Line #73 Film/Waterloo


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7	->''"The throne? You know what the throne is, Ney? The throne is an overdecorated piece of furniture. It's what's behind the throne that counts."''
8	-->-- '''Napoleon'''
9
10	''Waterloo'' is a 1970 historical war film produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by Creator/SergeiBondarchuk that told the story of the events leading up to the climactic battle of UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars and the [[BattleEpic battle itself]].
11
12	The cast includes Creator/RodSteiger as UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, Creator/ChristopherPlummer as UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington, and Creator/DanOHerlihy as Marshal Michel Ney. Creator/OrsonWelles had a cameo as Louis XVIII, the Bourbon monarch Napoleon overthrows. Bondarchuk recruited thousands of Soviet soldiers as extras and went as far as reshaping a large area of UsefulNotes/{{Ukrain\|e}}ian countryside to match the topography of the Waterloo battlefield. Music/NinoRota composed the soundtrack.
13
14	Not to be confused with the song by Music/{{ABBA}} or [[Music/WaterlooAlbum the eponymous album]].
15
16	Compare its SpiritualAntithesis, ''Film/{{Austerlitz}}''.
17	----
18	!!Has the examples of:
19
20	* AnyoneCanDie: Several officers, particularly on the British side, die almost as soon as they are introduced, General Sir Thomas Picton (Jack Hawkins) being the most notable.
21	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
22	** In order to foreshadow his death, General Ponsonby is shown relating Lord Uxbridge the death in battle of his father in circumstances similar to the ones that would befall him a few minutes later in the film: In a fight against French lancers, unable to get away because of the inferior quality of his horse. In reality, Ponsonby's father was a politician who died peacefully in London in 1806, four or five years before the French army started to equip some of its cavalry regiments with lances.
23	** A certain Haydn tune is used as the {{Leitmotif}} for the Prussian army. At the time in which the film is set, the tune was an exclusively Austrian one, that of the song ''Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser'' (God Preserve Franz the Emperor). The other text, the ''Deutschlandlied'', which became the German (not Prussian) national anthem in 1922, was not written until 1841, 26 years after Waterloo.
24	** On the same note (no pun intended), "Boney Was a Warrior" was (naturally) first recorded long after Waterloo. The British soldiers keep singing "Boney fought the Proossians" over and over because actually moving along with the lyrics would have Napoleon in St. Helena before Wellington even finished reviewing the troops, something which would certainly complicate the plot of the film.
25	** The film creates the impression that Napoleon could observe the entire battlefield and beyond from where he stood and sat. In fact the larger part of Wellington's army was hidden from French view behind ridges etc., so Napoleon would have been unable to see that Wellington "did not move" after the fighting around Hougoumont (which in the film caused Napoleon to reflect on Wellington's qualities as a general). Also, as Napoleon's bulletin of June 20, 1815, and several other reports written shortly after the battle show, he and the other French commanders were not aware that there was a fortified castle behind the wood of Hougomont when the battle began. (The wood was chopped down in 1816).
26	** The climatic French attack to break Wellington was actually spearheaded by the Middle Guard, the Old Guard being kept in reserve and, true to their reputation, never breaking as portrayed in the film.
27	* BadassBoast: Napoleon has one during the battle. Somewhat downplayed in a sense that he's hopelessly trying to rally his generals who've realized that they're about to be overrun by [[TheCavalry the Prussians]].
28	--> '''Napoleon''': I've been in this position before at the Battle of Marengo. I lost the battle at five o'clock, but I won it back again at seven!
29	* BadassInANiceSuit: Picton. He was attending a ball and his army uniform was lost in the baggage train, so to the battle he wore his civilian attire and top hat.
30	* BattleEpic: One of the most extravagant works in this genre ever made, featuring over 17,000 extras. It was said that while filming, director Creator/SergeiBondarchuk commanded the seventh largest army in the world.
31	* BigBadassBattleSequence: The titular battle. Alongside Bondarchuk's ''Film/{{War and Peace\|1966}}'', the Battle of Waterloo possibly features the largest number of extras for an action sequence in film history.
32	* BlingOfWar: Some of the uniforms, particularly those of Napoleon's marshals and some units of cavalry, tend towards the gaudy. To some extent, the bling is exaggerated, as despite the rain before the battle few soldiers are shown wearing greatcoats or waterproof shako covers. Or look like they spent said rainy night lying in the mud. Also, Blücher and many other Prussian higher officers habitually wore simple, undecorated peaked caps on campaign rather than plumed bicornes.
33	* BoomHeadshot: When Picton is leading a counter-charge into an advancing French column, he takes a musket ball through the temple and falls from his horse, dead.
34	* TheCavalry: As in real life, Prussians arrive in the nick of time to reinforce Wellington's army, which the film dramatizes into a one giant charge lead by Blücher in person.
35	* CavalryOfficer: Lord Uxbridge and Lord Ponsonby.
36	* CompressedAdaptation: According to Leonard Maltin, the original Russian version is close to four hours long. This may explain [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole why the Black Duke of Brunswick is seen at the Duchess of Richmond's ball, but his death at Quatre Bras the following day is neither seen nor alluded to]].
37	* DancesAndBalls: The Duchess of Richmond's ball, featuring Scottish folkdancing and [[DanceOfRomance waltzes]].
38	* DeadpanSnarker: Wellington. [[TruthInTelevision Of course]].
39	* DeathByAdaptation: Cambronne and the Old Guard are seen being shot to pieces by the British cannon (see RuleOfDrama).
40	* DeathSeeker: To a degree, Napoleon by the end of the film. Badly ill and knowing he has lost, he loudly proclaims his intent to die on the field with his men. His marshals beg him to preserve his life, and finally are shown dragging a struggling Napoleon from the field.
41	* DefensiveFeintTrap: Wellington successfully does this, getting Ney to lead the French cavalry into being decimated.
42	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Napoleon delivering a fiery speech from a balcony to an adoring crowd, clearly was meant to emulate [[UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini Mussolini's]] balcony rallies combined with [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler's]] speechmaking delivery style.
43	* TheDreaded: Napoleon. Though the people of France rejoice when he returns to power, the rest of Europe can't help but watch and gather in trepidation. Reinforced when every newspaper (even French publications whilst under Bourbon control) calls him "The Monster of Elba" and other prodigious sobriquets.
44	* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes: The Gordon Highlanders' advance is marked by bagpipes that cut through the noise of the battlefield.
45	* EpicMovie: 15,000 Soviet foot soldiers and 2,000 cavalrymen as extras, lead to some stunning imagery.
46	* EpicTrackingShot: Quite a number of them. The overhead shot as Ney's cavalry rides into Wellington's infantry squares is one example - highlighting the military tactics of the time and the enormous scale of the battle/film.
47	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: Ney, in an attempt to earn brownie points with the newly reinstated King Louis XVIII, melodramatically promises to bring back Napoleon to Paris in an iron cage. It falls completely flat with the King, who stares at him nonplussed.
48	-->'''King Louis''': How they exaggerate all this, the soldiers. ''"In an iron cage."'' Hrmph. Nobody asked for that.
49	* FatherToHisMen: Napoleon. To be expected considering his legacy and how he drastically reformed the army of France. Wellington has his moments but is generally more snarky and sardonic towards his troops.
50	-->'''Napoleon''': ''(dictating a letter)'' To my dear Prince Alexis... I did not "usurp" the crown. I found it in the gutter and I, I picked it up with my sword, and it was the people, Alexis, the people who put it on my head.
51	* GloryDays:
52	** Napoleon makes frequent references to past battles and triumphs, insisting that he can do the same again. [[ForegoneConclusion Not at Waterloo]].
53	** To an extent, all of France sees Napoleon's rule as their glory days, and are eager to reclaim it when he escapes from exile.
54	* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Prussians seem to be in black mostly for the menacing, sinister effect it has. In actual fact their uniforms were mostly dark blue, rather like the French. Also, contrary to what is shown in the film, the black-clad ''Leibhusaren'' were not part of Blücher's army and none of the infantry regiments of the two corps that led the Prussian attacks at Waterloo had black or black-and-white flags.
55	* GraveRobbing: Shown briefly in the end, with locals rummaging through the battlefield taking valuables off the dead.
56	* HeroicBSOD: Wellington and Napoleon are both in BSOD mode after Waterloo.
57	-->'''Wellington''': Next to a battle lost, the saddest thing is a battle won.
58	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: With Napoleon as the hero: hearing from Marshall Soult that the Prussian and British armies in Belgium have separated, Napoleon remarks that the stage is set for another single, campaign-winning battle like Marengo. But after Soult leaves, Napoleon thinks to himself that Marengo was 15 years ago and he was a lot younger and more active then.
59	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The entire cast, essentially.
60	* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Napoleon, in the sense that very little, if any, blame is laid on Napoleon himself for his defeat, with him being portrayed more as a victim of fate and the blame instead being placed on the weather, the incompetence of his marshals, and even an unspecified illness. See the [[Analysis/{{Waterloo}} analysis page]] for more.
61	* HonorableWarriorsDeath: Napoleon tries to accompany the Old Guard on their advance, knowing that his illness means he only has so long to live anyway. When his doctors and marshals try to stop him, pleading that he'll be killed, Napoleon snaps that the battlefield is where a general should die. They eventually get him to leave the field, however.
62	* IAmVeryBritish: Wellington is perhaps the poshest man on the battlefield.
63	* LargeHam: Rod Steiger's Napoleon, for better or worse.
64	* LastStand: A couple of battalions of Napoleon's Guard attempt to make one, but they are too few and find themselves in a wide plain with no obstacles, so they cannot seriously impede the Allied pursuit. When they refuse to surrender, Wellington has no choice but to let the cannons open fire on them with cannister shot.
65	* LeaveNoSurvivors: Blücher gives this order when he arrives on the field. A case of HistoricalVillainUpgrade - in actual fact Blücher merely ordered his men to pursue the French until their (the Prussians') last breath, and most weren't in the mood for taking prisoners. What Blücher says in the movie ironically comes very close to what the ''French'' General, Roguet of the Old Guard, said at Ligny according to French sources two days earlier.
66	* LeeroyJenkins: Ney is the perfect man to lead a charge. He's also the perfect candidate to charge into a trap.
67	* MagneticHero: Napoleon to the population of France. After escaping Elba and marching towards Paris, he convinces every French soldier he comes across to join him - all without firing a single bullet.
68	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Towards the end of the battle, Wellington and [[NumberTwo Uxbridge]] seem to survive a near miss from a cannon shot intact, when suddenly Uxbridge looks down...
69	-->'''Uxbridge:''' ([[StiffUpperLip calmly]]) My God sir, I've lost my leg.\
70	'''Wellington:''' My God sir, so you have.
71	** Although this is portrayed less as a case of StiffUpperLip and more as Uxbridge being in shock.
72	* {{Mauve Shirt}}s:
73	** Throughout the movie we follow a couple of veteran troops in Napoleon's Old Guard, giving an insight into these troops. Just before the end of the movie, we see their bodies among the dead.
74	** The plundering Irish soldier who gets promoted to lance-corporal.
75	** The blond British soldier who ends up leaving his square screaming about the futility of war.
76	* ManInAKilt: When the Gordon Highlanders advance, Napoleon asks "Has Wellington nothing to offer me but these Amazons?" to try and keep up his men's spirits.
77	* MomentOfSilence:
78	** Averted, for the most part. When an important supporting character dies, there is barely a pause. Only at the end does anyone reflect on the amount of blood that was shed.
79	** The end makes things appear more quiet than they were, leaving out the pursuit - the film shows Napoleon boarding his coach, but not that this happened against a backdrop of fleeing French soldiers who crowded and blocked the bridge at Genappe. It also tactfully does not show that he almost immediately had to jump out of the coach onto a horse to avoid being captured by Prussian hussars. You also do not get to see the meeting of Wellington and Blücher at the inn La Belle Alliance.
80	* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Ney. Based on his perception of France's needs, Ney changes sides at least twice.
81	* MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever:
82	** Essentially the heart of the battle. Wellington holds the French off ''just'' long enough for the Prussian to arrive, and then both armies overwhelm the French.
83	** Ney stands in the midst of the battlefield as the Old Guard begins retreating and Ney screams at the soldiers, the heavens, and fate itself for more time. "[[MadnessMantra One more hour! One more hour, we have them beaten! One more hour we have them beaten!]]"
84	* MyGreatestFailure: When the Prussians show up, Napoleon says ''"I made one mistake in my life. I should have burnt Berlin."''
85	* NeverSplitTheParty: Napoleon and Marshall Soult share a good laugh over Wellington's foolishness in separating his army from Blucher's in Belgium, meaning he has created a perfect opportunity for Napoleon to strike and defeat each army in detail. Then Napoleon makes the exact same mistake in detaching Grouchy's Corps to pursue the Prussians, and complains loudly about Grouchy's absence when the British Army proves a tougher nut to crack than he expected.
86	* OhCrap: Quite a few, but particularly memorable ones from Wellington upon being told just how low his men are running on ammo, and from Napoleon when he hears about the Old Guard's retreat.
87	* PoorCommunicationKills: Napoleon detaches Grouchy's corps and orders him to pursue the Prussians. He fails to specify that his job is to interpose his corps between the British and Prussian armies and ensure they don't combine; Grouchy interprets this to mean that he must pursue the Prussians relentlessly, with the effect of driving their army towards Wellington's, and ignoring his own subordinate's excellent advice to march to Waterloo and link up with Napoleon.[[note]]TruthInTelevision, and Marshall Soult's written orders made the confusion worse, specifying that Grouchy was to link up with the main French army as soon as possible, yet at the same time focus his march on Wavre, where the Prussian rearguard was established.[[/note]]
88	* PragmaticAdaptation: Looks like they were aiming for the Anglophone market most, so with the exception of a few non-speaking foreign officers on his staff, all you see of Wellington's army is English, Scottish and Irish officers and soldiers. The contingents from various German states and the Kingdom of the United Netherlands (Dutch and Belgian), who in actual fact composed roughly two-thirds of his army, are mostly invisible, although the similar uniforms worn by the Hanoverians would have made them largely indistinguishable from their British counterparts.
89	* PrecisionFStrike: When offered the chance to surrender, the French General Cambronne simply replies, "[[BilingualBonus Merde!]]"
90	* PrideBeforeAFall: A recurring theme throughout the film is Napoleon disparaging his British opponents from their commander (mocking his own generals with "You let Wellington push you around in the Peninsular!") to the soldiers ("Has Wellington nothing to offer me but these amazons?"), and even as the battle is deteriorating rapidly, he is still [[MadnessMantra adamant]] that Wellington is beaten and that he can rescue the situation. [[ForegoneConclusion Not here, not today]].
91	* RefugeInAudacity: Napoleon escapes Elba with barely a thousand men, though he picks up more after landing in France and starts making his way to Paris. When Ney's strike force arrives, Napoleon steps out in front of his men and calmly invites Ney to shoot or arrest him. Instead, Ney and his entire army defect to the returned Emperor.
92	* RuleOfCool: Units with cool uniforms have a better chance of appearing, most notably the Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard, who get to repulse the Scots Greys (in reality it was two regiments of line lancers) and the Prussian Leibhusaren (black jackets, silver skulls and crossed bones on the front of the shako), ''who were not even part of Blücher's army''.
93	* RuleOfDrama:
94	** As the campaign opens, the Ball in Brussels on the evening of June 15 is intercut with the French Army of the North crossing the border on morning of June 14. Also, in actual fact Wellington received first news of Napoleon crossing the border with his army at least eight hours before he went to the ball. The delay in his reaction was because he still felt he had to be concerned about a possible French thrust further to the west on the road through Mons.
95	** Marshal Ney riding from Quatre Bras to the battlefield of Ligny to personally deliver a captured British flag to Napoleon, who then is angry because Ney hasn't launched his troops in hot pursuit of Wellington's army. In fact, Ney was too busy at Quatre Bras on the 16th to waste his time on such an errand, and only met Napoleon on the afternoon of the 17th, when the latter arrived at Quatre Bras with part of the force that had fought at Ligny. Moreover, Napoleon did not send orders to Grouchy and Ney to pursue the two allied armies before noon on the 17th.
96	** The foreshadowing of Ponsonby's death through relating the entirely ficticious story of [[ArtisticLicenseHistory the death of his father in a battle against the French]]. Also, his own death was 'cleaned up' a bit, according to French accounts he surrendered to a French sergeant of lancers who then killed him when a group of British cavalrymen approached and attempted to rescue him. (The French saw this as admissible as according to them Ponsonby had not yet handed over his sword or dismounted, and he was making a move to bolt at the approach of the British troopers).
97	** Towards the end of the movie, the attack by the Prussian 4th Corps at Plancenoit (in the back of the French army, which actually had been going on for the better part of the afternoon) and that of the 1st Corps near Frichermont (on the French right flank) are telescoped into one event.
98	** Colonel Cambronne's defiance when asked to surrender was so awesome that he had to be [[DeathByAdaptation shown to die]] rather than to reenact what actually happened. In real life he surrendered to Colonel Hugh William Halkett, the commander of a brigade of [[CannonFodder lowly Hanoverian Landwehr (militia)]]. Cambronne was wounded but still well enough to attempt an escape when an opportunity unexpectedly presented itself a few moments later, and he lived to a ripe old age, dying in 1842.
99	* SceneryGorn: A lot of it. Particularly at the end of the film, the field of battle is shown strewn with corpses of fallen soldiers.
100	* SenselessSacrifice: Ponsonby gives another Scot Grey his chained pocket watch and asks the cavalryman to give them to his son, before telling the cavalryman to ride on and save himself as six lancers chase them, after which Ponsonby draws his sword and doesn't speed up while his horse gets mired in the mud. The lancers kill him without incident, and then another lancer gets the other cavalryman not ten seconds later.
101	* SirSwearsALot: Thomas Picton stands out from the other British officers in that his language is very coarse and he leads a charge while hurling insults at his men.
102	* SlobsVersusSnobs: Napoleon's simple, dirty uniform and dramatic manner is contrasted with Wellington's [[StiffUpperLip calm demeanour]] and perfect grooming throughout the film.
103	* SmallReferencePools: Within the armies, only a few units are singled out, often ones that stick out because of their uniform (e. g. Highlanders, ''Leibhusaren'') or elite status, thus in the charge of the British heavy cavalry, you only get to see the Scots Greys with their bearskin caps, not the other regiments (who wore helmets). The charge of the Imperial Guard is only shown as coming up against Maitland's 1st Foot Guards, the other British, Dutch-Belgian, Hanoverian and Brunswick units involved in the repulse are not seen.
104	* SpiritualSuccessor: The film followed hard on the heels of Bondarchuk's massive Oscar-winning ''Film/{{War and Peace\|1966}}'', for which they had already trained several divisions of the Soviet Army in Napoleonic tactics. These were now joined by the actual Gordon Highlanders.
105	* StarCrossedLovers: De Lancey and his bride are shown together at the ball. De Lancey is later killed in battle.
106	* TemptingFate: Napoleon receives intelligence that the armies of Blucher and Wellington have split from each other. Believing this to be a strategic error, he sardonically asks "What will history make of them?"
107	* ThouShaltNotKill: Deconstructed. A soldier decides to adopt this attitude in the middle of battle and is promptly cut down. Since this is a movie about a massive historical battle, you expect a lot of killing to go on, and it does.
108	* UndyingLoyalty: Represented by a number of Napoleon's soldiers - particularly the Old Guard. Especially notable when their emperor is still considered a fugitive.
109	--> '''Imperial Soldier 1''': (upon seeing the royal Fifth Regiment) "There's no way around."
110	--> '''Imperial Soldier 2''': "The way is forward."
111	* VillainousBreakdown:
112	** Napoleon suffers one near the beginning when his marshals plead for him to abdicate the throne and surrender.
113	** Marshal Ney has one as the Old Guard begins to break and he desperately screams at them over and over in an attempt to rally them.
114	* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife: Wellington's famous quote at the end of the battle sums it up.

Context Film / Waterloo