The Borgias (1981)

People are voting emotionally.

hyped garbage

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I hugely enjoyed this series when it was first shown in 1981, even watching the contemporary Sunday repeats which were buried away at 10.30pm on BBC2. The portrayals of all the leading figures were outstanding, especially Oliver Cotton as Cesare. He was mesmerising as the charismatic 'Duke Valentino' and it is a crying shame that his performance was lost amongst the grossly undeserved tirade of abuse the series attracted. The settings were authentic and the costuming was also superb. The series was accurate in it's depiction of a violent and bloody era and did not fall into the trap of making the Borgias raving, sex crazed psychopaths and tyrants. In truth they were responsible governors and were respected (if not loved) by their subjects. After he was deposed Cesare even had to go to a city in person to persuade the people to surrender to his enemies or they would be killed. They reluctantly did so but praised him for putting their welfare before his pride. Lucrezia was also well portrayed, she was loved by the citizens of Ferrara (home of her third husband) for her charitable works and they requested for her to be canonised but the Pope (unsurprisingly given her 'reputation') declined. I don't think any other person in history has been so unfairly maligned as Lucrezia (with the possible exception of General Custer). I have longed to see this series again and think 26 years is too long to have to wait ... the series now belongs to that era of classic video-taped programmes that we no longer see. The BBC release some excellent lesser known series on DVD so there must be a place for this. They may also make some of their money back!!!

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've seen any number of critiques on this series...all of them negative. I'm sorry I can't agree. Having studied this period of history, I'm afraid you will have to accept the fact that the BBC left out some of the most shocking aspects, and indeed this is what life was like in the Italian Renaissance. It is difficult, if not impossible, for modern morals to be fitted to history. "The past is a different country", never could it be truer in this sense. There isn't space enough, here, to fully explain the complexities of 15th/16th century politics and morality. "The Borgias" did indeed reflect reality, except, as I have said, this is a bit sanitised and not as opulent as it should have been. The costuming is very good (again, if you have studied the period there are minute errors, but they are very minor), and the portrayals of the characters are excellent. Once again, I say, please study the history first, then view the series.

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.