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Glad to see Netflix series on the Medicis is back

Season 3 about the Medci was recently released on Netflix. It has wonderful scenery and a gripping story (even if not always accurate). Fun was to revisit Florence during this time we can’d actually go.

Posted by
539 posts

I'm enjoying Season 3 so far. I love seeing the scenery of Florence and re-living my visit there. It's fun to "meet" artists Botticelli and da Vinci. I enjoy the scenes at San Marco and the Bargello, too. So many places in the show where I can say "I've been there!" Cannot wait to visit Italia again, hopefully in 2021.

Posted by
367 posts

Yes! I love this show. So beautiful to watch. Can't wait to get back to Italy

Posted by
7595 posts

We watched the first two seasons years ago. I can't even remember when. I hate it when shows are cancelled or suspended for years in the middle of the story.

Posted by
15679 posts

Ooh! We didn't have Netflix when this series first came out. Is the entire series available so I can catch up? I can certainly log in to find out but maybe someone knows off top of their heads.

Posted by
2047 posts

All 3 seasons are available on Netflix. I’m rewatching seasons 1 and 2 to bring me up to speed.

Posted by
7010 posts

I also have Netflix but season 1 and 2 are NOT available. Anybody know what's up with that?

Posted by
2462 posts

I had the same trouble but then finally figured it out. It is there you just have to find it.

Go under episodes and then if you look at upper left hand side you can choose which year to watch. Masters of Florence is the first year.

Beth

Posted by
7010 posts

Thanks Beth, I'll try that. I thought I tried that but maybe I didn't.

EDIT: Found it!

Posted by
15679 posts

Well, I've just binge-watched the first 4 episodes of Season 1. Scenery and costumes....Yep, I'm hooked!

That said, this far from the first "historic" series or movie to have played loose with the facts, and I wonder why so many screen writers feel the need to do that?

Posted by
7010 posts

That said, this far from the first "historic" series or movie to have played loose with the facts, and I wonder why so many screen writers feel the need to do that?

  1. Because there is so many 'holes' in what we know of actual events, conversations, people's personalities and relationships, writers and directors use their imagination to fill them in.

  2. When the real history isn't dramatic or romantic enough to appeal to a broad group of people, they bring out the 'dramatic license'. Imagine how dull a piece might be if only the real history is related - I know, I like documentaries that stick to the truth too but not everybody does.

  3. When a real historic event is short but they want to make it last for a whole episode.

Posted by
2047 posts

Nice to see Allessandra Mastronardi again. Enjoyed her also as Francesca in Master of None.

Posted by
4256 posts

Becky, thanks for posting. I've watched the first 11 episodes in the past two days. It is definitely gripping, i.e. addicting. And seeing all the buildings in Florence and Rome is wonderful.

Posted by
4023 posts

That said, this far from the first "historic" series or movie to have
played loose with the facts, and I wonder why so many screen writers
feel the need to do that?

Here's a good article debating that very thing. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-36596885

Personally, When I'm watching TV or reading historical fiction I'm in it for the entertainment value and so I don't have a problem with it. My wife and I just finished the latest season of the Last Kingdom and while we watch we're constantly on our phone referencing actual historical events so we can separate fact from fiction. Another example, I have a fascination with Elizabeth 1st that began with historical fiction, and thanks to that book and further research I like to think I've become an amateur expert of the real Elizabeth and the real history.

Posted by
15679 posts

Sure thing, Nancy, I understand the addition of some minor, fictional characters, and that dialog is fabricated out of necessity.

Still, just the business about Papa Medici being poisoned, Rinaldo degli Albizzi and his son being assassinated, Lorenzo the Elder being murdered - none of which occured - were pretty significant manipulations of fact for being rather pivotal points of the Season 1's story? For starters, if Lorenzo had been murdered at that point in his life, there wouldn't have been a Cosimo I, 1st Grand Duke of Tuscany/2nd Duke of Florence, and therefore no Vasari Corridor, no Uffizi no Boboli Gardens...

LOL, I remember having to explain to a friend of mine, a devoted "Braveheart" fan, why the affair of William and Isabella of France never could have occurred. Pretty much broke that poor romantic's heart!

Oh well, doesn't mean I don't love a colorful historical series or movie, just that I've learned to have to view the "historic" part with a gimlet eye! 🧐

Posted by
4256 posts

Yeah, The Crown hasn't been the most accurate depiction-and the events happened within the memory of people still living. But does anyone really expect Hollywood etc. to be accurate? Although the movie Contagion is chillingly accurate in many ways. At least in the Medici we get to see real buildings and art!

Posted by
367 posts

"The Sforza still get historically short changed. "

Maybe they'll get their own show!

Posted by
15679 posts

We can only hope! More glorious costumes, wonderful scenery, and oodles of intrigue, facts be damned, eh? Poor suffering Lorenzo still looked pretty good when he kicked the bucket.

I'm currently blowing through "The Borgias".... shot in Hungary. Go figure.