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Barbarians (2020)
Boring but respectful
I want to start this review out by saying that I didn't enjoy this series very much. And that really pains me.
As a historical series I found it to be very respectful and at least somewhat historically accurate with clear inspiration from what we currently know about ancient Germanic societies both in terms of material culture, sociologically and religiously.
Overall its portrayal of ancient Germanic society is realistic shown as male dominated though with women having a say in every situation.
The chief of each tribe lives in a greater than average long hut placed next to his wife in the high seats.
The most powerful men from each tribe visits the Thing to discuss matters of importance.
A female shaman espouse the view that a crippled boy holds secret knowledge from having been brought back from the dead.
A fallen king sacrifices himself in a sacred bog.
While it shows female warriors it doesn't go over the board with it.
Primitive iron smelting furnaces are wielded in one village.
Thusnelda in particular caught my attention.
In almost every single episode she is shown as an instigator that often incites the surrounding men to fulfil their duty even when faced with harsh opposition. This is a very clear inspiration taken from old Norse sagas where women held a similar role in reminding their male family members that they had to take revenge for wrongdoings committed against their clan.
The portrayed relation between Romans and Germanics also pleased me with the former's lowly attitude towards the latter at one point deciding the outcome of the final, decisive battle.
The above mentioned points was my main pleasure when watching this series. And for those exact reasons it pains me that I didn't enjoy it.
My main issue?
It was boring. So little happened. After watching each episode, after having been glued to the screen for 50 minutes, I could hardly tell myself what had occurred in the plot. I felt that the whole series could be cut down to 4 or even 3 episodes.
More so many scenes where supposed to be dramatic and nerve wrecking but felt lacking in terms of excitement and thus mostly came off as boring or silly. The ending was also quite abrupt. When the series for once move at a faster pace it was too much and was concentrated in a span of a few minutes. And then the series ended all of a sudden.
Overall, I am glad that I watched this series because it was historically accurate. I wont rewatch it because it is boring and I wont recommend it to other people except for those interested in Germanic history. But if you are, go watch it.