"Unusual" may be an understatement, since there can't be too much English series like it. For good and for evil, "The Cleopatras" stands out like a loud, garish neon sign...
The series is devoted to violence and intrigue at the courts of the Ptolemaic pharaos, who ruled over Egypt until the defeat of the last (and most famous) Cleopatra. Consequently the series also treats the fall of a once great empire : the mighty Egyptian empire loses ever more isles and colonies, dwindles to a Roman vassal state and, finally, to a Roman province. As the episodes progress, it becomes clear that the omnipresent gold has turned into a liability instead of an asset, since it has attracted the undivided attention of a more successful and more lucky rival from across the sea.
The Ptolemaic dynasty produced not only kings but also queens, many of whom were at least as powerful, ambitious and/or nasty as their male relatives - hence the title. Now the Ptolemaic dynasty was infamous for the remarkable facility with which it committed all kinds of -cide : people killed off their parents, siblings, spouses, children and so on as if murder were going out of business. On top of that, the dynasty, originally descended from a Greek general, had adopted the Egyptian custom of marriage between close relatives, in order to safeguard the purity of the "divine" blood. As a result one could bump off one's wife, sister and mother-in-law in one fell stroke. This made for an extremely bloody and extremely unnatural environment.
"The Cleopatras", which tackles this theme with great gusto, paints a picture of a world in which nearly all family ties have been perverted and in which nearly all moral norms have been discarded. The result is violent, sleazy, weird, disquieting and darkly comical, like the comedy of manners from hell. Brace yourself for buckets of blood and gallons of poison... (While you're at it, also brace yourself for countless scenes of semi-naked dancers and slaves shaking parts of their anatomy in front of heavily-drinking guests.)
It's an enjoyable series, but mainly in a "guilty pleasure" kind of way. Very uneven, it seems to stand somewhere at the dubious crossroads where "so good that it's good" meets "so bad that it's good". For instance, there's a variety of mind-boggling effects used in order to frame flashbacks and tales. The whole is given an additional layer of surrealism by the inclusion of a musical score which seems to have been meant for some other kind of entertainment - perhaps a children's programme about horse riding, a sports show about the Winter Olympics or a documentary series about the charms of Oriental cooking ?
Anyway, you have been warned.
The series is devoted to violence and intrigue at the courts of the Ptolemaic pharaos, who ruled over Egypt until the defeat of the last (and most famous) Cleopatra. Consequently the series also treats the fall of a once great empire : the mighty Egyptian empire loses ever more isles and colonies, dwindles to a Roman vassal state and, finally, to a Roman province. As the episodes progress, it becomes clear that the omnipresent gold has turned into a liability instead of an asset, since it has attracted the undivided attention of a more successful and more lucky rival from across the sea.
The Ptolemaic dynasty produced not only kings but also queens, many of whom were at least as powerful, ambitious and/or nasty as their male relatives - hence the title. Now the Ptolemaic dynasty was infamous for the remarkable facility with which it committed all kinds of -cide : people killed off their parents, siblings, spouses, children and so on as if murder were going out of business. On top of that, the dynasty, originally descended from a Greek general, had adopted the Egyptian custom of marriage between close relatives, in order to safeguard the purity of the "divine" blood. As a result one could bump off one's wife, sister and mother-in-law in one fell stroke. This made for an extremely bloody and extremely unnatural environment.
"The Cleopatras", which tackles this theme with great gusto, paints a picture of a world in which nearly all family ties have been perverted and in which nearly all moral norms have been discarded. The result is violent, sleazy, weird, disquieting and darkly comical, like the comedy of manners from hell. Brace yourself for buckets of blood and gallons of poison... (While you're at it, also brace yourself for countless scenes of semi-naked dancers and slaves shaking parts of their anatomy in front of heavily-drinking guests.)
It's an enjoyable series, but mainly in a "guilty pleasure" kind of way. Very uneven, it seems to stand somewhere at the dubious crossroads where "so good that it's good" meets "so bad that it's good". For instance, there's a variety of mind-boggling effects used in order to frame flashbacks and tales. The whole is given an additional layer of surrealism by the inclusion of a musical score which seems to have been meant for some other kind of entertainment - perhaps a children's programme about horse riding, a sports show about the Winter Olympics or a documentary series about the charms of Oriental cooking ?
Anyway, you have been warned.