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Borgia vs. The Borgias


wolverine

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I'm trying to give Borgia a go at the moment but it's kinda hard after falling badly for The Borgias. As so many before me wrote I'm disturbed by one particular accent/cast decission. For me it's not the Pope though but Lucrezia! I feel like I should support her because she's German as me but I find it absolutely unbearable listening to her. She stumbles over her lines and overacts so much I want to close my eyes and ears whenever she's on screen. It's ridiculous after having watched wonderfully and perfect Holliday Grainger sharing hot on- screen chemistry with an equally stunning Cesare. And now this! Though I can't say that I dislike "Borgia" Cesare. It's an complete other approach on the character but one I find interessting. So yeah... after having watched a few episodes of Borgia, The Borgia wins hands down for me.

Isolda Dychauk is originally from Russia and it shows in her accent in season one. It's much improved in season two. I guess she just didn't speak the language well enough when they started shooting. Let's not forget that none of the TV channels funding the production actually airs the English version anyway. They all have it dubbed in their respective language.

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Isolda Dychauk is originally from Russia and it shows in her accent in season one. It's much improved in season two. I guess she just didn't speak the language well enough when they started shooting. Let's not forget that none of the TV channels funding the production actually airs the English version anyway. They all have it dubbed in their respective language.

The thing is I watched one episode in German and it wasn't that much better^^ There was no accent of course but I found, that what annoys me even more is the way she delivers the lines and making wide-eyes every other second^^...Also...according to wiki Isolda shouldn't have a russian accent and personally I don't hear one. Most of all it's her wrong(German) speech melody in the English version. But I'm glad to hear she improves because I'm still watching^^

But I'm too much in love with Holliday at this moment and am probably pretty biased ;)

Thank you @Zorral for letting me know :) I'll have to wait until I can buy it from somewhere since I don't receive those programs

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Hehe, different strokes. The writer was adamant on his/her dislike for Neil Jordan. So duh, was it even a contest? Neil Jordan has a very noticeable style...his DVDs practically come with theatre curtains. -le sigh- I'm just an uncultured American though. Sondheim, Faulkner, and Aronofsky must all come from Switzerland or something.

The thing is I watched one episode in German and it wasn't that much better^^ There was no accent of course but I found, that what annoys me even more is the way she delivers the lines and making wide-eyes every other second^^...Also...according to wiki Isolda shouldn't have a russian accent and personally I don't hear one. Most of all it's her wrong(German) speech melody in the English version. But I'm glad to hear she improves because I'm still watching^^

But I'm too much in love with Holliday at this moment and am probably pretty biased ;)

Holliday >>>>> Isolda. Though to be fair, Isolda gets better in later episodes. In my opinion it's Ryder who carries the show, and Giulia's actress to a lesser extent (teehee...French captain). Do not dig this Rodrigo, physical resemblance be damned. Dude's facial expressions :laugh: Exclaiming, "I wanted to fuck my own daughter" should not make me crack up, but he said it in the same tone as "Cesare, keep failing chemistry and you'll end up flipping burgers!"

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://exurbe.com/?p=2176

I'm not knowledgeable enough about renaissance society to judge but if the writer can be believed Borgia is far more historically accurate.

This! An objective but educated look at historical aspects of the shows, with explanations and a lack of condemnation regarding the differences? Holy fuck! And no "btw I hate Neil Jordan so I was totes hoping to still like a show written/helmed/birthed by Neil Jordan, teehee!"

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Isolda's dramatic overacting is ridiculous, John Doman's non accent is annoying and distracting, Cesare's overacting can be ridiculous as well, yet somehow I found the show very entertaining.



It also made me want to learn more about the actual Borgia family and Italy of the time period.



All the eye candy doesn't hurt either.


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  • 2 months later...
  • 8 months later...

Isolda's dramatic overacting is ridiculous, John Doman's non accent is annoying and distracting, Cesare's overacting can be ridiculous as well, yet somehow I found the show very entertaining.

It also made me want to learn more about the actual Borgia family and Italy of the time period.

All the eye candy doesn't hurt either.

You read my mind.
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Nah, watch the Canal Borgia show. It actually has an ending :)

(And Cesare is fucking awesome)

Yup, Mark Ryder's Cesare is such a stone-cold badass and glorious bastard. He alone is enough reason to watch the Canal version over the Showtime version with it's lame, uncharismatic and weak-looking Cesare.

John Doman is atrocious in that part.... he has no range beyond playing don Falcone.... its embarrassingly bad....So I'd go with the Jeremy Irons version

I couldn't agree with an opinion less. Doman so excellently captures the bombastic arrogance and aggressive, dominating presence that a Rodrigo Borgia should have and plays the role to the hilt. Irons is a great actor who has had some truly memorable roles, but his Rodrigo is definitely not one of them. I'd say it's more due to the writing and direction of Showtime's Borgias though, as they just envisioned the character all wrong imo, along with having flat characterization for many more of the cast members.

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Still. His weird accent is annoying.

The transformations of Cesare's character are largely believable and highly entertaining.

How could a series that introduces you to Madalina be bad?

The show is full of accents that don't match. Doman's faded for me after the first few episodes really. It would be more distracting if he tried to cover it up any more. I think he did, tweak it a bit, but not too much.

I find the argument that Doman is only playing a one-note gangster ridiculous though. The thing that I specifically liked about him is that his Borgia wasn't just some thug or power-maximizing algorithm. When he needed to be a hard Pope he was, but we saw him with his family, we saw his reaction to winning the Papacy, we saw his attempts to be a good man, his struggles with Lucrezia...

In fact, it's supposed to make you wonder WHY exactly everyone hates him. How seriously should you take the whining of the Italian cardinals?

If Borgia was more of an asshole the show wouldn't work. It would get to the point where you wouldn't actually care what happened by the end.

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