plamena-86164
*just saying that I won't look at the series from a historical perspective. I want to look at the series as A SERIES because that's what it is first and foremost.
Since I made myself clear, let's begin.
At the basics "Magnificent Century" tells the story of Suleiman the Magnificent as a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and how a russian concubine Alexandra Lisowska (who becomes Hurrem Sultan) slowly and gradually makes him fall in love with her and forget about all else.
However, if you think that's yet another soap opera where two people falling in love with each other struggle to overcome all odds together and later succeed in doing so, you're wrong.
If you think this is your documentary history show, you're all wrong. (hence why: *)
And if you think this show is perfect, you're also wrong.
However, I fell in love with MC.First off,
-the scenery and atmosphere.
Stunningly planted throughout. Not only does it make you feel like you belong in the 16th century but you can also see the change of the times. Like literally, you can FEEL the atmosphere changing throughout the seasons with every death and "wrongful" event passing by- from the light and vibrant colors in the first 2 seasons to the progressively darker and hopeless feel in the last 2. The first season was calm, the second more dynamic, the third filled with adrenaline, while the fourth with sadness and hopelessness everywhere around.
Also I'm not forgetting the wonderful costumes that are perfectly reflecting the spirits of each and every character (shout out to the designer there!) and the magnificent attention to detail and symbolism. However, there have been times when the directing has been a little abrupt and the wanted effect may not have been earned- the example that comes to mind for me is from episode 6 where a concubine was killed and the candles blew out symbolizing her death instead of making an effort to focus on the symbolism, the camera was constantly moving and it simply irritated me. They did get better with the later seasons (especially 2!) though despite that we can find some nitpicks here and there.-the cast.
Top-notch, dare I say and Oscar-worthy. (this may be an exegration but I don't care TBH) Every single actor in this show portrayed his role more than amazingly- from the main characters to the one-note ones- EVERYONE did a truly spectacular job whether I liked their character or not.-the soundtrack. - TRULY MAGNIFICENT!!
Literally... no complaint there. Crew did a magnificent job with the soundtrack of the show. Every single peace is extremely beautiful, thoughtful and heartfelt that there isn't even a single one I don't like. The powerful yet calming lullaby "Luli", the magnificent heartfelt and truly unbeatable "Mourning", "Mahidevran"- telling the story of an oppressed woman, "Ibrahim's Violin" and even the depressing melancholy lullaby of Hatice.... Out of all aspects of this show- I truly think they made the most effort with the soundtrack.. which is especially notable in Season 4- you can TELL this was the last season. And so forth...
Now to the things that impressed me most..the monologues.To empower their character arcs, each of the main characters has a monologue or two. W
But what is so impressive with these monologues?? They not only "empower" said character and the arc they undergo but and actually make us think. If you don't like said character, those monologues can actually turn things around for you. And not only this, there are also endless references to classic authors and their peaces of work and the poetry and effort put into these monologues is just incredible. (this is especially evident in the second and the fourth seasons where some turning events (including character deaths) happen)
And now to the most impressive point:
THE CHARACTERS.Yeah, I think the most impressive and interesting thing about this show , are the characters. Every single one of them is created and developed with a lot of heart and dedication of the writers. None of the characters is only good or only bad, we have just right actions and wrong actions, strengths and weaknesses and choices, we don't even know how right or wrong these are because a choice can be right for one character but wrong for another because said choices don't impact just said character, they impact EVERYONE. And aside from the writer's hand, a character is actually developing by the choices they make, am I right?? And so forth..
EVERY SINGLE character in this show is morally gray. Aside from the complexity and depth each character has, the gray morality is the thing that truly stands out in this show, in this period, in this epoque. And how this gray morality plays out truly is a sight to see. How these events constantly circle around between "black" and "white", how does all this affect the characters... you know, in most TV shows, the impressive thing is how your characters develop, change for the better and achieve their goals. Well here, these characters constantly downgrade, changing for the worse (sometimes even resulting in tropes such as flanderisation, character derailment and straight antagonism) which deepens their main characteristic and makes the situation even "grayer" as a result and shakes the supposed good or evil stereotype which makes the grayness hard to see.
Yes, Hurrem is the main protagonist and we should be ,you know, rooting for her and her love and that she's supposed to be flawless and the target that does everything for self- defense, except that she isn't. She changes drastically as the series progresses and this isn't a positive change- she becomes way more ruthless, calculating, manipulative, vengeful and whatnot despite the positive light most people paint her on.
I don't even want to talk about Ibrahim Pasha. Most complex and colorful character in the entire series.
Mahidevran on the other hand is supposed to be viewed as the negative character we're supposed to hate because of the drastic things she does (the beating, the poisoning, episode 55, I'm looking at you etc.). But over the course of the series, we actually see a classical tragic character- a noble and oppressed woman that unfortunately outlives her son.
Hatice is supposed to be a positive character at first glance in season 1, in season 2 she undergoes character deconstrustion and season 3 totally turns things around for her.
And we can go on....But despite of all this perfection, I still have my gripes with this show. And my main one is in....
the script.For the first 2 seasons, Meral Okay ( may her soul rest in peace..) made sure we all enjoyed the show and wanted to know what will happen next. The harem intrigues may get on your nerves (especially later on) but the storyline itself is extremely unpredictable and up-wringing with endless twists and turns around the corner. You just want to spend time with this upbeat setting and the dynamic plot development is quite entertaining in its own right. I have to put and
-the comedy out there which was also a secondary part of the show's charm.
MC knows when to slow down and to kick back into the action. It knows when to insert its best and worst aspects on a satisfying and don't mind level. And it knows when which aspects to put in which is a quite important thing for a TV show, especially a show like this one.
However, after Meral Okay's death (R.I.P again..) something changed. The tone, the atmosphere changed. But unlike others, I don't think it changed exactly for the worse.
The series itself became more dramatic, darker and even dare I say deeper but with its soapy elements showing more and more, plot holes lurking through the corner, the series being more stretched than usual, the intrigues truly getting on your nerves and of course, Hurrem's change (which I actually don't mind- Vahide did a terrific job!) all of which turned some people off the show. That's actually why (Vahide aside) I'm rating this an 8.5/10 not a 10/10. Season 3 offered some interesting storylines but the unnecessary stretching ruined most of the things and Season 4, while it had an interesting look on character psychology, was even more stretched than usual and was actually the weakest in terms of plot despite that it was the deepest.All in all, this is an awesome show with lots of impressive qualities but of course, not without its flaws and yes, I DO reccomend it both to the people that want to learn something about the 16th century and the ones that want to watch something deep, dark, funny, thought-provoking and especially, entertaining.
ksmith999
The story itself is intriguing, if you don't mind watching grown-up idle women doing nothing but cat fighting, harming and killing each other. This is the good part. Bad part is that history has been falsified completely. As a born Hungarian, I am offended by the fact that the Turks - who have attacked, conquered and enslaved my people as well as other Europeans, are being portrayed as nice people who were having some nice "campaigns", making it sound like an innocent pastime. Our king is being portrayed as a complete fool. Turks weren't like this. They were a cruel, merciless horde that kept Europe in fear and were hated by everybody. I find it interesting that, in the movie, the very people who have been taken from their families by the them, stayed loyal to them and in some cases, turned against their own. This is like watching a musical comedy version of the holocaust. Nice work Turkish people. Problem is, you are not fooling anybody. Not in Europe.
