Here are some historical TVseries & movies I have been watching. I fin d themquite interesting and even informative in somecases.
I have talkedabout "the White Queen" in my blog before. It's a good show, with agood storyline and appealing scenery settings.The name "Henry Tudor" was mentioned in the WhiteQueen and it made an impression on me, which led me to watch the4-season TV series "theTudors"
The White Queen (TV serieson BBC).《白皇后》
The Tudors (TV series - fourseasons)The Tudors contains excessiveand unnecessary nudity, viewer discretion isadvised.While nudity appeals to acertain type of viewers, I do think the excessive nudityobjectifies women. Come on,you really don't need to strip women totell a good story.
Despite the controversialnudity, this is an interesting show, which spares no effort increating an extravagant royal court and spectacular war scenes.The story evolves around Henry Tudor and his sixwives, his numerous affairs, and the religious reform called"Reformation".Aside from the dazzlingbeauty of the queens and princesses, the Tudors has some memorablemale characters as well.
Althoughthe accuracy of the historical representation can be questionable,the Tudors still paints a vivid picture of the British royal court,and definitely trumps a boring history book. Mosthistorical TV series & movies try to be creativeand entertaining instead of truthful.
Contrary to popular belief,princesses are not the prized pearls of the King. According to theTudors, princesses are often married off to neighboring countriesagainst their will to help the King form strategic alliances.Despite her esteemed royal status, a princess still cannot decidewhom to marry. A princess is just a chess pieceof a big scheme.
I suspect theancient Chinese princesses didn't fare much better than theirBritish counterparts. In the Chinese language, we have idioms suchas ”Qin-Jin-Zhi-Hao(秦晋之好),"Zhao-Jun-Chu-Sai) (昭君出塞),these idiomsare about marrying princesses or ladies-in-waiting off to foreigncountries to appease the enemy or to form an alliance. I wouldn'tbe surprised if some princesses were heldhostage.
Luckily, modern women have morecontrol over their fate and marriage, or so we think. To a certainextent, marriages in our society are still influenced by socialvalues and expectations of other people. It's never really onlyabout you.
Due to the lack of survivingmale heir, Henry Tudor's two daughters Mary and Elizabeth becameQueen of England subsequently.
Queen Mary I of England wasiron-fisted in re-establishing the Catholic Church in England andhad heretics killed without mercy. I suspect the cocktail BloodyMarry was inspired by QueenMary.
Mary's younger sister Elizabeth turned out tobe one of the most remarkable monarchs in Britishhistory.
Two movieswere made about Queen Elizabeth - Elizabeth (1998) and its sequelElizabeth, the Golden Age (2007)
Elizabeth (movie-1998).To be honest, this movie couldn't hold my interest.The royal court looks like a dungeon in themovie. The Mary in this movie looks like an ugly hag, while theMary in the Tudors is a true beauty.
Elizabeth - the Golden Age(movie-2007) is more interesting, with better costumes and settingsand a more engaging storyline.
Check themout. You might like them too!
梁潇方口译现场图-ConferencePhotos
我的自白-Do What YouLove!
我的英文博客-MyEnglishBlog
《我读过的英语书-MyBookshelf》
《潇方游记-我的足迹-MyTravelJournal》
Copyright(C)双子同声传译工作室-梁潇方
新浪博客:http://blog.sina.com.cn/chinagemini
官方网站:http://www.chinagemini.com/