There have been a lot of period pieces in shows and movies recently. The filmmakers have been researching history, and have basically decided to pick and tell the life of every woman who ever ruled somewhere. Netflix, especially, has been at the forefront of this movement with The Crown, a show that now feels quite relevant after the death of its leading lady, Queen Elizabeth, in real life. It makes you think how sometimes reality is much more interesting than anything fiction can imagine.
However, in recent years there has been a tendency to go further back in time. The Crown had the advantage of following the life of a well-documented personality. Someone who was even alive for most of the show's run. Meanwhile, other shows go further back and pick up women who are long dead and whose story hasn't really documented their lives in much or any detail. Yes, most of the books were written by men, so in today's society, it's best to immediately think about how most of these women's achievements were basically erased from the books.
This perspective gives writers and filmmakers all the wiggle room they need to fill in the holes with their own ideas. Unfortunately, this means that most of the time the ideas remain the same, there is much that the imagination can do. And so The Empress, Netflix's latest TV series, follows that path and ends up feeling exactly the same. Not just The Crown, but other series like this year's The Serpent Queen and the Hulu hit The Great. Can The Empress find a way to stand out from all these shows that are doing the exact same thing?
Stars: Hanna Hilsdorf, Devrim Lingnau, Svenja Jung
The Empress is a German television series developed for Netflix by Katharina Eyssen and Lena Stahl. It tells the story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and how the young woman developed in the always complicated and dangerous life of a royal court. The series focuses a lot on political intrigues, but also on the more romantic side of the Empress and how she captured the hearts of men wherever she went. The series consists of six one-hour episodes.
The first thing you will notice about the Empress is how beautiful she looks. As with Hulu's The Great, production design is one of the most important elements when it comes to selling a story that takes place in another place in time. Fortunately, the production design department that works on The Empress is incredibly talented. They have managed to use their sets in the best possible way, allowing the rest of the crew to film and bring them to life through their acting, lighting and writing.
However, like the rest of the show, The Empress also feels a bit similar to other shows in the same vein. Of course, it's impossible to make things look different just for the sake of variety. However, the sets and costumes for all of these shows blend into one another quite easily. Sometimes it becomes very difficult to find details that are unique to each program. The same goes for the sets, makeup, art, and so many other elements that make up the world that the characters inhabit. Either way, the quality of the production is very high and it sells the period quite easily.
It then comes down to writing and acting to make something that feels more unique and interesting than its peers. When it comes to its plot and characters, The Empress is something of a mixed bag. The stories are very similar to things we have seen many times before, the difficult marriages, the betrayals, the tender moments between friends, the sadness of losing someone. These are all moments that are a huge part of real life, but when there are so many shows that use them to tell the same stories over and over again, you might experience déjà vu while watching The Empress.
The writing also falls into some common traps where the characters behave illogically and the writers just want the story to continue. And to do this, they use some tropes that, more than exciting or intriguing, are annoying. The ending suffers from this, and it's clear that everyone on the production team is looking forward to that second season. It's nice to leave a few things up in the air in hopes of following through in the next season, but when it comes to the viewing experience, it may not be as satisfying as the writers believe.
Watch The Empress 2022 Tv Series Trailer
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