Leonardo

Maybe, it is not the biographic series who you expect. But it is beautiful and well acted and comfortable and far by huge innovations. Not the accuracy of events, not pledge for a theory or other, not the eulogy of the great genius are purpoises of it. But a honest story around a presumed murder, having as basic virtue the beautiful cinematography and the inspired work of Aidan Turner. Sure, many sins, from too sentimental scenes to not the best dialogues in some episodes or the torture for brave Freddie Highmore in the most bizarre role of his career. But it is beautiful, for so many motives, it is just beautiful. Not impressive, not great, not memorable. Only the honest sketch who reminds, give some smiles, propose not the most convincing but not so bad explanations, reminds the war between artist and world, reminds the miracle of beauty around us and becomes, episode by episode, a sort of oasis, with flavour of old fashion series. So, real beautiful sketch.

I am only half-way through but enjoying this series tremendously. Firstly, the history. Having studied the life and works of Leonardo Da Vinci, I know more than many about his life. I discovered some time ago that there are not even two academic books which interpret the man or his work in matching ways. This is because Leonardo is an immensely difficult character to pin down due to scant primary sources. Therefore, I am impressed by how the creators have taken the few historical details available to us of Leonardo's life and personality and built a psychological profile of a living, breathing character in order to access the mind of the genius. It's very cleverly done and mostly seems to be inspired from his diaries and notebooks. Some viewers have forgotten this is a drama not a documentary therefore it must have a beginning, middle and end with twists and turns like all great dramas do. I believe the producers have captured a fascinating version of the spirit of Leonardo as well as portraying many little known facts and events of his life. Secondly, the drama itself: beautiful, passionate and human, just like the man. What a marvellous series to lose yourself in.

Visually stunning to look at & Aidan Turner perfectly conveys the sometimes tortured soul of the genius that was Leonardo da Vinci. The chemistry between him & Matilda de Angelis, who plays Caterina, is wonderful. Unfortunately, Freddie Highmore as the detective Giraldi, is totally miscast. It's important to remember it's a drama about Leonardo's life, not a documentary, so don't expect 100% historical accuracy in this series, there are some glaring distortions of the truth. However it is an enjoyable series & certainly worth watching.

This production is banal beyond belief.

The characters are one dimentional especially Leonardo.

The hair and make up so 21st century, you can almost imagine the hair tongs and as for the actor's artificially whitened teeth!

There is no attempt at any faintly historical dialogue - all in all apalling rubbish.

There bas been much debate about how this series has been fictionalized, with any drama you have to accept that this is a story, and it does not have to be100% accurate, in the way that a documentary is. I really do not understand people who will score a series only one, when if you split apart the components that go to make a series like this, you would score way above that. It pays not to have unrealistic expectations when you approach something historical. The other thing is of course that although Leonardo Da Vinci left some amazing artworks, we know surprisingly little about his life.

I really enjoyed this series. You don't have to be artistic to appreciate the loving detail that went into creating the stories around each of his artworks, and the immense talent he undoubtedly had. Aidan Turner embraced the challenge wholeheartedly, and whilst he probably won't get nominated for any major awards, he can be proud of his work, as can the supporting cast. They created an interesting story, with beautiful sets and an appreciation for the depth of his contribution to art, and I think that counts for a lot.