THE AGE OF COSIMO DE MEDICI(AGE OF THE MEDICI, THE) (L ‘ETA DE COSIMO DE MEDICI) (TV)

(director/writer: Roberto Rossellini; screenwriters: Luciano Scaffa/Marcell Mariani/Niccolò Machiavelli; cinematographer: Mario Montuori; editor: Jolanda Benvenuti; music: Manuel De Sica; cast: Marcello Di Falco (Cosimo de’ Medici), Tom Felleghy (Rinaldo degli Albizzi), Adriano Amidei Migliano (Carlo degli Alberti), Virginio Gazzolo (Leon Battista Alberti); Runtime: 255; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Renzo Rossellini; RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana; 1972-in Italian and dubbed in English)

“Though dry, academic and talkative, it gives the viewer a realistic look back at 15th-century Florence.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

An educational history film, that captures the political intrigues of that period. The three-part film (Part One: The Exile of Cosimo de Medici; Part Two: The Power of Cosimo de Medici; Part Three: Leon Battista Alberti) on the Renaissance in Italy was directed and co-written by Roberto Rossellini(“Fear”/”Open City”/”Stromboli”) for an Italian TV mini-series. Though dry, academic and talkative, it gives the viewer a realistic look back at 15th-century Florence. It was a time when the wealthy Medici family was a force in Florentine culture, social and economic life. The film is co-written by the director, Luciano Scaffa, Niccolò Machiavelli and Marcella Mariani.

When the head of the Medici family dies, the ambitious and crafty Cosimo de’ Medici (Marcello Di Falco) takes charge of the banks and succeeds as commerce advances in operating in new ways. Much of the story covers how wars get financed, new trade agreements are currently conducted and how Leon Battista Alberti (Virginio Gazzolo) spurred on a revolutionary movement in art. The three parts cover Cosimo’s rise to power, his exile and return.

Recommended for the serious viewer who wants a heads up on the influential Medici family and their role in creating an enlightened period of humanism, ideas and art married to commerce.

REVIEWED ON 4/22/2014 GRADE: B+   https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/