The Borgia (2006)

A portrait of the bloody dynasty that spawned a pope, Alexander VI, as well as the role model for Machiavelli's "The Prince," his son Cesare Borgia, and a legend of femme duplicity, daughter Lucrezia Borgia.

Director:

Antonio Hernández

Writers:

Piero Bodrato (screenplay), Antonio Hernández

Stars:

Lluís Homar, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, María Valverde

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lluís Homar	...	Rodrigo Borgia
Sergio Peris-Mencheta	...	César Borgia
María Valverde	...	Lucrecia Borgia
Sergio Múñiz	...	Juan Borgia
Eloy Azorín	...	Jofré Borgia
Ángela Molina	...	Vanozza
Paz Vega	...	Caterina Sforza
Linda Batista	...	Sancha de Aragón
Eusebio Poncela	...	Cardenal Giuliano della Rovere
Roberto Enríquez	...	Paolo Orsini
Antonio Dechent	...	Michele Corella
Katy Louise Saunders	...	Giulia Farnese (as Kate Sanders)
Antonio Valero	...	Cardenal Ascanio Sforza
Francesca Della Ragione	...	Domiziana
Giorgio Marchesi	...	Alfonso de Aragón

Storyline

Italy, 15th century. Rodrigo Borgia is a cunning schemer. For thirty years he has worked himself up in the Roman Catholic Church and now has been elected as pope by the college of cardinals. Borgia hasn't any religious motives though, it's all about power for him. With his papal power he starts a reign of terror, eliminating rivals. A new age will start for the Borgia family, he thinks and his four children are the most important pawns. His beautiful daughter Lucrezia and passive son Jofré are married off to tighten bonds with rival families. The same goes for Juan, who is also made captain of the Vatican army. Rodrigo's firstborn Cesare is now cardinal. He doesn't like it all. As the born fighter of the family, he sees himself most fit in the position of Juan. Cesare gets increasingly dissatisfied as cardinal and is more and more agitated by his family. Then Juan suddenly dies after an assault.

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Plot Keywords:

borgias | cardinal | pope | 15th century | italy | 

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Taglines:

Ambition...Passion...Power

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Genres:

Biography | History

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Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Estrenos Críticos: Capitán Trueno (2011)

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Soundtracks

Scented Garden
Composed by Adam Saunders

User Reviews

A 15th Century Dysfunctional Family

'Los Borgias' is a nice film to look at. The sets, costumes and art direction are quite good and I think they fit with the time period. I also think director Antonio Hernandez has tried to make the film as historically accurate as possible. However, even though the film spans more than 2 hours, I felt that it was lacking in something. The characters aren't properly developed. The relationships between the characters are displayed quite well. It was rumoured that Rodrigo had an incestuous relationship with his daughter and the director too remains ambiguous in his depiction rather than 'taking sides'. I felt that the writer could have done more to delve into the psyche of Rodrigo and Cesar. Further on the technical side, the cinematography is inconsistent and the soundtrack is very standard. The performances at times appear theatrical. Lluís Homar is passable. Sergio Peris-Mencheta fits the part. The best performance comes from Angela Molina but her role is tiny and almost insignificant to the story. María Valverde performs decently. Paz Vega is wasted. As some have mentioned, 'Los Borgia' may have work better as a longer feature film (with adequate story and character development) or a TV series. Hernandez's film is a good enough one-time watch that attempts to provide some historical insight. At least it got me interested in reading about this dysfunctional family.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain]

Country:

Spain Italy

Language:

Spanish Italian Latin

Release Date:

6 October 2006 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Borgia

Filming Locations:

Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,454,351

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antena Aragón

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1