The Borgias [** Spoilers **]

Paddy Samurai

The Borgias Chronicles created by Neil Jordan

Looking forward to this one.I think it will be out next year.

Jeremy Irons,Colin Feore,Derek Jacobi,Bosco Hogan are just some of the cast.François Arnaud to play Cesare one of my favourite historical characters.That auld Cesare was a bit of a lad.



http://theborgias.wetpaint.com/

Paddy Samurai

Found this series introduction on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItLou92CsEM

Anyone else looking forward to this one.

mike65

I wonder if it'll manage to be as sensational as the 1981 series (bearing in mind it was easier to shock even BBC2 viewers back then). Not that it was very good by all accounts.

Richard Dower

More HBO quality tv is always good.

Paddy Samurai

Holly Grainger is playing Lucrezia Borgia .....................naughty girl;).

JP Liz V1

Looks like this is heading to Showtime in 2011

Paddy Samurai

Looks like they have their release dates.

The television series will be presented at the beginning of April 2011 on the U.S. television network Showtime. In Canada, we can follow almost the same time on Bravo! and CTV

Richard Dower

New promo vids:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGz0YzeoJcc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s40diPIX-cU

This looks really good!

Syferus

Richard Dower wrote: »

More HBO quality tv is always good.

I think I speak for most everyone in saying that Showtime almost never equals 'HBO quality' or indeed now 'AMC quality'. If Neil Jordan wasn't attached it'd just strike me as the like-for-like replacement for The Tudors, which was far from an abomination, but not exactly The Wire or indeed pushing many boundries besides the line between soft-core porn and historical drama.

Even with Jordan I think it's safe to say the expectation would be the same. Anything less is a disapointment and anything more would be a suprise, even with Jeremy Irons.

Zero-Cool

Anyone playing Assassins Creed Brotherhood?

You have to destroy Borgia towers and fight Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. I'm gonna watch this show just cuz of the game!

tvnutz

sheehy83 wrote: »

Anyone playing Assassins Creed Brotherhood?

You have to destroy Borgia towers and fight Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. I'm gonna watch this show just cuz of the game!

Ha! That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw the title. Fun to kill them,will the show be fun to watch?

Paddy Samurai

Always found Cesare "the sinner" to be an interesting character,so I for one am looking forward to this.If they even show half the stuff he got up to,we will be well entertained.Hopefully jordan pulls it off.
Found this interesting bit about him finally getting a proper burial in 2007 after 500 years.

He was originally buried in a marble tomb beneath the altar of the Church of Santa Maria in the town with an inscription "Here lies in little earth one who was feared by all, who held peace and war in his hand." In 1537, the Bishop of Calahorra visited the church and was horrified for such a sinner being buried in the holy place. Hence, the tomb was destroyed and the remains were transferred to an unconsecrated site outside the church so that his body would be "trampled on by men and beasts", as the bishop ordered. His remains stayed there until 1945, when his remains were accidentally exhumed by some workmen. A group of local politicians pleaded with the Catholic Church to give him a proper burial. However, the local bishop turned down the requests. His body then was placed under a marble plaque outside the church grounds. In 2007, Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, the Archbishop of Pamplona, finally granted the petitions and allowed the remains to be moved back inside the church on the day before the 500th commemoration of his death. The local church was not against the decision. "Whatever he may have done in life, he deserves to be forgiven now," said the local church.

imme

capitalising on The Tudors anyone

Always gives me a laugh when classical actors/Shakespearean actors play Italians of the middle ages. Surely Berlusconi or the way Italian football players plead with referees would be more accurate ques than classically trained actors.

Richard Dower

Brand new trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hmD2sGV7Q

Richard Dower

Three new promos, too lazy to find YT versions: http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/01/borgias-new-promos.html

Paddy Samurai

Starting in april in the U.S.

somemore interviews and clips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaUz_DlPDhY

SHOWTIME SITE

http://www.sho.com/site/borgias/home.do

spiralism

Take it this is somewhat based on Mario Puzo's The Family?

Richard Dower

New trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeifIZO_z-c

Richard Dower

New sneak peak: http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/03/borgias-episode-101-sneak-peek.html

Richard Dower

Ep. 1 is out, i must consult the mods about this as it's not official, maybe any comments should be spoiler tagged until the official broadcast?

Basq

Richard Dower wrote: »

Ep. 1 is out, i must consult the mods about this as it's not official, maybe any comments should be spoiler tagged until the official broadcast?

Yep - until spoilers are indicated in the title, discussion of episode / storylines should be wrapped in spoiler tags.

Thanks!

Orion

I'm excited by this one. Neil Jordan directing and Jeremy Irons starring. Plus it's a Showtime show. Really looking forward to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItLou92CsEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hmD2sGV7Q

expectationlost

irish tv getting this?

Orion

Don't know about Irish but Sky Atlantic will be airing it in the summer.

JP Liz V1

expectationlost wrote: »

irish tv getting this?

TV3 seems likely home for it over here

Das Kitty

I watched the first episode at the weekend. It's pretty good, not a period of history I know a lot about so I won't be noticing any inaccuracies!

Himself knows all about it from Assassin's Creed

Orion

Watched the double ep pilot tonight. It's good. I'm not gonna rave about it though. I was left feeling it could be better. I'll give it another couple of episodes before I decide on keep/cancel though.

calex71

Macros42 wrote: »

Watched the double ep pilot tonight. It's good. I'm not gonna rave about it though. I was left feeling it could be better. I'll give it another couple of episodes before I decide on keep/cancel though.

Same feeling here about it, from what I had heard about it I was surprised how quickly certain events came about in the pilot Now I'm left wondering where it is going to go over the course of the series as I didn't want to read too much about it maybe i'll risk spoilers and do some more reading, I'll be doing likewise though and checking a few more before deciding to stay with it or cut it .

expectationlost

thought it was very good some history not too trashy

scouring wikipedia to brush up on the history, ok we got a corrupt pope but how did the borgias get themselves in the church positions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Borgia

i didn't know there was confederate spainish based kingdom that also ruled a large part of italy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Aragon


why didn't the borgais go for the papacy and not a regular kingdom, (becuase of trying to outdo rival spanish families with position of greater power?)

I see Rodrigo was appointed by his pope uncle to church positions but there not much on him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Callixtus_III

calex71

expectationlost wrote: »

thought it was very good some history not too trashy

I would have preferred it a little more trashy

Richard Dower

^ more to come later on, sex, backstabbing etc.
Not seen it yet, needs me some 720p on this.

calex71

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ more to come later on, sex, backstabbing etc.
Not seen it yet, needs me some 720p on this.

Yay

iguana

I thought it was pretty meh! It didn't annoy me in the same way that The Tudors opener did, but that only because I know more Tudor history. But I was left similarly uncaptivated. In fact for the last half hour I was repeatedly wondering when it would end.

Lucrezia in particular annoyed me. I know she was only meant to be 14, or more like 12 in reality, but she came across like someone with serious learning difficulties rather than childhood innocence. On the otherhand Lotte Verbeek was too mature in her portrayal of 15 year old Guilia.

I think I might give the French version a go instead.

expectationlost

15 she wasn't meant to be fifteen, i see alot of there reviews are calling it dull and without stakes.

iguana

expectationlost wrote: »

15 she wasn't meant to be fifteen, i see alot of thre reviews are calling it dull and without stakes.

But Guilia Farnese was 15 when she began her affair with Alexander VI. She and Lucrzia had the friendship of peers.

expectationlost

iguana wrote: »

But Guilia Farnese was 15 when she began her affair with Alexander VI. She and Lucrzia had the friendship of peers.

well she wasn't meant to 15 in the show so don't complain when she doesn't look 15

iguana

expectationlost wrote: »

well she wasn't meant to 15 in the show so don't complain when she doesn't look 15

Where did they say her age at any point that you can be so sure she wasn't meant to be 15. Not looking it isn't enough as Holly Grainger is playing a 14 year old which she clearly isn't either.

The obviously weren't going to choose teen actors as the series is most likely going to span at least 15 years, I suspect 1492-1507. So they would have to choose actors capable of playing the entire age range, which some actors can mange. The problem here is that it is very badly written, very badly acted and/or very badly directed.

Jelle1880

Saw the pilot earlier today, that period always fascinated me and the Borgia-family are just perfect for a tv-show, the amount of intrigue, murder, sex,... is outstanding

Richard Dower

Ratings winner! http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/04/04/the-borgias-posts-best-showtime-ratings-for-a-new-drama-series-premiere-in-seven-years/88186

Richard Dower

WTF?....Canal+ have their own version coming out?...$30 million budget, 12 eps.



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1736341/

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118025003?refCatId=14

iguana

Richard Dower wrote: »

WTF?....Canal+ have their own version coming out?...$30 million budget, 12 eps.

I already mentioned it. I think it looks an awful lot better than the Showtime effort.

Richard Dower

^ well, we'll see...definately worth a look, ep. 3 of the Showtime version tonight.

Richard Dower

Is this The Borgias or The Young Poisoners Handbook?....seems hemlock is the weapon of choice on this show!, from a costume and production design slant this show is excellent. It's visually all round impressive to look at, from the locations, sets, design, costumes etc.

It looks big, lots of extras...has a fair bit of humour as well!....ep. 3 scene of the suitors vying for the hand of Borgias daughter injected some humour. But lets get real....it's not exactly riveting storytelling, it's not edge of your seat stuff.

And in all honesty it's not premium cable!...too tame, it's like a made-for-tv mini series that you'd see on the Beeb or C4, it's no Spartacus!

FloatingVoter

I've seen the first three. Its good enough drama thats possibly going to make for ideal boxset versions. The fact its not "trashy" enough probably has to do with the many Borgia themed porn movies down the decades.

expectationlost

it won't be like tudors or Spartacus it will be better

here's a discussion of how they merged the son of the kings of naples with his own son, who's supposed to marry lucrenza
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1582457/board/flat/181050500

expectationlost

ok three eps in and we get map of the place, and some explaination but none yet of the kingdom of aragon, that stretches from italy to spain and france

FloatingVoter

I'm currently reading "The Popes"...John Julius Norwich - its a laugh and a half..but the chapter called "The Monsters" referring to the Borgias and the future Julius II is damned worth it. If Jordan covers half of what is to come...this will be good. And Jeremy Irons does sinster like no other. My only doubt is that the boy playing Cesare isn't up to the evil that is to come.

Richard Dower

I'm literally just off from watching episode 5, which was pretty good....when i read this news, not surprisingly it's been renewed for a second season:

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/04/25/showtime-renews-the-borgias-for-a-second-season/90522

expectationlost

forgot to watch the borgias for two weeks, not a good sign, really not interested in these people, the pope isn't doing anything, and i hated the lanky blonde in her chasened twilight-esque romance, but french army ransacking cities and using chained cannon on its way to naples gave it threat and urgency it was lacking

and again why does the french king think he deserves naples?

liah

Quite like this show, myself. Took two or three episodes to grab me, but I'm fairly into it at this stage. Perhaps because the cast is just amazing to look at (François Arnaud and Holliday Grainger make for particularly nice eye candy ).

I find myself tuning out the talk of politics, though; personally I'm far more interested in the character dynamics which, so far, have been very interesting. And the acting is wonderful. Will definitely be following this.

Richard Dower

It's a quality show, i'm still watching....but i have to catch up on two episodes, same with Camelot.