The Borgias

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!

The BBC took quite a few risks with this ten part dramatisation of the lives of the infamous Borgia family that dominated Vatican politics in the late 15th century. Aside from established "Bond" villain Adolfo Celi as patriarch Alexander VI, they avoided using a cast of familiar-faced actors to tell this story and it largely works. It starts with the death of Innocent VIII and takes us through the machinations of the electoral college which serves well to introduces to the other players: sons Cesare (Oliver Cotton), Juan (George Camiller) and Jofre (Louis Selwyn) and daughter Lucrezia (Anne-Louise Lambert) as well as his principal cardinal antagonists for the throne of St Peter - Orsini (Martin Potter) and Della Rovere (Alfred Burke) - all of whom feature prominently as we proceed through a pint-sized guide to European dynastic politics. What Celi delivers right from the outset is a characterful demonstration of a man who is as meticulous as he ruthless - but he is hardly unique on that score amongst a cardinalate that was much more about political power, wealth and nepotism than it had anything to do with Jesus or his father. Unlike many of their earlier grand scale dramas, the one ventured outdoors far more, used real locations and the standard of studio set productions is much enhanced from the days of wobbly walls and dangling booms. The writing is kicked off by the steady hand of John Prebble who introduces us to some of history's most remarkable personalities before Ken Taylor picks up that mantle and takes us through the decline of the family following Alexander's death. Celi is on great form as the manipulative pontiff, but it's Cotton's Cesare that stands out as the ambitious and malevolent henchman who starts out a cleric but is clearly destined for a much more "hands-on" role supporting his father's papacy. There's some casual nudity and a bit of sex, but that all rather underwhelms as it doesn't seem to be a main focus of director Brian Farnham. He, luckily, seems way more intent on delivering a drama that deals with the personalities involved and their frequently toxic and violent manoeuvrings. Nobody knew anything about CGI in 1981, so sure - some of the combat scenes do look a little choreographed, and the photography can be a bit ropily lit at times, but this is still a fine example of the ambitious, and doubtless expensive, dramas the Corporation once embarked upon where emphasis was put fairly and squarely on solid writing and strong acting performances across the board. Most of the history is well enough known, but there's still room for some creative licence (or licentiousness) and I think this still delivers the story of this dog-eat-dog world of hypocrisy and power brokering entertainingly.

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.