Marco Polo (Netflix)

Well, everyone knows Marco Polo never made it past Greece. What this show presupposes is… maybe he did?

Yeah, it does look gorgeous. Kublai Khan is pretty awesome, actually. Big as a mountain as well.

It is a time when Venice already controlled a great deal of trade in the eastern Mediterranean, where most things you could’ve wanted from further east were available. Sure, you had to deal with middlemen but it also meant you didn’t have to make an expensive multi-year journey. The same issue arises with the sea route from Egypt. Why sail all the way to China when you can stop off in Arabia or even Sri Lanka and meet people half way? Saves a lot of trouble.

I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but am enjoying it so far. I’m disappointed, but not surprised, to hear that it focuses more on kung fu and presumably that princess than the hypothetical wanderings of a European in the Mongol Empire. Oh well, we’ll see.

I’m 4 episodes in, but I only recall seeing a few “wire-fu” or just plain martial arts style scenes. Most of it’s sword play, love interests and politics.

I KNOW KUNG FU

— Alan

It’s interesting that there is apparently some debate about whether Marco Polo actually existed.

His travelogue most reminds me of John Mandeville’s famous fantastic stories which Giles Milton determined to be at least in part based on real experiences, and Ibn Battuta’s work, which seems the most ‘real’ and lacking in fantasy; yet going across the Red Sea and back again leads to some rather fantastic claims about what he did or did not do. In these stories almost pathological fantasy and real events seemed mixed up together, and it’s hard from our modern perspective and long distance to disentangle why they were constructed in this way.

I haven’t read any translations of primary Marco Polo but contempt for these ancient works seem to come and go with the tides. In the 70s there seemed to be this movement to discredit the idea that Shakespeare existed at all; now even the Lover’s Complaint is seen by many to be authored by the Master Shake.

Yeahno. There’s about as much debate on Marco Polo as there is on whether the earth is flat or not.

I thought this was a TV show based off of the pool game I used to play as a kid. Color me surprised…

It is. You’re just watching the wrong show.

But seriously.

I just finished this up today. It was pretty good, but it committed the mortal sin of having a character shout the order “fire” to soldiers who weren’t using gunpowder weapons. It is such a small detail, but I can’t figure out why historical movies and TV shows constantly make that mistake.

Right. They should say “Fuego!” It sounds better.

— Alan

Did they even have Fago back then? It seems to me soft drinks are a more recent invention.

They had Fanta. In episode 4 we learn that’s the etymology of the word fantastic.

I wonder if fermented mare’s milk is carbonated. I assume it is because kvass and other low-sugar fermented drinks are.

Guys, I really feel like you’re not taking my complaint seriously.

Sorry, I guess we’re all just fuego’d up today.

Understandable. Historical anachronisms can do that to the best of us.

But to avoid getting too goofy, I felt that Marco Polo was competently made. Not great, not bad. The highlights are certainly the sets and the costumes. The writing, dialogue, and acting are all passable. It seems like the real target audience of this are people who like historical dramas or the setting (or bewbs) enough to be able to sit through court intrigue and relationships that are at times a little cliched.

I’ve got the last two episodes to go through tonight, but I’ve enjoyed the journey. I certainly wouldn’t call it historically accurate, but it does occasionally slip up and feature something that might be considered such.

I’ve grown to enjoy the Chancellor’s portrayal a bit more the last few episodes as well. He was a bit too Snidely Whiplash at the start, but we’re now starting to see some back story for the character, as well as some unguarded moments of emotion. He’s still terribly two dimensional, but at least there’s a light at the end of that tunnel now.

I agree. The Chancellor’s character grew on me, too.

Benedict Wong, the guy that plays Kublai, was on an episode of the IT Crowd once. I can’t get over that. His role in the IT Crowd was too ridiculously funny for me to take him seriously. Every time I see him I think “I won the teapot. The teapot we all crave. I can see it in your eyes, you crave it to.” Interestingly enough he was essentially playing the same character as he does in Marco Polo. Maybe slightly less aggressive, but very similar.

Wow. I can’t believe it. Thanks for saving me ten hours. I’m totally not watching this show now. Mortal sin is right, that writer should burn in hell for fucking forever.

/Sarcasm

Little harsh, don’t you think? I didn’t view carlton’s post as being ridiculous. It was simply bringing up a pet peeve he has.