Queen Cleopatra Review: Directed by Tina Gharani and narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, the latest docu-drama series on Netflix looks back at Egypt’s last pharaoh, Cleopatra and how she fought for her throne & the country. With four episodes in total and a runtime of about 45-48 minutes, it is executive produced by Ben Goold, Maxine Watson and Jane Root for Nutopia, while Jada, Terence Carter, Sahara Bushue and Miguel Melendez serve as executive producers for Westbrook.
The featured cast of the series includes Adele James as Cleopatra, Craig Russell as Mark Antony, John Partridge as Julius Caeser, Kaysha Woollery as Charmian, Laya Lewis as Eiras, James Marlowe as Octavian, Andira Crichlow as Arsinoe, Greg Lockett and Philip Walker. Including some scholars like Prof Shelley P Haley, Prof Joyce Tyldesley, Dr Islam Issa, Dr Sally-Ann Ashton and others.
-Queen Cleopatra Review Does Not Contain Spoilers-
Collaborating once again after the last docu-series African Queens Njinga, Tina Gharani and Smith decided to bring a new perspective towards the Egyptian Queen, who sometimes feels more like a lore than a real person. What is the actual truth about her; What was she like as a Queen, was she brutal or loved by her people – many things still remain in question.
Many people have a different perspective towards her therefore, even before the series premiere, it got into the controversy about what Cleopatra even looked like. Although the creators have taken a decision to portray her of Black/Mixed lineage, the historians despite supporting the claim, also tell us that they have no information about her mother’s lineage. Thus, it is difficult to say with surety, what she actually looked like.
Honestly, I kind of liked the last season on the life of Njinga, the complex, captivating, and fearless 17th-century warrior queen of Ndongo and Matamba, in modern-day Angola. Maybe because she is not as popular that I found it interesting to know more about her, however, I can not say the same kind words about the current one.
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While they intended to explore Cleopatra’s story as a queen, strategist, and ruler of formidable intellect as well as one of history’s most famous, powerful and misunderstood women. But what they have presented on Netflix certainly brings up even more misunderstanding about the Queen.
The featured historians even contradict each other, as one says ‘Oh she was not a romanticist, she was a strategist’ then a few moments later another says ‘she was a lover and cared for so & so’. If anything I took away from the series is that she made some bad choices (in love & administration) and then definitely regretted it. If she was only looking for strategic alliances to strengthen her position, then Octavian would have been a better choice than Mark Antony, but I guess the heart wants, what it wants.
Even if the series wants you to take it seriously, it’s really hard to do so. On-screen we are seeing this Queen who is looking for ways to keep her throne by doing anything, however, the narration tries to project her as a goddess making all the correct decisions. The charisma and power that are being thrown around in the narrative don’t translate on the screen.
It would have been much better if they had just made it a complete drama which is inspired by real life, instead of chiming the scholars in, every second there’s a turn in her life story. I am not sure if I should be judging it solely on the basis of acting (which was quite lacking & sleep-inducing) or the accuracy of historical facts which even I am not really an expert of.
Queen Cleopatra Review: Final Thoughts
The first part of African Queens now seems much better, even though it lacked a lot of information about the Queen & her kingdom. While this latest series tries to tell you various details about the historical figure, the visual refuses to cooperate with the words being said.
I think there’s better and to-the-point information imparted in videos online than you would get in this series. It’s just a soap drama representation of a person who has become much bigger than they originally might have been & treated more like a glorious fable now.
Queen Cleopatra is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
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