L'Empereur de Paris is a nice movie that takes us back to the times of France under the rule of Napoleon. The great performing Vincent Cassel plays Francois Vidocq, an ex-con who hunts down the most notorious criminals of the Parisian underworld to get a pardon in return for his services. Fantastic settings and costumes and a very good cast take us back in time and give us a relatively close authentic portrait of the era of Napoleon. Directed by Jean-François Richet (known for a broader audience for Blood Father with Mel Gibson, and the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 from 2005) The Emperor of Paris is a fine movie if you like to watch movies/stories like Les Misérables, The Count of Monte Cristo, Oliver Twist, The Duelists, Gangs of New York, and of course the Vidocq movie with Gérard Depardieu (2001).

To begin with the good, "L'Empereur de Paris" contains splendid special effects, especially with regard to the architectural evocation of Paris during the Napoleonic era. The props, costumes and locations are remarkable too. More generally, the movie does a good job of evoking the wider historical context. During the time period between, say, 1780 and 1840, France went through a dazzling array of regimes, most of which did not hesitate to use violence and propaganda. This must have caused wide-spread political and societal dislocation, resulting in thousands upon thousands of troubled, demoralized and alienated citizens. This also must have turned the country into a hugely dangerous and volatile place, where people could kill (or be killed) over details such as a hairstyle, an accent, a family name. The various characters evolving within "L'Empereur" drip with violence, lawlessness and cynicism, but these qualities didn't come out of nowhere ; on the contrary, these characters are immediate products of their time.

To continue with the positive, "L'Empereur" also contains a number of impressively choreographed fights.

However, the movie falls down badly with regard to the story being told ; it could have used more heart, focus, unity. It also could have used more clarity. The movie tends to disintegrate in a series of separate incidents where people kill, help, threaten, spare, save, intimidate or seduce each other : the overarching reason behind these various actions often remains a mystery. François Vidocq, the central character, too remains a riddle and a cipher, in spite of a fine performance by actor Vincent Cassel. As a viewer, you don't know where the man is coming from, what he's really thinking and where his true objectives lie. (For instance, he seems to be blessed with formidable powers of escape, but it's unclear how he discovered and honed these abilities.)

Moreover, some of the characters serve little purpose. Our bad girl baroness, for instance, seems to exist mainly in order a) to provide some additional female beauty and b) to promise a potential sequel. ("Watch L'Empereur II, in which our hero goes on to spy for his country in Milan !")

A number of missed opportunities, here.

You deal here with a powerful, awesome, brutal French blockbuster, far from the stuff that a guy like Jean Pierre Jeunet could have made. Because the kind of topic and production desigh of the whole movie, may remind the kind of material which Jeunet usually gives us. Here, I repeat, you have plenty of action, drama, tragedy and a little romance. But that remains really bleak, dark and some kind of depressing piece of work. A bloody piece of work, for all audiences but certainly not for the whole family. The best of the movie, for my opinion, are the supporting characters. You have not plenty, but far enough to glue you to this unusual movie, if you watch it closely. No happy ending in this gruesome French movie, the kind Hollywood industry will NEVER make. NEVER.