The Box Set
So I sat down and did the usual binge on a box set at the weekend. It was great. There is something deeply satisfying about just banging through every episode and getting the whole experience with a nice conclusion. It certainly beats working your way through it week by week.
This time around it was Marco Polo on Netflix. 10 episodes over roughly 10 hours give or take the first few minutes skipped for the intro sequence. Nice bit of oriental music and art but once you have seen it a couple of times it’s moving on time.
The Setting
I have to say credit to them for having a go at this period of history. In all honesty I know absolutely nothing about this period other than that he was an Italian bloke who went to China. We have all probably heard of Kublai Khan from the Coleridge poem and a few of us Glaswegians may even have had a go at eating there. Neither are probably worth the effort if I am being honest.
Mongol history tends not to get taught in your local comprehensive these days but the mad clash of high Chinese culture and rough Mongol ned could actually make for an interesting backdrop.
Looks all authentic to my untrained eye but then I used to watch a lot of martial arts movies and I thought Enter the Dragon was the real deal. Kung Fu fishermen, what were they thinking.
Someone definitely spent some money on it so if you are into your scenery and visuals then it will tick a few boxes.
The Story
So Marco Polo ends up in the court of the great Kublai Khan and sort of gets to know him. Don’t want to spoil any plots but I think most of us got that from the trailer.
It is the classic tale of fish out of water and there are various escapades and encounters that move the story on in the direction you kind of expect it to go anyway. We all know he made it back to Italy, there’s a book to get published so there’s not much surprise there.
Beyond that I am guessing it is all pretty much made up. Serious historical documentary this aint so if you are expecting something with David Starkey then look away now.
Beyond the basic premise I think it is all made up nonsense.
The Acting
So here is the deal. This television show is worth watching for one reason and one reason only.
Benedict Wong.
He plays the central character of Kublai Khan and is a total revelation. I do remember him giving a very funny turn in 15 Stories High with Sean Locke and also had small parts in both Danny Boyles Sunshine and Duncan Jones’s Moon but he has always played comedic or bit part roles up until now.
Part Mongol warlord, part fat bloke from down the pub is how I would describe his style in this. It sounds mental but it really does work.
One minute he is playing the badass, the next he is at the strippers.
He gets away with it because there are some quite good bits where he does also pull off being a plausible leader, at least within the limitations of the unrealistic story line. More on this later.
Support is reasonably good from a wide range of international actors. The Chinese actors obviously come from a Hong Kong background as there is a fair amount of ham being served and the guy who plays the warrior son looks a bit out of place but it’s not all bad. There are enough old school thespians in here to just about retain some semblance of seriousness.
The Issues
The weird thing about this series is that it can’t make up it’s mind what it wants to be. On the one hand it could have been a serious historical drama set in a quite fascinating period of history. On the other it could have been a Kung Fu extravaganza with lots of sword fighting and a bit of soft core.
What we end up with is lots of serious political talk mixed in with some martial art action and some soft core nakedness. It might be trying to appeal to the Chinese market with all the hand to hand fighting but it invariably alienates it by insisting that all the Chinese actresses have to get their kit off at the first opportunity.
If you consider Marco Polo as a serious attempt at history then it falls flat whenever the blind Kung Fu monk or the martial art maestro Chancellor start kicking the hell out of people. The continual nudity also makes it unrealistic as there is just no chance that the leader of arguably the largest empire ever known to man would knock around like Peter Stringfellow. It’s fun to watch but anyone with a mild understanding of the history would probably be horrified.
If you consider Marco Polo as a VHS era Kung Fu movie then it probably ticks a few more boxes. The downside is that there is then lots of serious political intrigue that gets in the way of the twirling swords and flashing fists. No-one really cares about the quiet conversations detailing who is backstabbing whom. We just want to see the slow motion fight sequences and the blood flowing.
There are also some quite ridiculous oversights in the mechanics. All the characters ride off to go visit each other despite the fact the journey would probably take them six months. The inclusion of the Trebuchet and gunpowder is quite ridiculous. There is absolutely no attempt to portray a battle realistically and no attention to tactics or military organisation. Everyone basically rides off and just gets it on.
The Verdict
In truth it is all a lot of nonsense. If you have any interest in realism then pass this one over and go and watch some proper telly. If you like Hong Kong cinema and understand that this follows in the tradition of Crouching Tiger then you might fare better.
Benedict Wong gives a great turn as the Mongol Emperor and there is enough in that alone to make it worth putting up with the flaws.
Be prepared for a lot of unnecessary nudity. This is not the type of show you would stick on for your granny on a Sunday evening. If you like your titillation then it might do something for you.
Other than that it’s a reasonable return on ten hours of telly time. There is better fare on offer with the likes of House of Cards, Vikings and Better Call Saul but if you are an old school Kung Fu lover like me I think you might get some reasonable entertainment out of it.
Park your brain, forget the ridiculousness and just enjoy a bit of over the top acting and choreographed fight sequences. Marco Polo has a blind Kung Fu monk, all it really needs is an old guy who fights using his eyebrows.