If you fancy a helping of historical drama, you're in luck, because SkyShowtime is premiering Mary & George, a miniseries that will follow the history of one of the most controversial English monarchs.
D.C. Moore (Killing Eve) is the creator of this series of seven episodes of between 47 and 55 minutes which takes us to the dawn of the 17th century, in an England in constant turmoil.
Mary & George's main claim is, of course, Julianne MooreOscar winner for Always Aliceit converts into Lady Marie de Villiersthe mother of the first Duke of Buckingham.
But I'm not going to dwell on the preambles. Today, at HobbyCine, I bring you my criticism of Mary & Georgea historical drama from SkyShowtime that can give a lot to talk about, although not all of it necessarily good.
A fascinating historical period
The story of Mary & George starts in 1610 With a very clear premise, Lady Marie de Villiers (Moore) wants to amass power, and she will use her son, George, whatever it takes to achieve it. The young man is a perfect pawn, especially to sneak into the king's court.
And Mary & George makes great use of a historical debate that, although it seems quite clear, still has many detractors in the academic community: James I of England and VI of Scotland was homosexual or, at least, bisexual. This isn't something that DC Moore and Benjamin Woolley pull out of their hats to script; there is real correspondence that leaves little room for doubt.
This weakness of the king is something that Mary plans to exploit as much as she can, and, as I said before, she will use her son to do so, eventually making him the monarch's favorite. That's as far as the historical facts go, then the series takes all the narrative licenses it can, generally to add morbidity. But I will talk about that topic later.
Comedies, dramas and documentaries on SkyShowtime
Sign up for SkyShowtime and you can try it without any commitment, without paying anything, for a week.
Try it for free
The good thing about Mary & George being set in this historical period is that the series shows us—with its licenses—figures like Sir Francis Baconalthough many great names of the court are left in the pipeline.
Before moving on to the next thing, I will say that it is a shame that Mary & George did not start five years earlier to show one of the great threats that faced the reign of James I: the Gunpowder Plot.
Regarding production design, the series by SkyShowtime He has done it quite well, although there are some inaccuracies when it comes to recreating 17th century England, but nothing blatant.
The morbid trap of sex
Taking into account the historical aspect of James I that Mary & George uses to tell its story of conspiracy and palace plots, Expecting sex and breast scenes is the most normal thing in the world..
However, the saturation These types of scenes, with many forced and, frankly, unnecessary, cloud a story that is already fascinating on its own, without those excesses. Yes, sex sells and series like Roma or Game of Thrones made similar use, but in Mary & George there are stretches in which the narrative scenes seem like mere transitions between the morbid shots.
When Mary & George lets the beds air out, the tints of intrigue take control and that's when the series really demonstrates its potential. It's a shame that it all too often ends in another lewd interruption.
SkyShowtime
The series does not take full advantage of its historical context and goes as it is. You can't blame them, of course, it's what has proven to sell, but they fall into the same habits as so many series that end up lowering their quality.
The conspiracies occurred during the reign of James I: Lady Marie de Villiers amassed power thanks to her son, George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine), caught the king's interest and became the 1st Duke of Buckingham. But Moore's character's ambition knows no limits.
Julianne Moore is huge
Taking advantage of his Scottish blood on his mother's side, and that British nationality for more than a decade, Julianne Moore brilliantly faces the challenge of playing the Machiavellian Lady Marie de Villiers.
I have had the pleasure of seeing George & Mary in its original version, without subtitles, and I can swear that the British accent has mastered it. Proof of this are the several times I have had to repeat a scene to find out what she and other characters were saying, due to that exquisite British pronunciation.
She and Nicholas Galitzine are the most developed characters, and it's a shame, because Tony Curran He plays a great role as James I, at least when he's not going from bed to bed, which is also true, but I would have found it interesting if his scholarly side was exploited more..
When Mary & George stops trying to continually embody its characters, it's a great series that features some very intense performances. Unfortunately, the old trend of showing meat for free and exploiting the fornication prevails and causes the server to lower the grade.
Henry Cavill already said it: “I don't understand sex scenes.” Mary & George It spends so much time promoting morbidity that it loses the opportunity to explore other themes of this time. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have included some scenes, far from it, after all, the homosexuality – or bisexuality – of a monarch is explored, but, sometimes, less is more.
If you're looking for palace intrigue, you'll enjoy Mary & George on SkyShowtime, and if you're looking for intrigue everywhere, too. But if racy scenes don't suit you, you might prefer other historical dramas over this one.