When costume designer David Crossman, who specializes in military clothing, first learned he would be working on “Napoleon,” the new Ridley Scott epic starring Joaquin Phoenix, he had a “mini panic” about hats. Not that he had to recreate Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous headdress, the kind that collectors pay dearly for (one recently sold for $2.1 million). It was that he would do it with certain limitations. Phoenix is vegan and doesn’t use any animal products, which meant Crossman couldn’t use wool felt.
“I immediately felt like it was going to be a problem with what to make the iconic hat, because everything is going to revolve around the hat,” Crossman said.
Fortunately, a solution was found: a cloth constructed from tree bark native to Uganda, which turned out to have an ideal texture for the task. “I thought, ‘Oh, great, we’re out of this,’” Crossman added. “I was very worried that it was something synthetic polyester. But what it really gave us was also a lovely surface texture on the hat.”
Once Crossman cleared that hurdle, the work could begin. For his research, Crossman sought out originals. He examined objects from a private collection, as well as examples of Napoleon’s royal hats in the Musée de l’Armée in Paris.
Throughout the film, Phoenix sports a series of bicorn hats that vary in size and opulence as he goes from upstart officer to famed emperor. There were three key versions played multiple times for the character, Crossman said, as well as a glorious variety of hats for various Generals, allies and enemies. Here, Crossman breaks down some key styles.
In the film, just before Napoleon launches his attack on British forces in Toulon, southern France, in 1793, he turns his hat sideways. Although bicorn hats were traditionally worn facing forward, Napoleon popularized their use this way. The change comes at a time just before a key victory that indicates Napoleon’s evolution as well as his personal style. It was also an acting choice. “It was Joaquin’s decision because he knew it had to happen,” Crossman said.
This simple hat is what he wears as the young and inexperienced officer originally from Corsica. “He keeps him out of trouble on the streets of Paris, because he has a little revolutionary tricolor cockade so you know which side he’s on,” Crossman said. Although some of Napoleon’s rank would have used feathers in his hats at the time, Crossman explained that he had decided to keep it simple. “He was hanging out in the background, looking for his opportunity,” Crossman said.
Perhaps the most striking hat that Napoleon has is the one he wears during the period in the film when he is General – a moment that coincides with his meeting and courting of Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby) – as well as when he is First Consul.
The gold trim detail is reminiscent of Jacques-Louis David’s painting “Bonaparte Crossing the Alps,” which shows him riding a rearing horse.
But even with this glamorous hat, Crossman wanted to depict a man at a low point.
“There was a sort of middle period when Napoleon was bad luck, he had run out of money, so I didn’t want to put him in an embroidered uniform for that, so he wears a much simpler uniform, just with gold trim. So I guess the most ostentatious thing about him is his hat, which Joaquín was determined to wear at all times.”
Yes, Phoenix often keeps his head covered indoors. “Not for comedic effect, she just liked to leave it on in certain indoor situations,” Crossman said. As Napoleon established himself, his uniform became more elaborate to match the golden nature of his embroidered hat.
When Napoleon is Emperor, including the crucial Battle of Austerlitz sequence, he wears a large but relatively unadorned bicorn hat.
“That’s the hat he loved,” Crossman said. “I had a couple of them made each year. He always had new hats sent to him. That is why there are so many Napoleon hats today.”
Based on Crossman’s research at the Musée de l’Armée in Paris, he found that after Napoleon’s coronation as Emperor, his hats became increasingly larger as he became politically stronger. “I had never seen the hat portrayed this big, so that was the first one we did.”
By: Esther Zuckerman
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/7004864, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-11-28 23:00:07
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