Monsieur n

After his defeat at Waterloo, Napoléon Bonaparte was exiled to the south Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he died a few years later. Or did he?
Using a combination of historical record and creative speculation, Antoine de Caunes has created a fascinating portrait of the Emperor?s exile. Telling his story through a British lieutenant assigned to watch over Napoléon, de Caunes depicts the sordid antics of the inner circle of French Army officers who followed the emperor (beautifully played by Philippe Torreton), into exile . The cold war of nerves between the prisoner and his jailer, an officious British military governor (Richard E. Grant), is also shown, but what lends Monsieur N. its power is the implication that Napoléon escaped St. Helena so cleverly that his escape has remained undiscovered to this day. (French, 127 minutes)