El Decamerón

The cast is fantastic and it descends into wonderful chaos. Just think of a Carry On series for a contemporary audience but without the jokes that haven't aged well. Gary Hale, Tanya Reynolds and Saoirse-Monica Jackson are standouts though the Tindaro character becomes irritating very quickly. I loved the queerness that develops and the opening credit sequence is brilliant.

I must admit, I was unsure of the first episode as it took me an episode to get into the humour. The series reminds me of Our Flag Means Death in that regard. If you are unsure of the first episode, go with it and the style of humour will make sense.

I gave it a7 measured against everything I've ever watched before. The short review is that I enjoyed this. I binge watched it during my wife's absence because I suspected she would not enjoy it. My taste is slightly more eclectic and so I came into this without major expectations, simply expecting just a fun romp with the occasional smart or funny quip and it met my expectation.

I read through many of these reviews before and after watching and I think some viewers expected too much. If a person feels the need to write a horrible review, why the heck even would that individual hang in there for eight episodes?

Anyway, if you are the curious type, you'll see I have a public list of movies I've watched during my many years on this little blue planet. I don't write a lot of reviews but jumped in here because I felt this deserved higher than a six rating. If you've found my review and you're wondering if you should invest 8 hours of your time watching this, my advice would be to stay away if you are the very serious or overly critical type.

It was fun. Love has long claws.

There is no point in comparing this with Boccaccio's Decameron, as it has only really taken the idea and setting from Boccaccio. This is not setting out to be a serious adaption and is best not judged as such. The tone and humour may seem more in line with Boccaccio's contemporary Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales.

The humour is broad, but does hit the mark on occassions and the setting and costumes are certainly beautiful. The show features an international cast of well-known faces from some top comedy titles who cope well with the stye which is at times positively theatrical.

Just taken as a stand-alone production, separated from its illustrious literary predecessor, it has quite a lot to offer those just seeking entertaintainment who may have little interest in history or satire.

It's a very watchable show. Not great but not terrible. It would have been way better as a 30 min per episode comedy instead of the overly ambitious 45 min episode "dramedy" it apparently attempted. The funny moments are solid but lost between long periods are dullness and scenes that tend to last too long. The "drama" falls flat in the wake of silliness and yet it's the so called serious moments that fill most of the time. I really like the concept of this time period and how people might have reacted during the chaos but I think the execution is lacking in this one. That being said, there are some solid performances by the cast.

I am not sure why the show got such low grades. It has all it takes to make it interesting to watch: light humour, fast pace, caracter development, awkward situations... I mean yes, there is no end goal to it, as in there is no classic scenario, some things are bizzare and maybe illogical, but it all serves the atmosphere of a plague, and depicting the sense that the people must have had during those times - despair, hunger, pain, opportunism, but also sense of freedom, unimportance of social status, changing roles, and finally importance of love and friendship during difficult times.

The show depicts how in times of crisis people start behaving in different ways, and the results are sometimes bizzare, sometimes satisfactory.

Though not really a Decameron, it reminded me of Shakespeare's comedy plays, depicting quircky medival atmosphere. It definitely deserves higher grades.