Adieu Bonaparte (Egyptian Arabic: وداعا بونابرت Wadaan Bonabart) is a 1985 Egyptian-French film directed and written by Youssef Chahine.
In 1798, an army from Directory France led by General Napoléon Bonaparte (Patrice Chéreau) invades Egypt. Napoleon tries to impose himself as a liberator against Ottoman Mamluk oppression. Accompanying him is the good-natured and spirited General Caffarelli (Michel Piccoli), who befriends two young Egyptian brothers. Over time, Napoleon reveals himself as a ruthless conqueror, and a resistance is soon organized, led by Cheikh Hassouna (Salah Zulfikar).
As the work of a native Egyptian, the film showcases a highly critical look at Napoleon, seeing his Egyptian campaign as the beginning of his megalomania, portraying the atrocities that accompanied the legitimate scientific achievements of his expedition.
Michel Piccoli also had a role in the later Passion in the Desert, which is also set during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt.
Adieu Bonaparte provides examples of the following tropes:
- Artificial Limb: Caffarelli has a peg leg that's a bit too long for him to stand up on his own.
- Badass Boast: Napoleon's famous "From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us." when he's on his horse in Giza.
- Battering Ram: When the revolt of Cairo happens, a mob of Egyptian insurgents tries to storm the city's French military headquarters, using a massive tree trunk as battering ram against the armory's door.
- Broken Pedestal: Some Egyptians who first saw a liberator from the Mamluks in Napoleon, particularly Ali, progressively see that he's also a brutal occupier, despite his promises such as respecting their religion (the French end up shooting at a mosque when insurgents are nearby).
- Les Collaborateurs: A groups of Egyptians joins the French side and serve as enforcers against the revolt of Cairo.
- Cool Old Guy: Caffarelli (played by an aging Michel Piccoli) is something of a Warrior Poet and the most open-minded French officer towards Egyptian people, and befriends Ali and his brother, even letting them use his scientific instruments such as his telescope.
- Culture Clash: Several instances. Among them, the Egyptian baker (Ali's father) doesn't agree with French bakers of Napoleon's army on how to make bread and makes it his own way. Opinions on the ideals of The French Revolution that the French claim to want to export to the whole world also vary among Egyptians initially.
- Desert Warfare: Napoleon's military campaign in the sands of Egypt.
- Foe-Tossing Charge: The Mamluks attempt a charge on the French infantry during the Battle of the Pyramids, and get routed by both said infantry and cannons.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: A resistance to the French presence grows in Cairo over the course of the film.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: For the British. The destruction of the French fleet at Aboukir Bay happens offscreen. Napoleon talks about it and the ensuing need to push through in his Egyptian campaign.
- Patriotic Fervor: The Cairo insurgents have a mantra about their love for Egypt.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: The French response to the revolt of Cairo in a nutshell.
- Thirsty Desert: Napoleon's army soon gets thirsty in the desert of Egypt, and the mirages don't help.
- Token Good Teammate: Caffarelli is the only one among the French who has any sort of sympathy for the locals and seeks to understand them.
