The Borgias (2011)

☻ ☻ ☻ The Borgias (2011). The 15th century was a rough time to be Pope. Especially if you were a Spaniard. Rodrigo Borgia, aka Alexander VI (Jeremy Irons) is burdened with more than your average pontifical responsibilities. Unpopular with his flock, former colleagues at the College of Cardinals are plotting a coup. Dinnertime disposal of Cardinal Orsini (Derek Jacobi) was his child's play, but Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (Colm Feore) is a racehorse of a different colour.

What with the costly election and maintaining the high life, Rodrigo must also with securing his children's future. He forces would-be warrior, Cesare (François Arnaud) into the family business, leaving chicken-hearted Juan (David Oakes) to provide the family's muscle. Compliant youngster Joffre (Aidan Alexander) offers to play any part his father desires.

Naïve Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) is the apple of Cesare's eye. She's old enough to have a few ideas of her own, but too young to realize her father's plans have everything to do with Borgia advancement and little to do with happiness.

It's not easy being the offspring or the partner of a person who insists on the appellation "Your Holiness":

The Spanish Borgias: Promoted an a original crime family, they 

were the inspiration for Mario Puzo's The Godfather (1972).

This aristocratic 15th-century underworld costume drama makes for compelling viewing.

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Speaking out:

"[U]nlike The Godfather, there seems to be no bigger goal behind Pope Alexander’s evil deeds than to survive. [H]e wants his sons to have influential jobs [and] packs the Vatican with ... cardinals to ensure his own job security. But ... Irons’ performance fails to demonstrate the necessary gravitas for a compelling psychopathic power mongerer. [F]or history buffs, not for viewers looking for another Godfather." Rachel Ray (The Telegraph)

"Few actors ooze decadence as effortlessly as Jeremy Irons, and casting him as an amoral pope ... who bribes and bullies his way into the papacy sounds like the role of a lifetime. Yet [director] Neil Jordan's take ... is never as fun as its The Godfather." Brian Lowry (Variety)

"[A] lavish costume drama about the poisonous family that put the machiavelli in Machiavelli, handily beats The Tudors and Rome. Art-directed down to the last detail, The Borgias [looks] far more lush than anything outside the pay-cable wall. Newcomers Arnaud and Grainger make terrific impressions ... Irons, too, is wonderfully shaded as a murderous pope who may yet find Jesus. Rating: ***1/2 stars." Greg Evans (Bloomberg)

 8.6/10  imdb.com (21 April 2011*)

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* Date of web access