La reine Cléopâtre

This must be the jewel in the crown of Hollywood's obsession with identity and the perfect example of a whole smogarsboard of mistakes. From the unfortunate trailer that must have been designed with the explicit intent to create controversy- why elser put that silly old woman with her grandma into it?-to the girl power vibe that Jada Pinkett further emphasized with her melodramatic narration. The director seems to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between fiction and documentary. People keep bringing up the example of Liz Taylor, yet the movie never claimed to be a historically correct account, but pure entertainment. This is not the case with this unfortunate concoction that puts Cleopatra into the same basket with other African queens (whatever that means), though neither her ancestry nor her position imply she had anything to do with Egyptian heritage apart from the fact she ruled over the country. If the world's leading Egyptologist who's currently searching for her tomb, Zahi Hawass, calls this a fradulent mess, the only thing viewers whose grandmothers had some basic education can do is to give this self-righteous pile of wishful thinking a skip. In the attempt to make her look more relatable, textured and stronger, Adele James made a fool of herself. I suggest to the director to stick to fiction in the future. If she continues with her wrecking ball-approach to history, who knows how far she might go. Maybe the granny from the trailer knows it, but I don't want to know. Let's hope we can put this traumatic experience to bed soon and I hope the same thing doesn't happen to Adele James' career as well.

It is hard to take this "documentary" seriously when there are errors is in just about every scene. Ancient Egypt existed for three and a half millennia, and the Ptolemaic period of Greek control and its involvement in Roman policies, especially the Roman civil wars is a very specific period. For example no Egyptian was spoken at the court, Greek was spoken.

But getting costumes wrong, getting basic timelines of battles (like Actium) wrong, placing Cleopatra at events we know she was not present at, mixing up things done by Anthony with those done by Octavian and an unending series of errors just makes this impossible to watch. It is clear no experts, or even anyone with a basic knowledge of the history of the time and place was involved, or if they were, their advise was inverted.

The dialogue is also laughably childish s is the acting.

A badly acted, badly mate, poor docu series, Netflix have put out an absolute howler with this one.

I have always thought the purpose of a documentary was to educate, as much as entertain, there is so much about this that just doesn't work, I'm not quite sure I recognise the title character at all.

There is not enough input from the experts, and what there is, I just found so questionable. What should have been dramatic, exciting and educational, was dull, flat and uninspiring, what a shame, Cleopatra's story is a fascinating one, this does not do her any justice.

I spent a couple of hours on a drab Sunday evening watching it, I genuinely hope you don't do the same, genuinely don't waste your time on this one.

1/10.

As an avid history enthusiast, I had high hopes for the Queen Cleopatra. However, upon watching it, I was left utterly disappointed and frustrated. This show, marketed as a historical drama, not only deviates from established historical facts but also presents a revisionist and fantastical version of Cleopatra's story.

One of the fundamental principles of any historical adaptation is to remain true to the events and characters of the past. Unfortunately, this series throws that principle out the window. Instead of providing an accurate portrayal of the legendary Queen Cleopatra, it takes an absurd and misguided approach, reimagining her as a sorceress with supernatural abilities. This fantastical element completely undermines the rich historical context and erodes any credibility the show might have had.

Moreover, the series seems to prioritize sensationalism over historical accuracy. Important events are either altered or entirely fabricated for the sake of creating dramatic tension. This kind of reckless manipulation of historical events not only distorts our understanding of the past but also sends a dangerous message to viewers. As George Santayana once said, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." By blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, the Queen Cleopatra mini-series fails to educate and enlighten its audience about the fascinating history of ancient Egypt.

Furthermore, the characters in this series lack depth and nuance. Cleopatra, an iconic and complex historical figure, is reduced to a one-dimensional caricature. Her intelligence, political acumen, and strategic brilliance are overshadowed by her fantastical powers. The portrayal of other significant historical figures, such as Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, is equally disappointing. They are depicted as shallow and inconsequential, devoid of the depth and charisma they possessed in reality.

In addition to its historical inaccuracies and shallow character development, the dialogue is clunky and uninspiring, failing to capture the grandeur and eloquence associated with the time period.

First, this should not be in any documentary category. If there was a "Completely utterly fake account of History" category then this would belong in that one. I don't even know what to say other then I think the creators might be on something.

Costumes: Inaccurate Timeline: Inaccurate Civics of the time: Inaccurate Dialogue: Childish Portrayal of Cleopatra: Inaccurate Battles: Laughable Casting: Laughable Acting: Horrible

All this just makes it impossible to watch. Everyone involved in this project should be ashamed. If they wanted to do it this way they should have just made an action movie like they did with Alexander. That was horrible as well, but Queen Cleopatra has managed to make a statement of "Hold my beer" and literally make one of the worst documentaries/movies ever.