A scene from ‘The Decameron’
Giovanni Boccacchio The Decameron Featured prominently in my History of English Literature course.th This turn-of-the-century classic novel was considered the inspiration for various great authors of English writing, including Shelley and Shakespeare. The Decameron It was part of the study, just like Edmund Spenser’s depiction of the gentleman knight scratching in the field. Fairy Queen,
There didn’t seem to be anything adaptable in it The DecameronA collection of one hundred stories told by seven women and three men hiding in a rural villa outside of Florence, hoping to escape the plague that was spreading through Europe. The plague devastated the medieval world, causing massive economic, social, and spiritual changes, making it extremely easy to draw parallels between the pandemic of 1346 to 1353 and the pandemic of 2020.
And that’s why we have Netflix. The DecameronThe story that follows Boccacchio’s work quickly becomes its own beast. It’s 1348 and people are dying like flies, in Florence and elsewhere, from the bubonic plague. A nobleman, Eduardo (John Hannah), is at death’s door. While his daughter, Filomena (Jessica Plummer), is not very sympathetic, her maid, Lisicka (Tanya Reynolds, brilliant), is worried about Eduardo and tries all sorts of bizarre cures to cure him.
The Decameron (English)
the creator: Kathleen Jordan
starring: Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Tanya Reynolds, Amar Chaddha-Patel, Leila Farzad, Lou Galla, Karan Gill, Tony Hale, Dougie McMeekin, Jessica Plummer
Episodes: 8
Run-time: 48 – 60 minutes
StoryThe nobility and their servants hope to hide out in the country until the plague takes its toll, but lust and greed rear their ugly head in a medieval version of Big Boss.
When an invitation arrives to wait out the plague in the country at Villa Santa, Filomena sees it as an escape and convinces Lisicka that it is their best option, especially after Eduardo’s death. Guests at Villa Santa include the tone-deaf Pampinea (Zosia Mamet), her helpful maid, Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), a hypochondriac nobleman, Tindaro (Dougie McMeekin), his doctor, Dineo (Amar Chaddha-Patel), the crafty Panfilo (Karan Gill) and his pious wife, Naifile (Lou Gala). Stratilia (Leila Farzad), the cook, and the manager, Cirisco (Tony Hale), become exasperated looking after the nobles and their ridiculous demands.
Everyone has their own agenda. Pampinea, an old maid of 28, sees her engagement to Leonardo, the owner of Villa Santa, as her validation. Unfortunately, due to Leonardo’s strange absence, she has to resort to different methods to maintain her position. Misia, although very loyal to Pampinea, suffers from her uncaring ways. Naifile is lustful for all her piety while Panfilo has her secrets. There are mercenaries, evil priests, scammers and thieves, who want to deprive Villa Santa of its wealth.
A scene from ‘The Decameron’
The nobles are not so noble and are willing to slit others’ throats for profit. At different times, people try to take over Villa Santa, but they don’t have much success. There’s a proper skirmish at the end with a pile of corpses, but there’s hope. The rock soundtrack, including music by Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Duran Duran and The Zombies, is fun. However, period pieces with modern language, steamy sex and extreme violence are no longer so shocking and so the subversion needs to be backed up by solid content.
Whereas The Decameron It has sex, language and gore, but not the intelligence needed to carry it off. And so you are left with a mildly entertaining show that does no favours to the talented cast. Wonder who the period piece content creators will turn their greedy eyes on next – Dante divine Comedy Perhaps?
The Decameron is streaming on Netflix
