Im all for artistic license, but still expected more from Netflix. Hopefully most know better than to look to the entertainment world for actual history lessons, however, to have grounded one or two elements in reality could've leant to some success in this production. The choice of historic names is far too little. Let's first answer the question, what if any thematic artful interpretation were the creators intending to express? The first disappointment was the set design. Did anyone attempt to look at the supposed ceiling art? Wall dressings? Item after item, was sloppy and negligent. As mentioned elsewhere, theres no visual references to the period this is meant to lead the viewer into. From costumes, make up and hair, to location choices (architectural context), it's apparent this was intended to be interpretive art, yet failed. If production designers had simply read a couple of period pieces, fiction or non, chosen a motif to ground the viewers, perhaps this make believe story could've set the stage for writers, characters and production staff to depart from realism, directing this faux drama into a conceptual world the writers want viewers to follow. Albeit, it fails to lead. A prime example, yes, the wedding dance was time to leave and be gone. Cheap, tawdry, not even amusing or in anyway captivating. Netflix has the capacity to seek out talented artists, yet failed again here. I offered 2 stars for the dogged determination of the actors to portray developed characters. From all other aspects of writing, design, directing & production, even taken as fictional abstraction, this is a fail. Im presuming those with ratings of 9 & 10 are adolescent viewers or perhaps nescient to components of completed compositions in any chosen media form.
Review of The Empress
