The Worst Film Ever

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Whether it be the use of real life people who were too young to be a part of the story here or other's histories altered simply for dramatic effect, you have to take this for what it is: a decently researched view of Renaissance history as told through an alleged notorious family. They are not a crime family a la the Corleone's of "The Godfather" or the DiMera's of "Days of Our Lives" fame, but an overly ambitious and ruthless family who took their desire for power a bit too far. They are all at times morally ambiguous, and are not afraid of murder or torture or banishment, and this becomes closer to an American International film where Vincent Price would play the secretly evil head of a family who utilizes all of those activities listed above to deal with his enemies. It's something that Edgar Allan Poe would have been proud to have thought up, but he dealt with fictional horror, not historical horror.To cast Jeremy Irons as the leading Borgia patriarch, make him Pope Alexander VI and give him scenes of lust, scenes of pity for the poor, love for his family and the desire to pretty much castrate all of his enemies was genius on the part of the producers. He's not as openly sinister as his Klaus Von Bulow was in "Reversal of Fortune", but to think that a pope, let alone his character as a cardinal, would openly have mistresses of varying ages and at least four illegitimate children, makes his character quite the cad. In studying the history of the papacy, he's just one of many seemingly sinister leaders of the Catholic Church, and his quest for power took him all over Europe for some battles which when seen here will have you stunned in horror. If one cannonball can be deadly, two chained together can lead to extreme gruesomeness, so be prepared for some eye dropping carnage.There's quite a bit of detail put in the characters of the sons played by François Arnaud and David Oakes, and the notorious sister, Lucrezia, goes from innocent young lady to the historically infamous (and some say unfairly) maligned epitome of female evil, played by the stunning Holliday Grainger. She's raped viciously while still a virgin by her disgusting first husband, sees a younger lover brutally murdered by one of her brothers, and this leads to development that makes you understand why history has looked at her as a notorious villainess, pretty much the Spanish version of Hungary's Elisabeth Bathory. Joanna Whalley is pretty much wasted as their mother, a courtesan who loved Irons but was cast aside when her youth left her. The incidents of history need to be researched to confirm their accuracy, and there is enough murder and mayhem and carnage to fulfill four seasons, which only made it to three. It wasn't a lack of interest or viewers, but someone's lazy claim of high budgets that prevented it from being all wrapped up, a let down and one of the few reasons this gets less than the full 10 stars I had hoped to give it after finishing the first season. Some of the characters evoke pity, whether it being the beautiful Arabic prince who is murdered for questioning Islam when introduced to Christianity or the beautiful and abused wife who falls in love with one of the brothers and ends up becoming a nun after finding out the extent of their cruelties, or the handsome lovable young lad who falls head over heels for Lucrezia and rescues her from that awful first marriage. Then there's the outsiders, those who do their best to bring down the Borgia's, most notably Colm Feore as a cardinal who will be as ruthless with his enemies as the Borgias are with theirs. I would have loved to have seen this completed, but after suffering through the horrible 1949 Lucrezia bio "Bride of Vengeance" (see it just for MacDonald Carey's hideous Buster Brown bob), I'll take what I can get. This shows perhaps every breaking of every commandment presented to Moses on Mt. Sinai, yet there's often a touch of tenderness within this complicated family that will make you think. When Irons walks through the slums of Rome and sees what the poor have to live through, you can see him breaking inside that there's more to being pope than killing your enemies, bedding the beauties and ruling the world. There's a lot of good that needs to be done, something every leader in the world should focus on rather than the glamour that ultimately destroys the souls of those who don't see their real purpose of being put in a position of power.

This series was produced by a Canadian TV channel and had three seasons. It focuses on the figure of Pope Alexander VI and his bastard children and their political games. But the series has several problems that I have to point out. First of all, it doesn't have a closed conclusion. At the end of third season you understand that it should have continued, but audience concerns probably spoke louder and dictated an early end, so you get an unfinished story that would need, at least, a few more episodes to properly shut down. Another problem is the exaggeration of the sex scenes and the way the series faces some potentially shocking elements in the plot. I will explain: when you study the Renaissance and their popes, you understand that they were anything but holy. They were noblemen who used the Church to gain power, for themselves and their dynasties, not hesitating to run over anyone who opposed them. Therefore, for a pope or cardinal of this historical period, having lovers and children, or even having someone killed, was quite normal, it wasn't shocking, but the series shows this as something horrible because we, in the 21st century, think it's horrible. This difference of mentalities is essential to understand this pope but never appears in the series. In contrast, the series has made an effort to realistically show the Renaissance environment, and this paid off: the CGI-loaded scenarios are excellent, although sometimes we can see obviously the use of digital resources, in a way it spoils the effect. The costumes were also excellently done, movie quality, and faithful to the period. Jeremy Irons leads the cast, giving life to the Pope in a great performance, at his best level. Alongside him are François Arnaud (in the role of Cesare Borgia) and Holliday Grainger (Lucrezia Borgia), two actors who stand out throughout the series, giving life to two historical characters who, even today, are controversial. I also liked the work of Gina McKee (in the role of Caterina Sforza), Lotte Verbeek, Peter Sullivan, Sean Harris and David Oakes. On the other side, I hated the way that Colm Feore (a good actor, with great talent) played the role of Cardinal della Rovere, one of the pope's opponents. But it's not Feore's fault. The problem is the way his character was developed in the series. Its very few 15th century and a lot of 21th century. In the real life, Rodrigo Borgia and Giuliano della Rovere aren't so different. They think in the same way but they're in opposite sides of the board. Just that. But the series have transformed Della Rovere in a champion of 21th century morality and this simply doesn't make sense. It's anachronic. I will finish with a recommendation: this series has lots of sex scenes, discrete or more obvious, and some violence also, so keep it away from children and teen's eyes.

The most important thing to understand is the movie is about villainy, deeply disturbing villainy, sick to your stomach cruelty and torture.The costumes are magnificent, perhaps somewhat cleaner, sparkling, and well fitting that they were in history.The actors male and female are beautiful. The camera lets you study them to drink in their beauty. The lighting is magical.It has an enormous cast, and many scenes with hundreds of extras.To hear the pope, Jeremy Irons, in 1492 using slang phrases from our day jarred me many times. They were out of time and out of character.Scenes I particularly enjoyed were recreations of what it would be like to walk from the countryside into Rome or Naples. This felt like magic with the wide angle views.They manage to compresses into a few minutes a Romeo-and-Juliet tale that leaves you even more emotionally shaken than Shakespeare's.This is a very high quality, high budget production. However, it left me feeling absolutely ill and in despair.

It's 1492 Italy, the Borgias family rises to the Papacy through deceit and intrigue. They have much more in common with the Mob. There's almost nothing they wouldn't do. Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) is the patriarch and becomes Pope Alexander VI.Who knew sex and violence in the Vatican could be so much fun? I guess Neil Jordan did, as he's the one who created this delicious show. To have such a great actor like Jeremy Irons to play the Pope is a major coup. And to have Colm Feore as the foil is just icing on the cake. It lasted 3 seasons, but I really wished that they could have 4 seasons as Neil Jordan had planned.