I start by saying that I study medieval European history. This Netflix series is best consumed as a visual experience, but not as an accurate historical representation. The art direction is admirable. It creates the atmosphere of medieval Florence in scale, if not a little too clean.
The vicious rivalries between banking families is probably the most accurate aspect of the history. Vicious rivalry in medieval Italy was an all-consuming pastime. The small village of San Gimignano, about 20 miles south of Florence, once boasted 72 family towers in medieval times, some over 200 feet tall. The towers were small castles where families could retreat from violent rivalries.
Richard Madden's hypnotic eyes serve his part well. He does a good job of holding the somewhat scattered script together. Guido Caprino (Marco) and Alessandro Sperduti (Piero) deliver engaging performances. Dustin Hoffman as the Medici patriarch is badly placed. He seems like a modern patriarch of a Manhattan garment business who traveled to Florence in a time machine. Brian Cox, looking suitably bored, delivers a usual Brian Cox. Lex Shrapnel delivers one of the best supporting performances as the villainous Ricciardo.
It's better than the Starz-BBC's horrific "DaVinci's Demons" of recent cable TV production which portrayed historically homosexual DaVinci as a womanizer. "Medici" is on the level of Netflix production of "Marco Polo" or HBO's "Borgias", but not as interesting in content.
The vicious rivalries between banking families is probably the most accurate aspect of the history. Vicious rivalry in medieval Italy was an all-consuming pastime. The small village of San Gimignano, about 20 miles south of Florence, once boasted 72 family towers in medieval times, some over 200 feet tall. The towers were small castles where families could retreat from violent rivalries.
Richard Madden's hypnotic eyes serve his part well. He does a good job of holding the somewhat scattered script together. Guido Caprino (Marco) and Alessandro Sperduti (Piero) deliver engaging performances. Dustin Hoffman as the Medici patriarch is badly placed. He seems like a modern patriarch of a Manhattan garment business who traveled to Florence in a time machine. Brian Cox, looking suitably bored, delivers a usual Brian Cox. Lex Shrapnel delivers one of the best supporting performances as the villainous Ricciardo.
It's better than the Starz-BBC's horrific "DaVinci's Demons" of recent cable TV production which portrayed historically homosexual DaVinci as a womanizer. "Medici" is on the level of Netflix production of "Marco Polo" or HBO's "Borgias", but not as interesting in content.