I can't decide. I've only watched the first two episodes of this 2016 historical drama, and have been kind of blown away by the filming locations, and the special effects like the Duomo still under construction.
But I haven't read enough about Medici history to know whether this storyline has been ginned up or what. Thought I'd throw it out there for comments. It does, however, make me want to return to Firenze for a 3rd time, hopefully soon.
I've seen all of season one and half of season two. I can't vouch for historical accuracy, but the locations and scenery are beautiful and the story is intriguing. I am taking my second trip to Florence in June, and my first time staying there, so it is making me even more eager for my trip!
Thanks for this, Jay! We have Netflix but have somehow missed this series. Will have to take a look if just for the filming!
It's pretty good so far, Kath, with a full Italian crew and plenty of Italian actors, including the decidedly not-Italian Dustin Hoffman as the patriarch Giovanni de' Medici! And I've had a couple friends who haven't seen it but are well-schooled in Florentian history say that TV guys wouldn't have to exaggerate too much, that the real thing is quite juicy enough!
Thing about Florence is that walking the streets you wouldn't have to stretch your imagination too far to transport yourself back to the 15th century. I sensed that walking into the Sassetti Chapel for the first time. That's part of the allure of the place, in my opinion.
Might be fun to check out, Kathy, while we're still in the polar vortex!
Oh don't tempt me. I dropped Florence for a cruise on my next visit :-(
Just be fore-warned, season two jumps a number of years on the timeline, and has almost completely different cast.
Sorry to bother you, but the historic reconstruction is not very accurate. Just to quote a case, you can see architectures and paintings that were made about one century after the facts.
Might be fun to check out, Kathy, while we're still in the polar
vortex!
OMG, Jay. We just had the snowiest Feb. on record, and the 4th snowiest month EVER. Running at least 20 degrees under average and we're out of room to pile any new white stuff....which we're getting as I speak.
Fish houses have to be off the lakes this Monday even though it's been colder than $#%^#! so there's ZERO danger of the silly things falling through the ice anytime soon. Some them are so frozen and drifted in that getting them out could be an all-weekend effort. -12 predicted for Sunday AM.
For those of you who live in warmer climates, we have virtual villages of winter fish houses on our bigger Minnesota lakes. Yep, plowed "roads" and all. You can even get pizza delivered to your house in some places. It's a Thing.
Way off topic (thanks, Jay, it's on my list to start as soon as I catch up on "Victoria!), but I can't say as I miss those MN winters! Last time I visited in winter was 2002 and on March 15th we were "welcomed" with 8" of snow!
But we got down to 33 in LC the other day... ;-)
I haven’t seen the series, except for some excerpts, but I’m sure the story is a bit adapted for the movie.
It is true that that history of Florence in that period and the story of that family doesn’t need any further dramatization. I don’t think any script writer’s imagination could have come up with anything more dramatic and suspenseful than the real thing. It was definitely an interesting time to be in Florence, it was like the NYC of that period.
Loved season one, but I couldn't relate to season 2. Both seasons had their world premier on RAI, so the producers thought they were authentic enough for that audience. For the record, I have seen Dustin Hoffman's nose numerous times in Italy.
Was looking forward to your response, Roberto!
Loved season one, but I couldn't relate to season 2. Both seasons had
their world premier on RAI, so the producers thought they were
authentic enough for that audience. For the record, I have seen Dustin
Hoffman's nose numerous times in Italy.
I was kind of afraid of that, Mike. Guess I'll savor Season 1 and go from there.
Wouldn't be the first series Mr. Hoffman started out great, and then it ceased or turned bad. In 2011, there was either 1 or 2 seasons of an HBO L.A.-based horse racing drama called 'Luck'. I thought out of the gate it was fabulous. Then some actors were replaced, I thought the storylines got a little shaky, and then the straw was there was an incident where a horse had an accident and had to be put down, and PETA was all over that, basically forcing HBO to make the decision to pull the plug.
I loved Season One.
Then, when Season Two popped up on Netflix, I was really pleased.
After about 10 minutes of watching, I gave up completely.
It's far removed from the first series, the actors are mostly different, except for Sean Bean who plays the same character in every film he's ever been in. (!).
It was so confusing I turned it off.
Try Season One though.
Way off topic (thanks, Jay, it's on my list to start as soon as I
catch up on "Victoria!), but I can't say as I miss those MN winters!
I did sort of veer into Something Completely Different, didn't I.
Apologies. It's what cabin fever does to one's sanity.
Laurel, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. :O)
So is there anything else on Netflix that might suffice if the Medici are mediocre? DH is down with the flu so we're looking for diversions enjoyed from the couch.
It's both hokey and excellent. But then, I watch telenovelas. Season 2 jumped to a new generation but does include some murdering so perfect drama! I did some research to see how they did with accuracy and got sucked in to a black hole of Wikipedia. (So the "research" wasn't too extensive). But they do big picture well and it's fun. Similar to the Spanish show "Isabel" about the Queen and Ferdinand, and same Wikipedia time suck. These people make telenovelas look dull.
Kathy, The Borgias, a series from a few years ago with Jeremy Irons is still offered by Netflix. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The show is pretty good and basically follows history, but does Hollywood it up a bit.
The locations are great to see, especially since we have been there.
Thank you, Mike!
Once you understand that season two is about Lorenzo Medici the son of Cosimo Medici from the first season, and that Cosimo has died, it makes a bit more sense. Although, the fact that Cosimo's son shares the same first name as Cosimo's brother Lorenzo can be confusing as well. Season 2 is set about 20 years (I think) after season 1.
It just jumped into it without really explaining all that, and at first i thought they had just recast the same roles.
SPOILER ALERT * * *
Season 2 is good, but my biggest disappointment was that they didn't show the completion of the Duomo dome. It just skips over that part and the dome is complete in season 2.
We loved both seasons. The second season is definitely different than the first, since it's the story of the rise of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Is it entirely historically accurate? Well, it's television entertainment, so -- no, of course not. But the major beats of history are there. The major event points happened.
I actually like the idea of a season being a generation for this dynasty. And that much of it is shot in Tuscany gives a great feel. I love the scenes shot in Rome. I realize they weren't going to really know what the colosseum looked like in the 15th century, but it was a good reminder that it was OLD then too.
The other thing I think the storyline does well is to give you some insight into the power of the church during that period, and the reminder that the pope really functioned as its own king/emporer, with his own army. The expansion and power of the various banking interests were in support of the expansion of commerce AND the power of the church as it extended across Europe.
