The saying with great power comes great responsibility is more than true. And if you have the power to decide over peoples lifes ... you may do things that you never thought you'd do. Condemning people (to death) and other things your morals or your way of thinking previously thought not to be something you'd associate with.

Add to that some history (and historical characters, like Napoleon) and you have an intriguing little movie here. Not to mention really good acting. Still overall this left me cold in a sense. I could not relate overall - maybe you'll have a different view on that. Not bad, but not really that good either.