Great debut for the TV series The Medici – Masters of Florence

Great debut for the TV series The Medici - Masters of Florence

Last night the first episode of the television series The Medici - Masters of Florence

The results have been extraordinary.

The Medici - Masters of Florence won 7,562,000 viewers with 29.9% share.

This result was achieved despite the same time on Channel 5 went on the air the football match Lyon - Juventus, who had to settle for 5,539,000 viewers with 20.3% share.

The results therefore not disappoint expectations.

After all, the premises there were all. A theme fascinating and a intriguing history. An important production and a cast of international repute.

The series chronicles the rise of the Medici family, head of the city of Florence during the Renaissance. Giovanni de' Medici, the patriarch, has transformed the family bank in an extraordinary economic power, thanks to the agreement made with the Papacy. When Giovanni is murdered, it is up to the sons Cosimo and Lorenzo preserve the power of the family. They will face disagreements and intrigues.

But it is not the historical reliability the main feature of the series. In fact, one of the creators, not surprisingly, is Frank Spotniz, the shownrunner of X-Files. As they told Luke and Matilde Bernabei of Lux Vide "We brought together the best of Italian and international talents to create a competitive series on the market. Frank Spotniz has wanted to create this series without taking for granted that the public was interested in the history of the Medici family ....... "

The Medici is an Anglo-Italian television series. Designed by Frank Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer, it was produced by Rai Fiction, Big Light Productions, Lux Vide, Wild Bunch. The director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, American of Croatian origin also known as assistant director of Steven Spielberg.

Three important actors play Giovanni, Cosimo and Lorenzo de 'Medici.

Two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman plays Giovanni de 'Medici. Richard Madden, Robb Stark on the television series Game of Thrones, plays Cosimo and is the protagonist of the series. Stuart Martin, the inspector Luke Wilkinson of Crossing Lines series, plays Lorenzo de 'Medici "the Elder", younger brother of Cosimo.

Among other protagonists Annabel Scholey, Guido Caprino, Alessandro Preziosi, Valentina Bellè, Miriam Leone, Alessandro Sperduti, Sarah Felberbaum.

The soundtrack is signed by Paul Buonvino. The singer Skin, former front leader of Skunk Anansie, has been chosen to sing Renaissance.

The locations

The shooting lasted 18 weeks.

They are mainly carried out in Italy. The series is obviously set in Florence, returning to international prominence after only a few days since the release of Hell, the new Ron Howard movie starring Tom Hanks.

But to reconstruct the historical Firenze was used a plurality of locations.

In Florence they have been used some historical sites such as Palazzo Vecchio, the San Lorenzo Basilica, the Bargello Palace, the Baptistery and the Florence Cathedral.

In Tuscany various other locations have been interested in the filming: Montepulciano, Pistoia, Pienza, where Piccolomini Palace was used as Palazzo Medici, although the interior was reconstructed in the studio, San Quirico d'Orcia and Bagno Vignoni.

Other important locations are located in northern Lazio, in particular in the province of Viterbo (Viterbo, Caprarola with the Farnese Palace) and in Rome (Rome, Bracciano with the Odescalchi Castle, Tivoli with Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este).