want to give anything away since the film won't be out until later this Spring.

Run out to see this film if you crave a feel good movie that's intelligent, not sappy, and simply fun to watch. I have not been this satisfied with the ending of a film in ages. We talked about the film all the way home. By the way, the entire audience gave it a solid round of applause as the lights came up. That should say it all.

I sense some Oscar nods for this film in 2003. It's a hit.

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.

This movie was outstanding! A neat little conspiracy theory about the true last years of Napoleon Bonaparte. Ian Holm is fantastic as both Napoleon and Lenormand. The military strategy of watermelons is hilarious. If you missed this in the the theaters, you've got to rent it! 10/10!

The Emperor's New Clothes is a droll high-concept comedy: Napoleon finds a look-alike to replace him in his exile in Saint Helena, but his attempts to retake the throne are thwarted by his blooming relationship with a pretty widow.

The Emperor's New Clothes is pleasant fluff, elevated by a few canny scenes and by Ian Holm, a great actor we've seen in dozens of movies and yet every time disappears in the character, whether he is playing an ambulance-chaser lawyer or a traitorous android, a meek Hobbit or a royal physician. Here, for the third time in his career in the role of Bonaparte, Holm gives once again a note-perfect performance, mixing steel, pride and yearning for a second chance.

The script's main flaw is not milking its premise to full extent - the scenario of the fake Napoleon (Holm again, hilarious), a self-absorbed fool replacing the exiled emperor and obviously loving every minute of the deception, is ripe with comedic potential but explored only in a few passing scenes.

Filmed in the lovely Italian city of Turin - nicknamed "the little Paris" - as a stand-in for the French capital.

6,5/10

This film was a joy to watch. No deep meaning is to be had here, no lesson to be learned, just a wonderfully entertaining film. The acting is great and it is easy to get lost in the story. Ian Holm is wonderful as always. If you are just looking for a fun movie to watch this one is a great choice.

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.

I saw some excellent movies at last years London Film festival(November 2001) - including "Mullholland Drive" and "In the Bedroom", both Oscar contenders - but I have to say that "The Emperors New Clothes" was by far the most enjoyable.

Possible Spoiler:

The film follows the simple premise that Napoleon escaped from his exile on the Isle of St Helena, returned to Paris, declared his presence... and no one believed him.

What makes the movie special is Ian Holm. He has always produced great supporting performances through such diverse films as "Chariots of Fire", "The Madness of King George", "Alien" and most recently as the perfect Bilbo Baggins in "Lord of the Rings".

And to be fair it's not the first time he has played the Emperor Napoleon. There was that wonderful turn he did in "Time Bandits", where he declared that the only great men were smaller than five foot six, but that was just a cameo. This time he is central stage.

Playing not just Napoleon, but his double who enjoys the pleasures of being treated like the emperor rather too well, he gives a beautiful performance. He is so affecting that you don't feel at all uncomfortable when a much younger Iben Hjejle, who plays a recent widow, find herself attracted to him.

I wont say anymore except that the conclusion has one of the best feel-good endings I have seen in many a time.

As I was leaving the screening I overheard someone who was obviously involved in the marketing of the "Emperor's New Clothes" telling a friend that they were not sure about how they were going to sell the film. "What's your worry?", her friend replied, "It's a wonderful film!"

I'll go along with that.

I saw the trailer for The Emperor's New Clothes a few years ago, but it had such a short release in the theatres that I missed it when it came out. Thankfully, my local video store has finally purchased a copy that I could rent and take home to watch.

I was expecting a slapstick comedy. Far from it. Instead, I found a wonderfully subtle comedy/drama with an entertaining and intriguing plot along with excellent acting, direction, and cinematography. I was mesmerized from the very beginning of the film and it should have received a couple of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture as well as Best Actor for Ian Holm.

"Emporer's New Clothes" is a well done romance. It beguiles the mind of the audience. One can become lost in the reality of the era. He paranoia involved in Napolean's being is revealed in his character performance as well as this unusual story line. There is a very revealing scene toward the end of the picture in which he is thrust into a psychiatric "prison" and realizes his fate. The empathy that is developed by those surrounding him is remarkable. Cinematography is adequate, but it is not spectacular. The acting is superb. Costuming and set design is well done. It is a film that is definitely worth viewing. I give it a 7 out of 10. It quietly sipped by me when in the theaters, but is now available on DVD.

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.

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 small

theatres for months, I had to wait until October to see "The

Emperor's New Clothes," a far better movie and not at all limited to

art-house appeal, as the studio seemed to think.

Sir Ian Holm is brilliant, affecting, and engaging in his third turn as

the diminutive Emperor, and relative newcomer Iben Hjejle is a

perfect foil as the sweet yet tough-skinned "Pumpkin." But what

makes this film is not so much its wonderful cast and perfect

period settings, it's the visual magic of Alan Taylor, who opens and

closes the film with the candlelit wonder of an antique Magic

Lantern. In that nineteenth-century version of visual narrative, great

men rose from humble origins to "GLOIRE" in a few hand-painted

frames -- only, as Holm's Napoleon insists, "that's not how it

ended." It would be a crime to reveal how this film ends, but it's

how it unfolds which makes it shine -- what, after all, is an

Emperor? Is he a suit of clothes? An attitude? A pose? Holm's

double role as the emperor's doppelganger shines a new, comic,

yet serious light into this more than twice-told tale.

Napoleon Bonaparte (Ian Holm) is exiled in Saint Helena, after being defeated in Waterloo, and his loyal friends plot a daring plan to upraise Paris: Napoleon would swap place with the sailor and deck washer Eugene Lenormand (Ian Holm), and once in Paris with Napoleonic loyalists, Eugene would expose himself to the British troops. However, the ship where Napoleon is hidden does not harbor in Paris, and the impostor enjoys his new lifestyle and does not reveal his true identity. Meanwhile, Napoleon falls in love with Nicole 'Pumpkin' Truchaut (Iben Hjejle), the widow of a loyal soldier of his troops. 'The Emperor's New Clothes' is a great and delightful satire of the last years of Napoleon Bonaparte's life. The cast is magnificent, highlighting the performance of Ian Holm and the gorgeous Iben Hjejle (the young prostitute Liva Psilander of 'Mifune'). The reconstitution of the period and the photography of the streets of Paris are also amazing. The lunatics pretending to be Napoleon, symbol of crazy people, in the institution for mentally ill is one of the funniest parts of the movie. 'The Emperor's New Clothes' has comedy, drama and romance in right doses and is a great entertainment, recommended for the whole family. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'As Novas Roupas do Imperador' ('The Emperor's New Clothes')

Such a simple little story taken to extremes of intense gentleness, not seen very often in this age of cookie cutter histories and juke box melodrama. Ian Holm is never anything but splendid. It is not often one is given a chance to see history not as it was, but as it should have been.

I have wept at many a sad film, and a few novels, but this is the first time I have wept copious tears of joy. The ending is so happy, I cannot even now contain it as I enter these words. It is redemption, plain and simple. The reward most sought after in all providence, and the rarest to be attained. See this film and be changed.

Ian Holm brings his classic understated acting to the dual roles of Napoleon and his double Eugene.

Minor quibbles... at 70, Ian is a tad old to be playing a 52 year old, and his relationship with the thoroughly yummy Pumpkin (Iben Hjejle, who turned down the role of Arwen for the Lord of the Rings (?! now THERE's an alternate history for ya)) is, erm, best glossed over swiftly. And I know it's a movie, but no street in Paris in 1821 was EVER that clean. Apart from that... in every other respect, the soundtrack, editing, casting, costumes, script and tone, it's great fun, and a suitable movie for when you want to be able to watch something that doesn't have explosions, gun play, anything resembling explicit sex or cursing. You know, over Christmas and Thanksgiving when you're trapped in the house with elderly relatives.

Watch out for: Holm's face as his character peruses the booths selling Waterloo memoribilia; The 'melon attack plan' scene, which is going on my personal goodies reel and in which one glimpses what a blazing intellect Napoleon was when faced with a tactical and logistical problem; Iben's face as she addresses her dead husband (best crying I've seen by an actress in many moons); Holm's face as he realizes where the good Dr. Lambert (Tim McInnerny) has ditched him.

Eddie Marsan as Marchand is great - he gets one little bit that is priceless; all the rest of the supporting cast, including Nigel Terry (I didn't recognize him from John Boorman's Excalibur) are great.

Recommended.

This is a charming movie, a shame it didn't get more notice when it was in the theaters.

Ian Holm plays Napoleon who uses the old "switcheroo" to escape St. Helena.

But his substitute enjoys the job so much that Napoleon's escape is never announced, and he eventually dies leaving "the real Napoleon" loose in France without an army.

Ian Holm can just stand there and be terrific and in this movie he has a lot to chew on too. We loved it here. Wonderful, beautiful, costume drama/comedy with a great, big, open heart. Anyone is redeemable... amen. What a great theme!

I found this engaging comedy quite enjoyable and am not surprised that women find it marginally more compelling as it is about the softening of ambition and the allowing of others into ones emotional life.

It is only slightly disappointing that they ignore his bi-sexuality, but more than likely by this time, that wasn't a major part of his life any longer. Or perhaps they were just being "careful" so as not to disuade the more nervous from coming.

But Holm is so professional and enchanting in his two roles (as Napoleon's imposter who is to take his place in exile) that it is immediately clear just how talented and extraordinary an actor he is.

Chris Marlowe

Some Spoilers Below

I found this title in the Comedy section of my video rental store and decided to give it a try. It's not really a comedy but is a humorous fantasy about Napoleon Bonaparte trading places with a common seaman to get off the island of St. Helena and return to France. Ian Holm plays both Napoleon and his double.

This movie has a nice script, excellent acting, and is beautifully photographed. It holds the viewer's attention for the full 107 minutes. Though the plot is implausible, it is not preposterous as so many movies are today.

I never heard of this movie when it was first released, so it was a nice discovery in the video store. It probably would have had a wider audience if it had been shown on Masterpiece Theater or had been an HBO movie. Indeed, the production has the feel of a made for TV movie. Looking at the credits for Alan Taylor, it does appear that his previous efforts have been for network or cable TV.

One bright spot in the film is the performance of Iben Hjejle as Pumpkin. Although her falling for Napoleon is a little hard to believe, his choosing a life with her instead of re-taking power is entirely believable. I hope to see more of her in the future.