Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

impressive cast. honest story. and desire to present with great accuracy a very complicated tale. and the result is not bad. but it is too correct. the preoccupation of director to not make errors is first cage of its potential. so, the gestures are almost theatrical, the performance is limited, the story is prudent and action , in few moments, not credible.so, it is a good film but not more. too long and too short in same measure, not really profound but full of good intentions, it remains sketch of a fresco who can present essence of a powerful family.and its perfect ingredient is Angela Molina in a delicate - subtle role.is it enough ? I do not know. but I think than Lluis Homer can be more credible in this kind of role and the art of Paz Vegas is not indicated for a shadow - role.

'Los Borgias' is a nice film to look at. The sets, costumes and art direction are quite good and I think they fit with the time period. I also think director Antonio Hernandez has tried to make the film as historically accurate as possible. However, even though the film spans more than 2 hours, I felt that it was lacking in something. The characters aren't properly developed. The relationships between the characters are displayed quite well. It was rumoured that Rodrigo had an incestuous relationship with his daughter and the director too remains ambiguous in his depiction rather than 'taking sides'. I felt that the writer could have done more to delve into the psyche of Rodrigo and Cesar. Further on the technical side, the cinematography is inconsistent and the soundtrack is very standard. The performances at times appear theatrical. Lluís Homar is passable. Sergio Peris-Mencheta fits the part. The best performance comes from Angela Molina but her role is tiny and almost insignificant to the story. María Valverde performs decently. Paz Vega is wasted. As some have mentioned, 'Los Borgia' may have work better as a longer feature film (with adequate story and character development) or a TV series. Hernandez's film is a good enough one-time watch that attempts to provide some historical insight. At least it got me interested in reading about this dysfunctional family.

The Borgia's were one of the most infamous prominent families in the late 15th century. There have been some films in the past that featured 2 members. Cesar Borgia & his sister Lucretia. The main member of the family was usually either ignored or alluded to in the past. He was Rodrigo otherwise known as: Pope Alexander V1.For those that do not know, His Holiness' morals were not the best,in fact they were infamous.The film is takes place during his Papacy & the various intrigues he & his son Rodrigo were part of.For dramatic reasons, much of the screenplay is fictionalized & the history is sanitized. NOW this was & is standard movie procedure.Los Borgia is a excellently made & acted film. The cast has some of Europe's best actors. I recommend that you check the history of this family, It is intriguing. NOTE: Supposedly Lucretia is more accurately portrayed here than in other films.I especially like the way Pope Alexander was portrayed, Even tho he was immoral,he comes across more human that other papal portrayals.RATINGS: ***1/2 (out of 4) 95 points (out of 100) IMDb 9 (out of 10)

I have just finished watching the "versión extendida" of Los Borgia, the 2dvd-set lasting 92+93 minutes respectively. Was it too long? Not really. The story spans about 14 years (1492-1506), has three or four main characters (pope Alejandro VI with his children César, Lucrecia and Juan), each with their own plots and subplots. While I haven't seen any of the previous, shorter versions, I suspect they were too condensed to give much room to characterization and plot development. In fact, had Los Borgia been turned into a television series twice as long, it might have been better still.What did I like about this film? First, the way it was photographed, the sets and the dresses, that really looked like clothes made for wearing. Second, the acting, which was modest and unobtrusive. The characters -- usually taken to be the personification of all that is evil in the Roman Catholic Church -- were depicted as fully human, at times even likable, without taking away anything of the gruesomeness of their deeds. And that is the third thing I like about this film: the way the makers have turned a black page in church history into a lively period piece, without resorting to cheap pornography, as could easily have been the case.Some minor quibbles: the DVD does not have any extras, which always is a shame, and subtitles (Spanish or English) are sadly lacking -- a drawback to those who, like me, aren't Spanish and might have difficulties understanding everything that is said. Also, for those that are not well up in history around 1500, it might have helped if the makers had inserted dates every now and then. If I remember correctly only once a specific date (1503) is mentioned by one of the characters.In conclusion, I really liked this film. It gives a fresh and lively look on a controversial episode in the history of Europe.