The British filmmaker Ridley Scott who is popularly known for his incredible movies like Blade Runner, is up with his newest project Napoleon, featuring Joaquin Phoenix. The upcoming movie slated to release in November 2023, is currently one of the most anticipated movies of this year. Fans are overly excited about Scott’s attempt at capturing the life story of the well-known historical military figure.
However, here’s an inside detail about the movie that was unfortunately scrapped for being thoroughly distracting. Trying to portray the authentic issue of posterior malady which led Napoleon to lose the Battle of Waterloo, Ridley Scott wanted to include an “undignified” scene featuring Joaquin Phoenix, until it was removed at the last minute.
Ridley Scott Shares Inside Details About His Upcoming Movie
Ridley Scott‘s brand new project Napoleon which is slated to hit the theaters in late November 2023, is currently the hot topic of conversation. Attempting to bring the life story of the historical military figure on screen, Scott is hailed for his absolutely flawless casting of Joaquin Phoenix as the lead character.
Having a long-awaited reunion with Phoenix since the 2000 film Gladiator, Scott tried capturing many of Napoleon’s famous battles and his use of strategies to navigate impossible situations, in the upcoming movie. Without missing a beat, the director mentioned using important aspects from Napoleon Bonaparte’s life without extreme melodrama.
This caused Ridley Scott to discover the issue of posterior malady that led to Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. Thus, discussing his movie with Empire magazine, Scott stated, “Napoleon was a horseman, he suffered from piles,”. Willing to portray, piece by piece, whatever happened to Napoleon Bonaparte, Scott admitted his desire to showcase the issue with hemorrhoids. However, he unfortunately had to cut it out from the movie.
Joaquin Phoenix’s Napoleon Almost Featured An Undignified Scene
During an interview with Empire magazine, Ridley Scott explained how common hemorrhoids are, and how they affected Napoleon Bonaparte. “That’s varicose veins up your b*tt, right? I don’t have them, but they’re very, very painful, it ain’t funny. It’s like having a toothache up your b*tt. There’s nothing you can do.” Scott shared.
Beginning his explanation, Ridley Scott stated how the great leader suffered from posterior malady which affected his chance of winning the Battle of Waterloo. Thus, without hesitation, Scott wanted to include that scene in the movie as well. “We sense history might have been different had Napoleon not had a very bad attack of piles on the day of Waterloo. You heard this one?” Scott stated.
“So, I had him at Waterloo, sitting on the loo, and it’s pouring with rain outside, and he does his business. He gets up, looks in the loo, there is blood. Then he does the day in battle, sweating and in agony with the piles.”
However, unfortunately, Ridley Scott failed to add that scene with Joaquin Phoenix, as his screenwriter intervened. “David [Scarpa, the screenwriter] said, ‘Isn’t this rather undignified?’ I said, ‘Maybe, but it’s accurate.’ But we took it out of the movie because it became too distracting.” the director explained. Thus, eventually, Phoenix was saved from his ungodly fate, as the gross scene was scrapped from the upcoming movie.
Napoleon is slated to release on 22nd November 2023.
Source: Empire
