If you’re a fan of political intrigue, Medici: Masters of Florence is the show for you. With a fabulous script, actors Richard Madden, Stuart Martin, Annabel Scholey, Daniel Sharman, Lex Shrapnel, Daniel Caltagirone, and Dustin Hoffman bring the bitter fighting between houses to life. However, history buffs should check their knowledge at the door. The producers took a number of liberties to tell the story.
Netflix’s Medici: Masters of Florence centres around the continuing rise of the Medici family after the sudden death of Giovanni de’ Medici. Cosimo, his eldest son, steps into his father’s shoes and begins a dangerous game of chess with the enemies of his family. Through flashbacks, the audience learns of how the Medici’s came to power, the ruthless nature of Giovanni in his quest to rise to power, and the sacrifices Cosimo made to fit his father’s mould.
The women in the show all appear as powerful and incredibly interesting rather than as mere background players to their husbands. I think that the show does a really great job showing women as leaders, even when they are often ignored by the history books. We witness corruption bloom out of fear of the future, rather than hear about it through a textbook or a lecture. The show allows us to understand why and how people make the decisions that they make and how easily people are influenced by those around them. The audience sees in every season that it is possible for those closest to us to betray our entire families. The messages in this Netflix show run deep, and even with its slight historical inaccuracies, Medici is highly educational.
So, the story is captivating, especially for Catholics in seeing how political the popes were at that time. The cinematography is stunning. The tranquillity of the Tuscany countryside, with its vineyards, olive groves and cypress trees transport the viewer back through the centuries. The shots of the Florence cathedral dome and Florentine life at that time, are given additional authenticity by filming in the quieter towns of Pienza, Montepulciano, and Volterra, which are little changed over the centuries and less busy with tourists. The streets are bursting with life which works well to complement the costume and set design teams who do a wonderful job bringing the fifteenth century to life. And all is framed by a great soundtrack by Paolo Buonvino and Skin, which is popular on Youtube.
Annabel Scholey's many layered performance as Contessina was stunning. Richard Madden can say more with just his eyes than anyone currently on television. Playing the highs and lows of Lorenzo, “Medici” boasts the impressive performance of Daniel Sharman. As terrific as Sharman was playing Lorenzo during the prime of his youth in season 2, he takes the once idealistic Medici through his older years as a patriarch with confidence, and zeal in season 3. Few actors have seized the opportunity to carry a character through so much timeline terrain and done it as wonderfully.
I simply don't understand how this series seems to have been largely ignored by mainstream media. It has a devoted fanbase, but hasn't really taken off. Given the quality of the show, that's a travesty.
Sadly, Season 3 is the final season of the series, which streams on Netflix as an original in the United States. “Medici” remains one of the finest period dramas streaming on the popular platform and it truly has no equal in its era. It is a drama that proves human nature and its will to remain a timeless template for intrigue and there is nothing like showcasing the Medici family to make the case.
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