The Borgias: Season 1

The Borgias is a Showtime drama set in late 15th century Rome. The specific focus of the show concerns Rodrigo Borgias' ascent to the papacy and his efforts to stay in power through the turbulent events of the period.The show commences in 1492, the year that Alexander VI became Pope. Of course, most people will also recognize that year as the same in which Columbus discovered the New World. This date therefore provides an easy connection to the historical timeline that most people can easily relate to. Once Borgia becomes Alexander VI, the saga begins, and the show describes the machinations made to maintain Alexander six on the throne. This is a difficult and sometimes brutal history, and those that are familiar with this history will not be surprised at the events that unfold in the subsequent episodes. The show is largely historically accurate, both in the broad brush strokes and also in some of the minute details.There is little reason to repeat the expensive information that has already been written about this series including the specific detail covered in each episode. We can easily echo, however, the extremely high-quality production values of the show. We can also echo the view that the acting in the show is extremely well done. As companies like Showtime and HBO and Netflix continue to make extremely lush, well-developed dramas, we see that this move has now become the pinnacle of television production at this current time, one that is now rivaling, and sometimes, surpassing full screen movies. This is also the case with The Borgias. This is a show that is supremely well done, and it shows in every scene. The art sets, the costumes, the colors, the settings, and on and on are superbly well done. In fact, it seems we are watching here something of a quality level that would not even normally be seen in a full screen movie.The acting, of course, is of greatest importance, and we see with an outstanding cast including Jeremy Irons that the cast are up to every bit of the task and make the story come alive on the screen. It has been rumored that the show cost Showtime approximately $2.5 million per episode to make. That runs out to roughly $25 million per season. When you watch the show on a high definition television BluRay player, you can see where some of that money was spent. The show is lush, lavish, and it makes one marvel at how such shows are being made today. Filming was carried out primarily in Hungary, and there is some use of CGI and certain scenes, but these are barely noticeable, and in fact sometimes are not noticeable at all. The architectural backgrounds to many of the scenes are simply superb, even when they are CGI.The Borgias had a loyal following for the first three seasons on Showtime. However, in a trend that we have heard all too often before, ratings were not as high as Showtime had hoped, particularly in Season Three. The show was originally slated for a four season run, but because the ratings were slightly disappointing in Season Three, Showtime decided to cancel the series at the end of the third season. This means that the planned Season Four of The Borgias does not exist, and likely will never be made. (This is not unlike the situation that occurred with the critically acclaimed show Boss, starring Kelsey Grammer, which was canceled after two seasons because of low ratings, but was considered to be one of the best drama shows put on television in recent memory.) But in spite of the disappointment that no Season Four is to be made, this is no reason not to watch The Borgias and to follow those first three seasons as they are made. (The same is true of Boss, as well; watching its first two seasons can be an amazing experience, in spite of the truncated ending of the show.)The Borgias is an excellent historical drama that will help you to learn much about the period, and the papacy of Alexander the sixth. It has some difficult scenes, but the show has seemingly done a reasonable job of attempting to portray the story without making it so consistently brutal that one would not wish to watch it. Watching the show in Blu-ray format with a high-definition television can provide some of the sharpest clearest and most colorful presentations that we've ever seen.This is an easy five-star recommendation for anyone enjoying historical dramas, or for those interested in the period.

This is great entertainment. Jeremy Irons is absolutely great playing the role of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia who becomes Pope Alexander VI. He was the perfect choice to play a man who is brilliant, politically astute, ambitious, lusty, and strategically places members of his family in the various illustrious families of Italy through arranged marriages. I have read several books on the Borgia family and their rise to power and this series, whereas it takes some liberties with the actual facts, for the most part reveals the power dynamics of the Italian peninsula. If anyone wishes to read a short, accurate summary of the Renaissance papacy of Alexander VI, I would suggest the chapter on the Borgias in Will Durant’s book, The Renaissance.The film is all about power politics even if there are passages around sexual affairs and the rivalries and tensions within the Borgia family. The Papal States were those lands that belonged to the Papacy and that fell between Tuscany, often ruled by the Medici; the Marshes, often ruled by the Sforza family; and the Kingdom of Naples. The rural Papal States were often actually dominated by feudal dukes who had only tentative allegiance to the papacy. Rome was dominated by a range of noble families, such as the Orsini, and all of the major families had relatives who were cardinals, the princes of the Church, and thus were contenders to become pope.The Borgia family was actually Catalan and Rodrigo Borgia had a mistress and children when his uncle, a pope, named him as a cardinal and he came to Rome. At age 26 he was the vice-chancellor of the papacy, which means he was in charge of the entire curia around the world. This is the second most powerful position in the Vatican. He must have been a superb manager and politician to survive the infighting within the Vatican and after 30 years become Pope Alexander VI.Alexander VI begins to make political alliances, sealed with the marriages of his children, to build a network of allies to support his papacy. In this way he acts as any secular prince. However, Durant’s book points out the evidence that Alexander VI was also a religious man. This series depicts Alexander as a Christian despite his considerable skills at consolidating power. Jeremy Irons is beyond fantastic at being able to show the multiple facets of this fascinating character from history.The series also depicts the rivalry between Alexander VI and Cardinal Della Rovere (who later becomes Pope Julius II who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel). Colm Feore plays this role very well since he must play a man of God who also has considerable political skills and sees the Borgia family as an insult on the Papacy and thus sees himself as the necessary antidote to their excesses.Alexander VI had an illegitimate son, Cesare Borgia, who he makes into a Cardinal. However history tells us that Cesare had considerable military skills. This is not explored in the first season of the series and we see Cesare struggling to implement the duties of a Prince of the Church while having an affair with a married woman and having to endure his braggadocios younger brother Juan with whom the Pope has placed the responsibility of military protection of the Papacy and Vatican. Francois Arnaud plays the role well of a smart but passionate man whose loyalty to his father is strained and tested often.Younger son Juan is played well by David Oakes but a major role has been assigned to daughter Lucrezia, played by Holliday Grainger. In fact, the disastrous first marriage of Lucrezia is a major theme in the first season. We know from history that Lucrezia Borgia was a complex and highly intelligent character. In the first season we begin to see the emergence of her diplomatic skills. The costumes, settings, and other details are very well done. Italian politics was complex and the script actually honors this with a mix of characters from Machiavelli from Florence to the invasion of Charles of France.I strongly recommend this first season. It is intelligent and well made. Where it may at times play with historic fact, for the most part it sticks to the historic outline of events.

La historia y la ambientación y las actuaciones son muy buenas. Excelente serie.

Filme und Serien mit historischem Hintergrund sehe ich unheimlich gerne, da ich ein geschichtsinteressierter Mensch bin. Das kann eine richtig spannende Sache sein, manchmal geht das aber auch gründlich in die Hosen, so wie bei Serie „Die Borgias“ mit JEREMY IRONS als „Rodrigo Borgia“.Ich sehe JEREMY IRONS unheimlich gerne, ich finde das ist ein großartiger Schauspieler, aber hier finde ich ihn grottenschlecht. Er passt sich diesbezüglich an seine Kollegen an, die durch die Bank sehr, sehr schlecht und völlig unglaubwürdig sind. Nicht nur das, da ist niemand dabei, der auch nur im Ansatz sympathisch wäre, diese talentfreie Riege von höchstens mittelmäßigen Mimen, langweilt einen fast schon zu Tode.Ich habe mich tatsächlich durch die ersten drei Folgen gekämpft, da war nichts mit Spannung, die Serie plätschert so vor sich hin, mir hat das überhaupt nicht gefallen.Kostüme und Kulissen sind eigentlich recht gut geworden, bringt aber nichts, wenn die Handlung und die Darsteller einen einfach nicht packen.Nachdem ich „Die Tudors“ gesehen habe und begeistert war, hatte ich Lust auf eine weitere historische Serie und mich an „Die Borigas“ gemacht. Aber wie gesagt, die kam einfach nicht ins Laufen, die Handlung zieht sich langweilig hin … nicht meins …. da gefällt mir die Serie mit JOHN DOMAN tatsächlich viel besser.Dass bei diesen Serien Fiktion und Fakten vermischt werden, ist inzwischen eigentlich Usus, auch hier hält man sich nicht immer an die exakten historischen Ereignisse. Deshalb lehne ich die Serie aber nicht ab, damit hat das nichts zu tun, es ist tatsächlich so, dass ich mich von der ersten Minute an gelangweilt habe, und ich JEREMY IRONS hier ganz furchtbar finde.Mein Fazit: Mir gefällt die Serie nicht, ich finde die Handlung zäh und uninteressant, da fehlt es mir einfach an Spannung …. da kommt bei mir nichts an. Auch die Darsteller sind furchtbar schlecht und zu allem Überfluss auch noch unsympathisch, vor allem JEREMY IRONS, den ich noch nie als so schlecht und langweilig empfunden habe.Nach drei Folgen war für mich Schluss, ich hatte keine Lust mehr auch nur eine Minute der Serie zu sehen, ich kann sie nicht empfehlen!

Viele unappetitliche Szenen wechseln sich mit albernen Sexszenen ab. Die Hälfte der Zeit kann man also getrost vergessen, sprich nicht hinschauen. Hervorzuheben sind die schauspielerische Leistung von J. Iron und der Darstellerin von Lucrecia. Den Rest der Gilde kann man eigentlich vergessen.Die Tudors sind um Längen besser und neuerdings auch Versailles.Die Innen-und Aussenaufnahmen sind sehr authentisch. Die Maske hat auch hervorragende Arbeit geleistet, wahrscheinlich aus dem Horrogenre ausgeliehen und damit für uns völlig übertrieben und unnötig, aber wer es mag.

Hallo,ich habe diese Bewertung gewählt, weil mir alles an dieser ersten Staffel gefällt, die Bildqualität der Blu-Ray, die exzellenten Darsteller und die spannende Story, die ganz auf geschichtlichen Tatsachen beruht. Alles in allem fünf Sterne.Gruß - Anton Weigand

I thought this an excellent series and most enjoyable. It even follows, for the most part, the actual events as they occurred. The acting is excellent and the choice of actors and actresses superb.