Maximilian - Das Spiel von Macht und Liebe

The most prominent feeling I'm left with after watching this show, is that the screenwriters really rushed through it. There I was invested in the story of Mary, Maximilian, friends and foes at the start. The pace was going well enough, but especially after they get married plot-lines aren't fleshed out enough to continue and increase the impact of events that should be feeding my interest and emotions. Such a tragic thing too as the cast was good, but very underused because the script is half baked. What should have been two seasons at least was wrapped in just six episodes that end up being mostly forgetable when it had so much more potential.

On a positive note, I must commend the costumes. They are just fantastic, and I loved to see the court garments. The actresses for Mary and her step mother are beautiful and I loved seeing them on screen. Maximilian's actor is also wonderful. The casting was well done, and the sets and scenes all felt authentic. They did well with the material they got, I just wish the story had more meat. It would have been a more impactful series.

Sets are dark, lavish, and lit just right. It's a good story involving historic characters in turmoil, fighting and scheming for control of the throne in an unusual period of formation in Europe. They involve multiple countries, AUS, GER, but the focus is in 1400ad France. Can a strong woman break tradition as a Duchess and rule? Or does she need a man as society and law demands? Have to watch and see. Very informative, good sync w/ captions, well acted by Mary of Burgundy & Maximilian and supporting cast. Fresh and different vibe, as many BBC series- and sex scenes are done well for well adjusted adults... you can almost feel the cold, as battle scenes are foggy, realistic, and scenic. If you dig historic period dramas- This is well worth a watch. Solid series- Recommend.

If this production was filmed in English, it would have been an internationally acclaimed historical drama. Yet, if it was filmed in English, it would have lost its charm and intensity.

As someone fluent in French and German, it is an odd sensation to listen to characters speaking to each other in different languages. It is an interesting artistic choice which does reflect the multilingual aspect of European courts in this period.

The gritty: it is sumptuous, tense, murderous, and sexy. There are no elves or dwarves or fictional kingdoms: this is real life and history, naked and brutal.

If you are a cinephile, you should watch this.

Such a great series! I don't speak French or German but even so I still loved it and have watched it three times. The photography is amazing! The Austrian forests. The town burghers who look like they are sitting for a painting by a Dutch master. The baptism in the cathedral. The love scenes are tender. The humor comes through in the subtitles. The women!! Holy cow! Each of the women gets at least a moment to reveal her story in a moving way.

I came upon this series after having watched other similar series set in 15th century but in Italy and England. Those were: White Queen, White Princess, Spanish Princess, The Medici, The Borgia. This series fits extremely well into the "missing pieces of a puzzle" category. It focuses on the Duchy of Burgundy, which was important in the English War of the Roses and I had first had to look up where exactly it was. I always knew that the Austrian Hapsburgs were somehow related to the Spanish Hapsburgs but never really knew how that relationship came about. All of these shows made history INTERESTING, the historical personages come alive as we get to know them, understand them, and discover that dull history textbooks can become very entertaining drama. The quality of the various 15th-century set TV dramas are not equal. Most have interesting enough story lines. The history was rich on drama in the 15th century. But the cinematography, costumes, direction, performances - those differ quite widely. Maximilian is definitely not tops in the cinematography and visual beauty category, but seemed pretty historically accurate. Another reviewer here mentioned historical inaccuracy without doing much diligent checking him/herself. Wikipedia has an error when listing the troop strength of France and Burgundy, they switched the numbers around in one place, but in the write up they got it correctly. So it's not the movie that had it wrong, it's Wikipedia that has an error. I enjoyed this series and would recommend it especially since both Austria and Burgundy are usually pretty neglected in our British-dominated historical series.