Do you remember playing Marco Polo as a kid? While you were splashing in the water hollering out Marco! Polo! you probably didn’t think about what the famous explorer encountered in 13th century China, but his travels have kept his identity alive for hundreds of years. Appointed to Kublai Khan’s imperial court, Marco Polo became a confidant to the founder of China’s Yuan Dynasty and traveled Asia for over 24 years. When he was eventually captured by Genoans and imprisoned, he relayed his great tales to his cellmate, Rustichello da Pisa, who turned the incredible story into a book.
This December you can watch the Netflix series Marco Polo and experience the greed, rivalry, and betrayal of the ancient eastern world. Watch as Marco Polo explores the world and uncovers its mysteries during a time when his voyages seemed impossible. While westerners only dreamed about the riches of the east, Marco Polo set out at just 17 and stormed through Asia, Persia, China, and Indonesia. He saw firsthand the markets of luxurious jewelry, fabrics, furs, and other items of royalty.
Polo experienced cultures and people unlike his own and his trip was of great historical significance, a trip that would later inspire Christopher Columbus. Now, audiences can get a glimpse behind the cold historical facts and see the world through the eyes of Marco Polo. This series explores Marco Polo’s life from the young man’s perspective full of romanticism, adventure, and struggle making it an intimate portrayal.
In the series, Italian born Lorenzo Richelmy makes his acting debut as Marco Polo, and his love interest is played by Zhu Zhu known for her role in “Cloud Atlas”. Joan Chen from “Twin Peaks” and Benedict Wong from “Prometheus” also star in the intriguing series along with Remy Hii as Prince Jingim, Olivia Cheng as Mei Lin, Claudia Kim as Khutulun, Uli Latukefu as Byamba, Chin Han as Jia Sidao, and Tom Wu as Hundred Eyes.
Its creators include John Fusco from “Young Guns”, Harvey Weinstein, and Collin Creighton. Dan Minahan from “Game of Thrones” and Patrick MacManus serve as co-executive producers as well as Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg both of whom worked on the academy award nominated “Kon-Tiki” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead men tell no tales”.
Watch Marco Polo’s epic adventures this winter on Netflix and experience one of the greatest travels in all of history.
Surf and Sunshine is a member of the Netflix StreamTeam. All opinions remains our own.
Hi!
This series looks great! I am really into TV series set in that time period and I LOVE Netflix! Thanks for the info!
-Amy
OK, I really had no idea where Marco Polo originated from, and now that I am thinking of it, maybe I should have gotten curious enough to look it up at some point. Oh well, now Netflix can educate me! This definitely looks intriguing.
Sounds like a show that I definitely want to watch! Hooray for Netflix!
I love Netflix and this sounds like an interesting series… I may just have to check it out!