Joaquin Phoenix Attends ‘Napoleon’ Premiere In Madrid After Critics Pan The Film

Walk The Line star Joaquin Phoenix was in Madrid to attend the premiere of Napoleon at the El Prado Museum.

Napoleon centers around French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s role in the French Revolution, as well as his relationship with Empress Josephine. Phoenix plays Napoleon in the film, and Mission Impossible actress Vanessa Kirby stars as Joséphine.

The film has received mixed reviews, with many criticizing its historical inaccuracies.

“I’ve done a lot of historical films,” director Ridley Scott told Total Film magazine. “I find I’m reading a report of someone else’s report 100 years after the event. So I wonder, ‘How much do they romance and elaborate? How accurate is it?’ It always amuses me when a critic says to me, “This didn’t happen in Jersulaem.’ I say, ‘Were you there? That’s the f—ing answer.'”

Speaking with Empire magazine, Phoenix said that those who “want to really understand Napoleon…should probably do [their] own studying and reading,” as the film is “told through Ridley’s eyes.”

Napoleon will be released in theaters on November 22.