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telenovela: Isabel, season 1
Jun. 16th, 2015 09:45 pmIsabel is a biodrama about Isabel I of Castile. It's complete with 3 seasons, though only the first two are available in English (on Hulu and Dramafever) as far as I can tell. The first season covers the from when young Isabel enters the Spanish court in 1461 and ends when she becomes queen in 1474. My understanding is that it was originally only going to be the one season, but it was popular, so they made more to cover the rest of her life.
Even though I really enjoyed this season, I'm undecided about watching more for 2 reasons:
1. I just want to wallow in her victory.
2. If I continue, then I have to deal with things like Christopher Colombus and Our Heroine kicking off the Spanish Inquisition.
ANYWAY. The first season is very good. As near as I can tell, it's considerably more faithful to history than most biodramas, though it definitely takes it's share of liberties. The acting is great all around, but Michelle Jenner, who plays Isabel, is particularly amazing. She's in her late 20s, so mid twenties during the filming of the first season, and plays Isabel starting around age 13 (the real Isabel was a bit younger during the earliest events of the season, but I guess they didn't want to cast a child actress for her, so she remains about 13 for a few years) and while they never quite manage to make her look as young as Isabel is meant to be in the earliest episodes, she SELLS Isabel as that young, as well as Isabel's piety, ambition, stubborn streak, and sometimes crushing sense of responsibility.
There are battles, but most of the show is political maneuvering by various players (I confess to being bored by some of the non-Isabel-centric politics, and not always being able to tell the mean with long black hair, dark robes, and bushy beards apart. In my defense, several were related, so I guess casting was doing a good job), and Isabel growing up, with her marriage with Ferdinand taking up a fair bit of narrative focus in later episodes. Despite hinting at his infidelities (he claims to have been faithful in this season, but if he's telling the truth, we know it won't last) the show portrays this as Epic True Love. Until Ferdinand shows up (and for a while after) we have Gonzalo, originally the bodyguard of Isabel's younger brother, Alfonso, who then swears himself to Isabel after Alfonso's death Gonzalo engages in a lot of courtly pining, and doesn't pull any Nice Guy stuff or engage in any emotional blackmail when Isabel rebuffs his single mild pass. Isabel's own feelings for Gonzalo are a bit more ambiguous, as she's always pretty aware of what kinds of relationships she can have with who, but generally speaking, Gonzalo>>Ferdinand. But History happens.
Other prominent female characters include Isabel's best friend, Beatriz, Isabel and Beatriz's mothers, Isabel's sister-in-law, Queen Juana of Portugal, and her niece, Juana la Beltraneja. Beatriz and Queen Juana both have prominent roles in the political going ons, in various ways. (Little Juana, too, but a more passive role, given that she's a toddler for half the series.)
When I watched the first episodes some time back, my reaction was "this is like Game of Thrones but with way less rape, and the heroine wins." Then on my first visit to the tumblr tags, I found this, and knew I wasn't alone:
I should emphasize that "less rape" doesn't mean "no rape." The first several episodes have a several sexual assaults and one rape (of a minor character only in that episode), most of them perpetuated by one character. Some of it felt like sexual assault as a shorthand for evil person, but the narrative doesn't take the "this is just how things were" approach, and is pretty condemning. The show gets most of this out of its system in the first few episodes, though. There is, however a lot of nudity (more female than male) throughout, and a lot of graphic sex, though mostly consentual, aside from the one rape. Aside from Ferdinand and his pre-marriage mistress, the graphic sex scenes are almost all between supporting male characters and random women, or just random people in the castle. The sex scenes between the romantic pairings all get the "fade to black" treatment, complete with romantic music and soft, fuzzy lighting when it was Isabel and Ferdinand's turn. So, basically, it's really, really male-gazey on that front, except for when it wants to be a romance novel.
So, good show (Good alternative to GoT) possibly iffy future seasons, but you're just fine ending with the first season, with warnings for blood and nudity.
Even though I really enjoyed this season, I'm undecided about watching more for 2 reasons:
1. I just want to wallow in her victory.
2. If I continue, then I have to deal with things like Christopher Colombus and Our Heroine kicking off the Spanish Inquisition.
ANYWAY. The first season is very good. As near as I can tell, it's considerably more faithful to history than most biodramas, though it definitely takes it's share of liberties. The acting is great all around, but Michelle Jenner, who plays Isabel, is particularly amazing. She's in her late 20s, so mid twenties during the filming of the first season, and plays Isabel starting around age 13 (the real Isabel was a bit younger during the earliest events of the season, but I guess they didn't want to cast a child actress for her, so she remains about 13 for a few years) and while they never quite manage to make her look as young as Isabel is meant to be in the earliest episodes, she SELLS Isabel as that young, as well as Isabel's piety, ambition, stubborn streak, and sometimes crushing sense of responsibility.
There are battles, but most of the show is political maneuvering by various players (I confess to being bored by some of the non-Isabel-centric politics, and not always being able to tell the mean with long black hair, dark robes, and bushy beards apart. In my defense, several were related, so I guess casting was doing a good job), and Isabel growing up, with her marriage with Ferdinand taking up a fair bit of narrative focus in later episodes. Despite hinting at his infidelities (he claims to have been faithful in this season, but if he's telling the truth, we know it won't last) the show portrays this as Epic True Love. Until Ferdinand shows up (and for a while after) we have Gonzalo, originally the bodyguard of Isabel's younger brother, Alfonso, who then swears himself to Isabel after Alfonso's death Gonzalo engages in a lot of courtly pining, and doesn't pull any Nice Guy stuff or engage in any emotional blackmail when Isabel rebuffs his single mild pass. Isabel's own feelings for Gonzalo are a bit more ambiguous, as she's always pretty aware of what kinds of relationships she can have with who, but generally speaking, Gonzalo>>Ferdinand. But History happens.
Other prominent female characters include Isabel's best friend, Beatriz, Isabel and Beatriz's mothers, Isabel's sister-in-law, Queen Juana of Portugal, and her niece, Juana la Beltraneja. Beatriz and Queen Juana both have prominent roles in the political going ons, in various ways. (Little Juana, too, but a more passive role, given that she's a toddler for half the series.)
When I watched the first episodes some time back, my reaction was "this is like Game of Thrones but with way less rape, and the heroine wins." Then on my first visit to the tumblr tags, I found this, and knew I wasn't alone:
I should emphasize that "less rape" doesn't mean "no rape." The first several episodes have a several sexual assaults and one rape (of a minor character only in that episode), most of them perpetuated by one character. Some of it felt like sexual assault as a shorthand for evil person, but the narrative doesn't take the "this is just how things were" approach, and is pretty condemning. The show gets most of this out of its system in the first few episodes, though. There is, however a lot of nudity (more female than male) throughout, and a lot of graphic sex, though mostly consentual, aside from the one rape. Aside from Ferdinand and his pre-marriage mistress, the graphic sex scenes are almost all between supporting male characters and random women, or just random people in the castle. The sex scenes between the romantic pairings all get the "fade to black" treatment, complete with romantic music and soft, fuzzy lighting when it was Isabel and Ferdinand's turn. So, basically, it's really, really male-gazey on that front, except for when it wants to be a romance novel.
So, good show (Good alternative to GoT) possibly iffy future seasons, but you're just fine ending with the first season, with warnings for blood and nudity.
