The Borgias (1981)

Undescribable Perfection

Thanks for the memories!

Sadly Over-hyped

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A few days ago, I picked up Sarah Bradford's biography of Lucrezia Borgia from my sister's library to read on a plane trip. It rekindled my interest in viewing again a dusty, neglected tape, of the 1981 10-part BBC mini series, The Borgias, that A&E aired in 1985, which another family member taped for me, knowing that I love history and BBC drama. When I first viewed the series, in 1985, I thought it had good acting and production value but was a bit cheesy in its portrayal of some of the more seedy aspects of the reputed Borgia family skeletons. I did enjoy the way the series brought to life Renaissance Italy and the prominent Italian families and loved the commentaries by Renaissance historians and museum curators added by A&E.Twenty-two years later (and as many years more seasoned) when I pulled out the tapes to view again of the series I had almost taped over several times, I was overjoyed that I had the miniseries intact. What a delight! The portrayal of the seedy aspects of the Borgias no longer seemed "cheesy," but a plausibly accurate interpretation of an audacious family's blatant disregard for conventions, societal limitations, and taboos, demonstrated in practically every aspect of their ambitious, larger-than-life actions. Having greater exposure to the entitlement attitudes of privileged, self-promoting families in politics and history, I now find the salacious aspects of the Borgias' story not only likely, but an intriguing part of the psychological whole. There are documented parallels in the families of the Egyptian rulers, the Roman Caesars and Virginia Woolfe, among others. Aside from my reevaluation of this previously disturbing aspect of the storyline, I found the portrayal of the political intrigues at the Vatican and among the prominent Italian families to be far more interesting subsequent to having traveled to some of the locales depicted. I agree with previous reviewers who have stated that the better you know your history, the more you appreciate this series.With a few forgivable exceptions, the casting is perfect. "Rodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI" looks just like his portraits. "Cesare Borgia" looks like he stepped right out of his. "Lucrezia," "Giulia Farnese," and Alfonso D'Este also are convincingly portrayed. Vanozza Catanei and Sancia d'Aragon, strangely, are miscast as to appearance, a minor quibble as both are strong actresses.I came online today to see if I could purchase a DVD of The Borgias as a Christmas present to the sister whose book I borrowed. While I was disappointed to find that the series is not available for purchase, I am delighted that my 1985 tape is in good shape. What a shame this series is not rebroadcast/available for purchase!

For a while in the 1980s it seemed that the BBC Drama department were trying to recreate the success of I Claudius, and 1981 brought forth what should been a gripping tale of an important family.Certainly it was broad in scope, but the actual execution was flawed in a few areas. The casting of Adolfo Celi, for example, was a mistake. Brian Blessed and George Baker he was not... Secondly, though as an 18 year old I did appreciate the nudity, it did seem to have been inserted as titillation. One episode ended with the Court whores enacting a naked dog race across the hall.If for no other reason than the above, I'd love to see this on DVD.

An excellent interpretation of events in the lives of the Borgias. Of course, it is impossible to know how things truly happened, but there are good historical accounts, which seem to have been taken into consideration in the writing. The costuming is exquisite, and it would be hard to ask for a better story.Rodrigo Borgia, as Pope Alexander, is shown as the wily fox he must have been. Lucezia is shown in a more sympathetic light than historians traditionally give her. Her portrayal is very realistic, and her bizarre relationships with those closest to her are such that the reactions she has to events in the series are entirely believable. Her brothers, Juan, Joffre, and lastly, Cesare, are well cast and very believable, as well -- particularly Cesare. His encounters with Machiavelli are extremely well done.

I admit I saw this over 25 years ago but recall it wasn't very good. I do remember a scene where the Italian actor playing the Pope Alexander VI (Adolfo Celi) shouted he wanted to see 'Nipples' - but it could well have been 'Naples'. I think it was the former as there was an orgy going on at the time. This series tried to be like 'I Claudius, but lacked focus (and good writing !) and wasn't repeated . In fact the BBC who made this also made the 'The Cleopatras' - which I think was even worse !! It will be interesting to see if there is a change with the Scarlett Johansson/Colin Farrell version which is to go into production soon.