Confess your sins to Obsessed With Film, where I've reviewed the two-part premiere of Showtime's brand new historical drama THE BORGIAS, starring Jeremy Irons. The Vatican! Sex! Treachery! Holy moly!
US cable TV's latest foray into mischievous historical drama takes aim at the legendary Borgia family of 15th-century Rome; a dynasty of Spanish émigrés who rose to prominence in Renaissance Italy through despicable means, including patriarch Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) succeeding Pope Innocent VIII by buying the necessary votes for St Peter's throne. Famously the inspiration for Mario Puzo's The Godfather novel, it's astonishing this family's tale hasn't been told more often on film/TV, although writer-director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) has tried unsuccessfully to develop a movie for many years. Now he's the hyphenate behind this luxuriant cable drama, afforded the tools to tell the story with greater depth and longevity. Continue reading...
