Review by clanciai

A typical Abel Gance film, very ambitious, spectacular scenery, pretentiously self-indulgent, effective indeed, but all superficial, no psychology, no character development, only visualism the whole way, and above all, no real understanding of the subject, just using the notoriousness of the reputed popular gossip to make something like sensational journalism on the screen. Cesare Borgia is made a vulgar and outrageous monster, while he definitely was not, as Macchivelli found it worth to use him as a paragon of a responsible prince, and as even Lionardo da Vinci at times found it worth while to serve him. The portrait of Lucrezia Borgia is more interesting and slightly closer to the truth, while their father, Alexander VI, again also is made a perfect monster, while he was a shrewd and complicated nature, who among other protegés had Chrstiopher Columbus, whom he helped out on his first expedition. In brief, this is vulgar sensational journalism for the masses to go to the cinema for and pay for it, all made for the vanity of Abel Gance and only for the satisfaction of visual appetite. Abel Gance was always too superficial for me, and I was never so disappointed with any film as with his horrible vulgarized treatment of Beethoven.