The Borgias

[Steve Williams]

For those who can't remember their early 15 th century history, the House of Borgia was probably the most hated and corrupt family of all time especially after Rodrigo Borgia manipulates the Papal election and ascends to the Papal throne. It is almost incomprehensible that such corruption existed within the Vatican.

Although my overall favorite historic show on cable TV was the Tudors in terms of recreating the historic events as they unfolded, The Borgias comes reasonably close without (so far at least) all of the graphic violence seen in The Tudors

From what I remember of my history the events unfolding in this epic drama are fairly close to the facts.
I missed watching the first season last year however the entire first season and first 3 episodes of season 2 are available On Demand. I watched them all over the past few days. Jeremy Irons plays the corrupt Pope Alexandre the sixth.

Here is Season one trailer

Here is the Season 2 trailer

Definitely worth watching IMHO

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

But does it have all the graphic sex of The Tudors? That's the important part.

Tim

 

[Steve Williams]

Some very light sex scenes. Definitely not as graphic as The Tudors.

 

[cjfrbw]

I also watched the BBC "I, Claudius" again. Low tech by today's standards, but compelling nontheless. You can give those Brit actors sheets and a sand lot and they can make it work.

 

[microstrip]

Steve,

I share your taste for great historical series - the Tudors was really a great one. In my opinion the Borgias does not the reach the same level - the Tudors make you feel the history of that time and understand the circumstances that motivated all those actions. In other words - you would never need a sentence such as it is almost incomprehensible that such corruption existed within the Vatican, in a film made with the quality of the Tudors. The Borgias does not make you go so deep in the politics and power equilibrium's existing in Europe at that time and the character feelings are not so well inserted in the actors - may be they seem to be more theatrical.

BTW, if you liked the Borgias you deserve The Dinastia Borgia of Jordi Savall. Excellent music (3 CDs/SACDs and and a bonus DVD) together with a great book deeply illustrated about the Borgias.

 

[Steve Williams]

I agree that it doesn't rise to the level of the Tudors nor is it as grandiose and some of the interactions between the pope and his cardinals or between him and his family and mistresses rise to the level of 21st century melodrama. Nonetheless it is interesting to see how they portrayed the French King during the invasion of Italy as well as his invention (if true) of tethering 2 cannonballs with a chain to bring about increased carnage. The visuals of that canon being shot and watching people and horses torn to shreds was nothing short of shocking.This was probably the first weapon of mass destruction. I also found it most interesting that as corrupt as Pope Alexander 6th was, he had an enormous sense of family being the center of his universe.

The cast is strong, lead by Jeremy Irons. The girl (Holliday Grainger)who plays his daughter Lucrezia is drop dead gorgeous

 

[NorthStar]

The girl (Holliday Grainger) who plays his daughter Lucrezia is drop dead gorgeous

Picture(s)?

 

[Steve Williams]

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/events/Ho...al-berlin-international-film-festival-04.html

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/NWgBMlt01Oe/2011+Winter+TCA+Tour+Day+10/JKFHjY9ECab/Holliday+Grainger

http://www.google.com/search?q=holl...Q&biw=1440&bih=779&sei=mdiRT9P3F-GiiQLbxqjXDw

 

[NorthStar]

TY sir! :b ...She is pretty indeed.

 

[Orb]

I also watched the BBC "I, Claudius" again. Low tech by today's standards, but compelling nontheless. You can give those Brit actors sheets and a sand lot and they can make it work.

I agree, historical classic.
Cheers
Orb

 

[mep]

The history of the Catholic church is not very pretty. There were lots of papal shenanigans in the early days.

 

[NorthStar]

The history of the Catholic church is not very pretty. There were lots of papal shenanigans in the early days.

And still a lot of remains today! ...

 

[mep]

My family was raised in the Catholic Church and my brother and I both used to be altar boys. When the scandal first broke about priests, my brother suggested that we get T-shirts that say "I'm Catholic and I was never molested." I was always more worried about the nuns to tell you the truth because they had it out for the boys and they were always beating the snot out of us.

 

[Ronm1]

^ Parish school 1-->8, 1/2 day was French. No CCD though, since religion was taught. It alternated between French and Enlish during year.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

My family was raised in the Catholic Church and my brother and I both used to be altar boys. When the scandal first broke about priests, my brother suggested that we get T-shirts that say "I'm Catholic and I was never molested." I was always more worried about the nuns to tell you the truth because they had it out for the boys and they were always beating the snot out of us.

So true. They used to slap my left hand with a ruler when writing and forced me to use my right hand. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't grasp writing cursive with my right hand, so I always got bad grades for my writing skills. I switched to block writing once I moved to Canada. The ability to write with my natural left hand was beaten out of me......

PS: I was also an alter boy, but the Priests were cool.

 

[Ronm1]

So true. They used to slap my left hand with a ruler when writing and forced me to use my right hand.

A squeeze of the skin under the neck, I swear they had Gestapo training.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

A squeeze of the skin under the neck, I swear they had Gestapo training.

Oh yeah...that was another one!

 

[mep]

One of my favorite nun stories is the time when I was in the second grade and me and a buddy waxed the sliding board during recess with the wax paper from my PBJ sandwich. We had that sucker slick. I later moved on to the swing set and some kid didn’t realize how fast the sliding board was and he went down the slide so fast he flew off and hit his head. One of the nuns found out I was the culprit and she came up behind me when I was on the swing set and cracked me over the head with the bell they used to ring us in from recess.

 

[cjfrbw]

My first "close encounter of the penguin kind" was when I was a little over four years old in kindergarten. I was supposed to cut out an angel from a piece of paper after I colored it with a crayon. I got the crayon on the outline, and the crappy aluminum scissor wouldn't cut the outline. I asked the nun for assistance, she yelled at me, and when I couldn't do it, she picked me up off the ground by one arm and started whacking me until I pissed myself.

Stalin's methods, you don't create terror by torturing the guilty, you create terror by torturing the innocent.

Strange, however, in first grade at a different school and place, the nuns were wonderful and nurturing, it was one of my best memories from childhood.

 

[mep]

I have lots of nun stories. Sister Roly Poly, Sister Tiger Claire, Sister Mary Bull Dog; the stories just roll on. The one thing I'm grateful for was the education. I deal with people every day with advanced degrees and they can't write an intelligent sentence to save their life. Sister Tiger Claire would have given them all a good beating in the fourth grade for their poor English skills.