Creators:
Neil JordanComposer:
Trevor MorrisCast:
Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud, Holliday Grainger, Peter Sullivan, Sean Harris, Joanne Whalley, Lotte Verbeek, Colm Feore, David Oakes, Gina McKee (more)VOD (3)
Seasons(3) / Episodes(29)
Plots(1)
The Borgias is a complex, unvarnished portrait of one of history’s most intriguing families. Oscar®-winner Jeremy Irons stars as Rodrigo Borgia, the cunning, manipulative patriarch of the Borgia family who ascends to the highest circles of power within Renaissance-era Italy. The series begins as Rodrigo (Irons), becomes Pope Alexander VI, propelling him, his two Machiavellian sons Cesare and Juan, and his scandalously beautiful daughter, Lucrezia, to become the most powerful and influential family of the Italian Renaissance. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Videos (39)
Reviews (4)
The series is one of my favorite HBO "history" series, alongside Rome and The Tudors. Even in this case, the creators didn't let themselves be too bound by the actual events and bent history according to their needs. But that’s what I’ve come to expect of HBO, and I don’t let it ruin my overall impression. Plus, all the more reason for me to look for deviations from historical events, so I might even educate myself in the process :-) As a bonus, I was served various hypocritical church practices, so all the more reason to be satisfied.
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I've never intended to watch every fashionable historical series, but it's not out of place to change the storyline of one format or another from time to time, and I always keep Showtime series in mind as a better choice. But what is a real surprise is the work of Neil Jordan, who remains for me an inscrutable filmmaker. I still love his Interview with the Vampire, but most of his other work has very different strengths and appeals to different audiences. So does The Borgias now belong to the parade of such titles as High Spirits, The Crying Game, Breakfast on Pluto, and Byzantium? If we were to analyze this, we would probably conclude that the invisible thread of those first turbulent years of the papacy under Alexander VI is the theme of the bastards. This is a traditional theme for Neil, to work on material about those on the margins of society, about their ambitions and feelings. Through this lens, then, it's a slam dunk. I can therefore recommend all 3 series full of renaissance morality, fashion, and desire.
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A dream come true for lovers of historical “intrigue" shows that do not shy of using cinema language and don’t treat the viewer as an idiot who has have everything served up in front of him (but maybe a couple of dates would have be useful, because this seems to have happened over a matter of weeks and not years), but later it moves from intrigues to deeds. And the best thing about it is that this is primarily about the illustrated living characters and emotions. The first three episodes are rather sluggish, nothing much happens in them and they contain this insensitively grafted on “connecting" figure of the mercenary. Not that it’s bad, but I did say to myself “what have you got yourself into this time, Neil?". But letting such strong material as the fates of the Apennine Peninsula under the rule of the Borgias slip between your fingers like this is unforgivable. But from episode four (still a far cry from the quality heights that the series achieves in season two, which is on a level with the best productions in this genre), the Borgias become exactly what they should have been from the very beginning, in other words a model piece of intrigue and subterfuge-related historical series, even though they have a “funny" way of looking at history and often this follows history only very loosely. And although the creators keep to the “spirit of characters and events", for an authentic experience you must look elsewhere. All of the actors (even Irons’ controversially" conceived bored Pope) are worth a mention, but we find Arnaud’s Caesar at the head of the unusually quality pack of players. Season three is also good, but a little weary in the first half. But as soon as it gets going, it’s well worth a watch. And it still applies that Caesar is one of the best written and constantly development controversial characters on our TV screen. The greatest negative of this series is that it was axed just when it was about to get to the most interesting parts of the fates and deeds of the Borgia family. Grrr...
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How to hold on to power without getting too much blood on your hands – a how-to guide for a novice pope. Just like the protagonists of Neil Jordan’s films, Rodrigo Borgia also has to conceal who he is in reality. His true interests are hidden beneath a gleaming surface and appealing masks. So that he doesn’t fall from his position, here and there he orders the death of some poor wretch who has seen through him. The same is true of other members of his corrupt, blood-thirsty and lustful family. The roles are clearly divided among them: the women seduce, the men murder. All episodes deal with the theme of the body and sensuality to a lesser or greater extent. The depersonification of the physical entity reaches its peak in the conclusion, when Lord Sforza is forced to use his own body as evidence during an incredibly humiliating trial (the Borgias’ concept of justice = a tool for personal vengeance). The Borgias are connected with the Tudors, their series cousins from the British isles, by their garrulousness. The characters speak when it wouldn’t hurt to keep quiet and talk repeatedly about things for which a single mention would be enough. The Borgias is elevated above The Tudors by the touch of cynicism that is inherent in the characters and the way they are handled: it is difficult to see it as a family drama, not excepting the idyllic and, at its core, supremely cynical last shot. If your ears are not satisfied due to the naïveté of the dialogue (and the associated naïveté of the characters, who change their opinions as easily as blowing out a candle), your eyes will be fully satiated thanks to the extravagant production design. The beautiful, always immaculate costumes and the gleaming floors of the expansive interiors draw attention to the mis-en-scéne, as do the characters who enter and disappear from shots based on their importance in this fast-moving game for advanced intriguers. Especially in combination with the religious chorales, the interior scenes are more majestic than the exterior battles with the thousand-strong, obviously digitally rendered armies. 75%
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