The Borgias

[sailor]

This co-production is about the reign of Pope Alexander VI and the Borgia family. It's been described as a story about the original crime family.

Producer James Flynn said the TV series will bear a closer resemblance to The Sopranos than The Tudors.
"This is the original crime family," Flynn said in his office at a massive studio on the outskirts of Budapest.
The TV series juxtaposes the violence, sexual escapades and scheming with intense family love and devotion between Alexander and his children.
"This is clearly The Godfather, in the sense that it's all about family," said Canadian actor Colm Feore, who plays Alexander's archrival, Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere.

It stars Jeremy Irons, Colm Feore and Holiday Grainger. Neil Jordan is the man behind the project.

While the script takes some liberties with history, those decisions were driven primarily by the need to build a flowing narrative, rather than to dramatize.
The history of the Borgia family, in fact, needs no embellishment.

Set to premiere in April on Bravo in Canada, Showtime in the US. Don't know yet about anywhere else.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1582457/

http://www.canada.com/entertainment/violence+Church+with+Borgias/4459557/story.html

 

[JohnnyGottaKeyboard]

RESURRECTION!

So, I just noticed that this entire series is available for streaming on Netflix. I know very little about it but assume it is similar in style and tone to The Tudors/Spartacus/Black Sails.

Did anyone watch it? Was it good/bad/meh? I assume there is some homosexuality in it (trying to avoid spoilers, I did hear about a homosexual assassin)--but are they the sort of homosexuals that will just piss me off?

Thanks!

 

[Calla Lily]

i quit after 7 or 8 eps. It was well written, the acting was excellent (Jeremy Irons, of course), the production values were very high, and the history was fascinating. The backstabbing, the deals, the manipulation, the power-grabs. Great stuff.

But.

I couldn't take the violent, abusive sex anymore. God above, it started nasty and ramped up with every episode. Even though I understand that historically, women were property to be beaten and treated like cattle if their men so chose, watching it was much too difficult.

If that's not a trigger for you, then go for it. Like I said, it's quite well done. I'm sure they played somewhat fast and loose with the history as The Tudors did, but with the above HUGE reservations, it was an enjoyable ride till I had to quit.

ETA: I remember a few gay characters, but they're muddled in my head with the gay characters in The Tudors. Sorry.

 

[Nina Kaytel]

I quit on the second season. I got an episode behind -- moved and lost cable -- now have HBO for Game of Thrones.
It was good the first season then just became blah 'we can have nudity and sex, blah blah blah.' The same thing that happened to Spartacus.

 

[mayqueen]

I'm catching up on this right now on Netflix!

I enjoy it, but I love ridiculous costume dramas. The history is fast and loose, which kind of annoys me, but eh, it's television. I enjoy Micheletto's character, but they've taken some liberties with what is known about him. I like Jeremy Irons, but he isn't physically what I picture as Rodrigo Borgia. The Cesare character kind of annoys me. Personally, I prefer the Canal+ series Borgia (also on Netflix) version of Cesare. Some of the episodes really drag, though, and I feel like the writers squandered some opportunities dragging out sub-plots that aren't that interesting.