TV Miniseries Review: Marco Polo
Just spent the last two days blazing through the ten episodes of Marco Polo, a new series by Netflix, which is gaining a reputation for amazing programs like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards.
This series is based on Italian explorer Marco Polo’s time in the court of Kublai Khan during the late Song dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan dynasty in the 1270s. The series and ensemble cast cover a great amount of topics very efficiently, among them Mongolian and Chinese politics and wars, concubines, foot binding, and of course trade routes. And there is no shortage of excitement with battles, intrigue, assassins, poisonings, spies, torture, and double-dealings. My favorite part about the series is how we’re given an idea of all the different cultures meshing on the Silk Road and in the Khan’s Imperial City.
Lorenzo Richelmy makes an appealing lead as Marco Polo, and truly there are amazing performances from all; almost every character has hidden depths and history, particularly the female characters. Other than Kublai’s attractive son Jingim (played by Remy Hii) and Empress Chabi (played by Joan Chen), two of my favorite characters were the blind monk “Hundred Eyes” (played by Tom Wu) and the Chinese concubine Mei Lin (played by Olivia Cheng), whose devotion to her daughter was incredibly touching. There is also a wonderfully moving love story between two kickass secondary characters (you’ll know it when you see it).
But the standout here is Benedict Wong, who absolutely disappears into his role as the powerful, gout-afflicted ruler Kublai Khan. This grandson of Genghis Khan is portrayed as a brutal but fair leader who actually has a flair for fun and humor as well as bloody war tactics.
In addition to the beautiful production values, I love the opening with the Mongolian throat singers (check it out at this link). I had the opportunity to study in China and see these singers in action, and their music is so haunting and impressive.
Highly recommended series! I’ve seen it compared to Game of Thrones, but to me, it’s closer to the excellent series Rome. At the very least, this series helps to give a rough explanation of a dynamic period in Chinese history.
This series is based on Italian explorer Marco Polo’s time in the court of Kublai Khan during the late Song dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan dynasty in the 1270s. The series and ensemble cast cover a great amount of topics very efficiently, among them Mongolian and Chinese politics and wars, concubines, foot binding, and of course trade routes. And there is no shortage of excitement with battles, intrigue, assassins, poisonings, spies, torture, and double-dealings. My favorite part about the series is how we’re given an idea of all the different cultures meshing on the Silk Road and in the Khan’s Imperial City.
Lorenzo Richelmy makes an appealing lead as Marco Polo, and truly there are amazing performances from all; almost every character has hidden depths and history, particularly the female characters. Other than Kublai’s attractive son Jingim (played by Remy Hii) and Empress Chabi (played by Joan Chen), two of my favorite characters were the blind monk “Hundred Eyes” (played by Tom Wu) and the Chinese concubine Mei Lin (played by Olivia Cheng), whose devotion to her daughter was incredibly touching. There is also a wonderfully moving love story between two kickass secondary characters (you’ll know it when you see it).
But the standout here is Benedict Wong, who absolutely disappears into his role as the powerful, gout-afflicted ruler Kublai Khan. This grandson of Genghis Khan is portrayed as a brutal but fair leader who actually has a flair for fun and humor as well as bloody war tactics.
In addition to the beautiful production values, I love the opening with the Mongolian throat singers (check it out at this link). I had the opportunity to study in China and see these singers in action, and their music is so haunting and impressive.
Highly recommended series! I’ve seen it compared to Game of Thrones, but to me, it’s closer to the excellent series Rome. At the very least, this series helps to give a rough explanation of a dynamic period in Chinese history.