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Review: The Tudors

The Tudors.

Michael Hirst.

Review: Amandil.

Peace Arch Entertainment / Showtime Network / Working Title.

four seasons, 2007-2010.

After four seasons on the air and a good crop of awards, life would be in Henry VIII came to an end leaving all the fans of the series "The Tudors " wanting more, much more. What elements are combined in this series for which you have marked a milestone that already are targeting new television projects (eg "L you Borgia" , already in production)? Involves a "novelty" the theme, style, pattern, or is simply a return visit to the genre that opened the celebrated grandly "I, Claudius" ? Is it a good series?

Starting from the end, yes, it's a good series. In fact it is a great series that knows a little despite having spent four years on the air. And skill mastery combined with a good cast of actors with a sober and entertaining scripts and staging (costumes, props, locations, recreation) own a large film production. And all this accompanied by a subject as fascinating as the monarch's life was best known in England and his turbulent love life in which spent six wives more or less fortunate.

Plot:

The Tudors is a drama set in the reign of King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers ) and his six marriages in which the monarch was only goal of the search for an heir that would ensure his lineage, the Tudor family, continue to lead the kingdom.

's first season as the queen tells Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy ) discovers how, little by little, lost favor and the love of her husband being unable to father a son . The devotion and love for her husband is betrayed when it bursts onto the scene a young courtesan, Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) who not only alienate the king from his wife but also strongly support the reformers and anti-Catholic ideas that are beginning to infiltrate England. Enrique, driven by uninhibited young and impetuous, and wanting to divorce or nullity of marriage chooses to follow the advice of the Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey ( Sam Neill), trying to get the Pope annul his vow marriage with the Queen, thereby avoid incurring the wrath of Emperor Charles , Catherine's nephew (and absent character series par excellence, which are constant references to his person and his policies, but only is granted a minute of footage in the first episodes of the series although the Imperial ambassador role lies in the character of clueless but honest Chapuys ambassador, played brilliantly by Anthony Brophy ). But the failure to get a divorce causes the fall of Cardinal Wolsey and the start of the final break with Rome and Catholicism.

The second season introduces us to Anne Boleyn seated on the throne but away from the people and a love of Catherine of Aragon away and sick, clinging to his title of queen of England, which has the support of two key figures, the Chancellor Thomas Moro ( Jeremy Northam) and Bishop Fisher (Bosco Hogan ) who will not hesitate in putting his Catholicism and his loyalty to the queen to the increasingly despotic will of King Henry. Both paid with their lives, opening the door to the "reformers" who seek to destroy the Church's presence in the kingdom by exploiting the vanity and pride of the monarch, who directs and manages to be declared Supreme Head of the Church of England. In this paper highlight the Lutherans Thomas Cromwell (James Frain ) and Cardinal Cranmer ( Hans Matheson). In contrast, and plotting from Rome the Pope Paul III (Peter O 'Toole ) launches an assassination attempt against Anne Boleyn with intent to eliminate the "prostitute of the king" and return to its rightful position Catalina. But the queen dies and is free Ana Road, becoming the most concern able to conceive a son to Henry VIII . But all will be in vain because the marriage only give birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, provoking the wrath of the king and the fall from grace Boleyn, who became his undoing (and running) when you stage a sweet virginal Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis ) will win The king's heart in an almost Platonic, kicking off what appears a new springtime in the life of the monarch.

The third season begins with the death of Queen Jane following the birth of his only son, Prince Edward sick. Enrique is plunged into a state close to madness that led him to rethink his life and the possibility that God is punishing him for his behavior. It is at this point that the subjects of Lincolnshire, northern England rebel against the king's anti-Catholic measures (destruction of monasteries and abbeys, Latino religious suppression, the excesses and abuses of royal officials, the government of Chancellor Cromwell), causing an outbreak of civil war that was forced to crush the loyal and honest Harles C Brandon, Duke of Suffolk ( Henry Cavill). Parallel, Rome c ardenal Von Waldburg (Max von Sydow ) calls for a cousin of the king, and the guarantor of a certain right to the throne, the young Cardinal Reginald Pole (Mark Hildreth ) to prepare a Catholic uprising in England with the support of Spain and France. Moreover, the intriguing and dangerous Cromwell Chancellor seeks to strengthen the position of Protestants in England manipulating the will of the king to marry a princess who professes the religion, the young Anne of Cleves ( Joss Stone). But marriage is a failure, causing the cancellation of the same, and the fall and execution of the Chancellor the benefit of relatives of the young Prince Edward, the Seymour family, embodied by the brother of the late Queen Jane Seymour Edward ( Max Brown). Finally, the king found in the young Catherine Howard ( Tamzin Merchant) and the wild, childish and carefree queen returns in large part, a sense of vigor and youth.

The fourth and final season shows the slow physical decline Henry VIII and his gradual descent into madness of old age, where the ghosts of the past while waving around the court finds that has become a nest of intrigue which aim to ensure that one or the other take over the prince as the king is dead. The queen, because of its shameful past is involved in a series of scandals, including its relationship with the aide of the king, Culpepper ( Torrance Coombs), which eventually separated from her husband and, ultimately, represent the Because of its implementation. Enrique, sick and weakened to a lady is serious, mature and honest Catherine Parr ( Joely Richardson) who, despite being married will be wooed by him and, after the death of her old husband, will become the last wife of the monarch. In parallel, the bishop Gardiner ( Simon Ward), taking advantage of the new alliance between the Emperor Charles and Henry VIII, sets out to find and run Protestants in the king's entourage to weaken the influence of these factions in the prince, becoming thus an enemy of the Seymour family and leading one of the opposing factions at court. Meanwhile, the king, trying to go down in history as a hero for his country went to war against France and squandering the resources of the kingdom in the capture of the city of Boulogne, where weak and tired back. The queen, meanwhile, tries to unite around him to the king's sons, Mary (Sarah Bolger ) Isaba the (Laoise Murray) and Eduardo, while using his influence to protect Protestants who are being pursued in court, since she herself is an avowed and notorious follower of Luther. The Earl of Surrey, Henry Howard ( David O'Hara), disgusted by the growing presence of "lawyers" and people without title in the king's entourage, decided that he, a member of the highest nobility, should be the mentor the Prince Edward when I am king, so that hatches a plot to kidnap him at the time that Henry VIII dies. But the plan is discovered and the count carried out, showing the king, when you die, your child will be handled by any of the factions that are fighting in court: Catholics, around Bishop Gardiner and Protestants around to Edward Seymour . At the end of his life, Henry, weak and old, seems to favor the Regent Lord Seymour and names to Edward , missing the cut at Gardiner and putting the future in the hands of England Protestants. However, Mary, his eldest daughter, is openly Catholic and devoted to the memory of his mother, Queen Catherine of Aragon , claiming that if access to the crown, restore the allegiance to Rome and pursued with all forces the enemies of their faith.

After this brief review of the four seasons that make up the series, it is noted that the large number of characters present has forced the writers to weave plots and subplots that in some cases, have not been well closed. For example, during the second season, a feverish Francis King swears that England will attack the Pope himself, but despite this, the threat so ominous about Henry VIII vanishes without explanation at the end of the season. Or, in the third, seems to open a very interesting plot with the figure of Cardinal Pole and plan to return to England simply remains unfinished and without further explanation.

Something similar happens with the two mature characters played by movie stars such as Peter O'Toole and Max von Sydow that seem embedded in a certain way (they are always in Rome and hardly interact with some secondary characters) and disappear as if by magic at the end of their seasons. Have not had time in four seasons to close while these fringe? I guess this is one of the problems set the length of the series in terms of economic performance of the season. It is already known: if the first season fruit set, hire the second, if this works, then the third and that, while guaranteeing the solvency of the production keeps the writers can work with some projection of future on these subplots that are opened and that simply do not know if terminated. Too bad because, seen together, The Tudors shows a strong argument that only falters a bit with these closures in vain.

Another thing worth mentioning is highly erotic to have focused on the most deserving characters age. Perhaps motivated by the context that causes sexual hyperactivity Henry and commercial additive is raucous (not explicit but is highly suggested), no episode in which we are not showing a naked woman and a fornication or two brought better or worse. Perhaps everything is an allegory of the monarch uninhibited absentia but the truth is that there are times when the series seems to swing on the next sexual encounter this or that. Really, is it so necessary to show the promiscuity of Tyre and Trojans a license or modern, appealing to the viewer, a commercial hook like that?

By the way, observe the temporal singularity that occurs in the fifth episode of the fifth season, when suddenly, Henry VIII happens to have all of a sudden sixty years, while in the previous three seasons The only noticeable difference in appearance is the length of the hair of his head. The truth is that this detail, noticeably out of tune or, rather, draws much attention because so far it seems no one noticed that it was inconsistent to keep all the characters in a kind of aesthetic immortality. It is the dilemma of "eternal youth "of the protagonists that prevails in the current productions of every kind: everyone must be young, handsome and always athletic. The Tudors And, unfortunately, not been an exception.

But this is, ultimately, enhancement. The writers have managed to fit in a TV series a very successful historical review (with exceptions, their licenses and everything you want) of a very troubled time for Europe. They deal with something as complex as the Protestant Reformation, the rise of Anglicanism, the beginning of the Catholic reaction, political tensions between Britain, France and Spain (the Empire) the intrigues of the court, without falling into political turmoil Manichaeism of good and bad. They get the audience to attend without missing the historical drama, with clear ideas of what is happening and why, while enjoying a great story and a great atmosphere.

Ah, the setting! The Tudor mark, for the moment, the limit for high quality in terms of costumes, locations and props. And would like many TV series even touch the level that we see here from the first minute of the first episode to last. It shows the care and interest The makers of recreational equipment and documentation in the project have turned to the point that the very heraldry displayed agrees practically with the real, to name a very specific detail. These dresses, aerial reconstruction XVI century London, the Tower, the White Palace Chapel (now destroyed, except the throne room), the outdoor gardens, palace rooms, rustic mansions, clothes, armor, jewelry, ornaments, banquets ... get completely immerse the viewer in the story visually. No squeaks the atmosphere and that is a historical drama, is essential.

The same can be said of the talks (in the version translated into English very well made and adapted to the time within which it fits) and the motivations of the characters (religion, ambition, opportunism, conviction, survival), making the leap to credibility. We are not witnessing a transposition of our present to the past, as it happens in other series supposedly "historic" (and in Spain, unfortunately, we have many right now in projection), but the characters move within moral and social parameters of his time, which is, in my opinion, a great merit of the writers. Henry VIII appears to us as a king late medieval and Renaissance slightly, womanizer, ambitious and sometimes wrong, will not apply any existing varnish, or save you today dialogues and attitudes that scandalized many people trapped in political correctness. And with the king, the other characters are drawing some lines of action that reflects its time and not ours, what you get, also reinforce the feeling that we're seeing something genuine, attractive, powerful.

Finally, by way of conclusion, The Tudors is a series that should be if you like the historical setting made with love, effort and resources. And if you know how it will end and what will happen to many of the characters have achieved an original and fresh, surprising some twists and, above all, very entertaining. We'll have to wait for the next project of similar characteristics has already begun shooting: Los Borgia.