Ridley Scott ignored books when making 'Napoleon'

For Napoleon, Ridley Scott shared he didn't depend on books to tell the historical figure's story; instead, the filmmaker shared he relied on the French general's paintings.

In a chat with Deadline, the acclaimed director said, "There are 400 books on Napoleon. People say, which book do you read? I said, are you kidding?"

He continued, "I, as a child looked at pictures. When you look at [Jacques-Louis] David, some of the paintings done of Napoleon at the time, David was like taking a plate photograph nine feet tall of Napoleon and Josephine as they were ordained, you look at that in the cathedral, you see the audience, and you can get a history lesson from the painting, right there."

Ridley previously ripped into the questions about the historical accuracy of the period film. "Were you there? Oh, you weren't there. Then how do you know?"

Moreover, the 85-year-old also slammed French reviewers for criticizing the movie.

"The French don't even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris they loved it," pointing to the premiere in the French capital.