MARCO POLO ODYSSEY PLAYS HARD AND LOOSE WITH THE TRUE STORY
Netflix’s historical drama re-imagines the life of Europe’s most famous explorer, but critics say the series is riddled with errors
When Italian actor Lorenzo Richelmy stepped into the title role of Netflix’s historical series Marco Polo, he faced one major hurdle. He did not speak English. “I was terrified,” Richelmy said. “Language is one of the most important things for an actor, so I worked a lot to learn.”
Already an established actor in Italy but relatively unknown elsewhere, the 24-yearold stars in the story of 12th century Venetian merchant Marco Polo, credited with being one of the world’s first explorers for his journey through the realms of Kublai Khan’s Mongolian empire.
Polo spent more than two decades in central Asia and China with his father and uncle, serving for years as Kublai’s minister and envoy. After his return, the story of his journeys, Book of the Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels of Marco Polo, propelled him to medieval superstardom.
Richelmy, 24, says his Italian heritage and globetrotting childhood helped him connect to the character of the legendary explorer.
“I’m Italian. That helps a lot because back in the day, cultural differences were more evident,” he said. “[Marco Polo] was cultured and that was the first thing that amazed people from the East.
“Also, I’ve been in all the places that Marco Polo has been, because my stepfather was stationed in Southeast Asia, so since I was nine, every year I’d visit Vietnam or Myanmar.”
The actor believes the show gives a glimpse into how life in a radically different culture shaped the fortunes of his pioneering countryman.
“At the beginning, he doesn’t know anything,” he said. “At the end, he knows a lot of himself, and the fact that he sees two worlds and he’s raised in both worlds, it’s beautiful, because they weave parts of the two systems into him. We wanted to create the kid who becomes the great explorer.”
Italy doesn’t have Netflix yet, so the young actor had no idea what he was signing up for when he was offered the role.
“I didn’t know what it was,” Richelmy said, laughing.
“The first time they told me it was Netflix, I said ‘I wish it was HBO!’ And then I realised it’s much better.”
His knowledge of the American film and TV industry has come on a bit since then, but the call of Hollywood is still not enough to tempt him away from his European roots.
“My life now is changing, and I get calls from people that I’ve never met. I’ve been working a lot on this, and for now it’s enough. I have my work in Rome, I want to live there,” he said.
“The beautiful thing for me right now is that I have nothing to lose. That’s a good place to be.”
With swashbuckling swordfights, mass battles, intricate costumes and palace plots, the series portrays conflicts and rebellions in the Mongol empire, as seen through Marco Polo’s eyes.
Netflix has spent tens of millions of dollars on the show, touted as its answer to HBO’s huge hit Game of Thrones.
But the series has been panned by some critics, who say it is riddled with historical errors.
Kublai, the grandson of the great Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, was a phenomenal warrior himself, reigning from 1260 to 1294, subjugating swathes of China and establishing the Yuan dynasty of Chinese emperors.
Mongolian viewers were excited to see one of their own being cast as Kublai’s brother Ariq Boke and hearing the occasional Mongol phrase, despite most leading roles going to Chinese actors or those of Chinese descent, such as Briton Benedict Wong, who plays Kublai.
Mongolian historian Batsukh Otgonsereenen, who spent 10 years researching his book The History of Kublai Khan, said: “From a historical standpoint 20% of the film was actual history and 80% fiction.”
The fate of Ariq Boke, who briefly took power following the death of their father but lost the subsequent civil war, was particularly twisted, he said.
“The part where Kublai and Ariq Boke fight to a bloody death in front of their soldiers is completely untrue,” he said. “Yes, Ariq did try to seize the throne, but in history Kublai and Ariq resolve their issues.”
A concubine-assassin supposedly sent by a minister of the rival Song dynasty to seduce Kublai and kill his queen was another fantasy.
“Mongolian Khans never wed or had concubines that were totally unknown,” said Mr Otgonsereenen.
“Kublai also did not live in a palace. He lived in his royal ger in Beijing, in a traditional Mongolian manner.”
Netflix describes the series — shot in Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Italy, rather than Mongolia or China — as set in a world “replete with exotic martial arts, political skullduggery, spectacular battles and sexual intrigue”.
But Mr Otgonsereenen said the creators’ research on Kublai seemed “very sloppy”.
“I think they tried to show Mongolian history like Game of Thrones with conspiracy, betrayal, blood and sex,” he said.
“Mongolian youth who watch this series might get the wrong impression of Kublai Khan being quite cruel and perverted.”
US critics concurred, with news site vox. com’s reviewer writing: “This is a show about Kublai Khan that doesn’t realise it’s about Kublai Khan because Marco Polo has better name recognition.
“Is it worth watching?” he asked rhetorically. “Eh, not really, no.”
The series, released last month, has a 30% rating on review aggregator rottentomatoes.com, which describes it as “an allround disappointment”.
Nonetheless a second season has been commissioned. Some Mongolian viewers praise the series, and many welcome the space it gives their remote country on the global small screen.
Orgil Narangerel, who played Genghis Khan in a BBC documentary, said it was more accurate than any previous foreign portrayal of Mongolian culture.
“As a Mongol and an artist, Marco Polo makes me feel like our dreams are coming true,” he said. “I watched all 10 episodes in just in one day.”
Although Mongol forces conquered China and ruled it for almost a century, modern Mongolia is overshadowed by its giant southern neighbour — a key market for its raw materials — and fears being economically dominated by it.
China proclaims itself as the world’s oldest civilisation and has a historical tendency to co-opt successful invaders and declare them Chinese, including Kublai.
Mongolia was later part of Qing dynasty China, only securing independence in the early 20th century and falling into the Soviet sphere soon after, while the Nationalist Republic of China maintained a sovereignty claim over the country.