MFDB

Storyline

On the rain-drenched night of 14 October, 1840, the grave of Napoleon Bonaparte is exhumed on the Island of St. Helena. Almost twenty years have passed since the death of this great politician and military strategist. The land that his opponents had selected as the site of his exile and final resting - place is about to become the scene of one last debate – perhaps the most important one of all. One of the greatest enigmas in Napoleon’s career still remains unsolved. “Everything here exudes death”, is what Napoleon said about Longwood House, where he wrote his memoirs and suffered an agonisingly slow and painful death. An impressive crowd of people have gathered around the catafalque on which his body lies in state – the scene resembles that of an opulent historical drama. Among those present is one Colonel Heathcote, a British military attaché who – according to the fictional narrative strand in this historical thriller – never left Napoleon’s side during his years of exile on St. Helena, and whose job it was to inspect Napoleon’s presence twice a day. Napoleon is said to have commented, famously: “history is a lie which nobody contradicts”; in the same spirit as this quote, Heathcote is convinced that Napoleon’s death was the result of a secret plot. He decides to make use of this night to begin to rewrite history...

Festivals & Academy awards and others

Berlin International Film Festival 2003
Panorama