User reviews

Let me tell you if you are not used to the length of long movies or long TV series don't even start this one.

The episodes are 2 hours minimum with half of it extended to 2 and a half hours. The Turkish are known for making long series.

It tells the story of Kosem Sultan (true story actually), and her reign over her husband Sultan Ahmed I, her two sons Murad IV & Ibrahim I and her grandson Mehmed IV this three last people she was a regent during their reign for half of the time at least.

The historic facts are good with some characters being changed in some fiction whereas the facts are different. But very little to minor characters. This is a continuation of Magnificent Century consisted of Sultan Suleiman and his reign.

It's good some plot holes and some things not right but overall they did a good job considering the length and the huge amount of material they had to put in, in so little time and less seasons otherwise telling the whole story it would need probably 20 seasons.

It tells the story behind the gates of the palace, in the harem where women manipulate and are powerful of their husbands with great positions , even an Imperial one. The actresses portraying Kosem change but overall they did a good job, each one of them on itself.

This was the first Turkish series I've watched and from thereon I've been watching mostly Turkish movies or series. This series focuses on Kosem who originally was known as Anastasia. She was brought into the palace as a slave and gifted to Sultan Ahmed. She fell in love with the Sultan and the series beautifully tells of her journey as a young innocent girl who became a powerful influence on Ottoman politics for half a century acting as a wife, mother and grandmother of different reigning Sultans. It's a fictional historical drama with an interesting script, good cinematography, grand costume and great acting. 3 different character acted as Kosem and all of them did a beautiful job. Lots of palace intrigue, a good depiction of a Sultan's harem, murder, politics, romance and jealousy. Never a dull moment.

Muhtesem Yuzyil:Kosem was a good show, Beren Saat's acting was amazing. It was well-shot, with interesting shots taken. The music was beautiful and suited the scenes very well. However, I would have to say that it had some plot- holes like Safiye Sultan would always make a evil comeback at Kosem, this sometimes got boring!

A beautiful series with wonderful supporting actors... and repulsive moral choices.

Pros:

• Atmosphere. Despite its flaws (see below), the series successfully portrays the atmosphere and customs of an Ottoman harem. Personally, this made me interested in the era, so I started studying historical literature and watching documentaries.

• The supporting cast makes up for the mediocre performance of the main actors. However, it's hard to stay engaged in a drama when some actors are intense while others lack emotional depth.

• Costume design. The variety of appearances helps to remember dozens of characters in less than half a season. ;D

• Adaptation of some real events (borrowed from the biographies of various people like Roxelana, Nurbanu, Safiye and others).

• Budget. The crew's lack of experience for this project was compensated with money, in my humble opinion. The series was made in an expensive way, and despite production flaws, the picture looks good.

By the production flaws I mean the following:

1. Video production is at the level of television series of the 90s. For example, imperfections in appearance are not masked by shooting angle or lights.

2. CGI. They constructed an entire set with luxurious chambers for filming, but clearly saved on heating the location. I feel sorry for the actors wearing négligée and talking with steam coming out of their mouths. The steam, background noise and other things should be removed in post-production.

3. The stunts lack realism and fail to entertain. During battles, the actors wave their arms so much that they actually would become slightly shorter after the first fight. Also, they use too much sloooooooooow mooooooootiooooooooon in each episode, especially in action scenes.

Cons:

• Struggling to mix two genres. On the one hand, the series is a costume drama that focuses on harem intrigues instead of political games. On the other hand, the creators included a lot of violence in this work, making its rating suitable for viewers aged 18 and above. (In comparison, a good example of a harem costume drama without too much politics is "The Empress of China" (Wu Meiniang chuanqi, 2014). If you just want political intrigue and military strategy, then "The Three Kingdoms" (Sanguo, 2010) is beyond competition.) The more you watch, the more you understand why the subject caused such outrage in its homeland. You expect to see a historical series or at least a fairy tale. Instead, you get a disturbing story about maniacs who harm people and then act as if nothing happened. The worst thing is we have to empathize with these characters without questioning, because there's no reasonable explanation for so much blood other than Sultan's desire. In some situations, Ahmed personally executes criminals, in others he forgives and sets them free. Often these are identical events several episodes apart, involving the same characters!

• Constant repetition and characters with short-term memory. Episode by episode, scandals and intrigues go through a full cycle, then everything repeats all over again. The characters team up against their enemies, only to betray each other and join forces with enemies to defeat their friends. Even if someone hurts or kills a loved one of another character, enemies quickly forget about it and become allies.

• 0.01% of historical accuracy is the least of the problems, but still worthy of mention. The solutions found by the writers to escalate the drama are confusing. Concubines live in one room all the time, like in barracks. They frequently visit the Sultan in his personal chambers without asking in almost every episode. The ages of the characters and historical dates are incorrect, so many events could not have actually occurred. The characters behave in a completely different way from what is described in historical literature. Usually they make even worse decisions that their prototypes did. At least, in real life they could die from natural causes.

Perhaps the plot carries some political overtones that are difficult for foreign viewers to see. Even if you focus only on the love story, watching the series is unpleasant and sometimes even painful. With so many deaths in the news last years, it's already too overwhelming to watch so much violence and hatred on screen. However, kudos to all the cast and crew who made the story watchable.

As an afterword, I'll note which people we have to feel for in the "Magnificent Century" franchise:

When the Sultan's Divan functioned as a law court for the trial of capital cases of such officials, it was usually without the knowledge of the offender. If he was found guilty an usher was sent with the court's decision and an order of death, which was given to the nearest official with power to put it into execution. The condemned man hurriedly settled his worldly affairs and made his peace with God, and was then quickly dispatched and his head cut off and brought back to the Sultan by the waiting usher, as proof that the deed had really been done. It has been said that as many as forty heads had been known to arrive at the court of Suleyman the Magnificent in the course of a single day. (Raphaela Lewis "Everyday Life in Ottoman Turkey")

Perfect casting, perfect acting, perfect ambience One of the finest series I've watched ever!

Kosem! Love for Power v/s Power of Love.

Safiye Sultan continuously refers herself as a third person and calls herself in plural, namely as "BIZ". In Christianity "Popes" refers themselves in plural, referring to the "Trinity" (God, Holly ghost and Christ). Neither in Osmanli, Turkish nor Muslim languages there is a place for such a misinformed deviation. I suggest to stop this non- nonsensical pretension. Kosem Sultan series is true history and that makes it very believable and authentic. I have to make one more comment about the series; it is too slow. I wait impatiently to watch it every Thursday, however even myself sometimes I lose my focus because too long conversations and lack of action. Ergun Tok (erguntok@msn.com)

I really love this series, even more than Suleiman. Costumes, exteriors, everything seemed great. I agree that the role of Sultana Safiye became too obsessive, there comes a point where no longer he wants to see the woman. The choice of characters completely spectacular.

Inshort, this series becomes one of my favorites together to Diriliş Ertuğrul One of the things I like about the series Turks is that the characters behave mostly as we are humans actually some times can be selfish and sometimes compassionate, sweet and loving. I really love this series, I caught from the start and I had to see complete. I hope you have a second season with the sultanate of Murad Beren Saat finally I see her acting, because in Fatmagul character that always had the same expression

And main remark to add to the poor description here provided. Anastasia have never been Greek. Anastasia or Roksolana or after Hurrem ( in ottoman empire muslim name) was Ukrainian woman.

I still believe the great movie is about to come. But it should not be nonstop boring series.

FANTASTIC ACTING, I'd give 10/10 in terms of acting performance. The cast and acting is solid throughout the series. BRAVO. Music 10/10. CGI/Effects 3/10 - but that's OK, it didn't really affect or distract from the actual storyline. Storyline/script 7/10 - it's really a game of thrones, betrayal, power plays. It was basically 60 episodes at 2-2.5 hours per episode. What it lacks: grandiose scenes of the Ottoman Empire's power and history to make it look more epic. What brought me to the show was a random picture of Beren Saat from a random scene of the show, so it intrigued me to watch it. Took me a month to finish the entire show in English subtitles, so overall I would rate it as 8 stars. My favorite characters in terms of acting performances where Kosem (By Anastasia, Beren, Nurgul), Safiye, Murad, Ibrahim. Whoever did the casting should be given a raise!

I enjoyed this show and falling in love with Sultan Ahmet and Iskendar. The soundtracks of this show still playing in my ears.

My rating is for Kosem Sultan season 2 not season 1.Season 1 is ok but for Season 2 I am very disappointed not good way to end the serial..

In my opinion a much better series and sequel than Suleiman the Magnificent. Here we see more diverse characters, more sultans and a better plot. The 3 actresses who played Kosem Sultana did a great job, although Nurgul is still the best for me. Also other actors are excellently chosen, such as Sultan Murat whose acting carefully portrays his character as he really was in reality. A well-done serie that takes us back in history and shows the power of the greatest and most powerful woman sultanate of the Ottoman Empire, Kosem sultan.

Kosem production is not as good as the first one dedicated to Suleyman Magnificent but all in all still good.I would have liked a better Kosem more passionate and bold. An interesting character is Faria, the padishah's lover and wife. It is not clear what religion she is. She is supposed to be Christian Catholic but she never makes the sign of the cross in the church. I am intrigued by her hair; it is never done always a mess !! Still I am enjoying the series very much it opens world I always wanted to know better.

It should be improved more but it's still ok to watch.

It's the most Amazing and Interesting TV show I have ever seen!

Thanks to the Wonderful Actors!

Beren Saat did the Best Acting according to me. Both Seasons are Awesome but the Season 1 hit Different.

All it's Perfect in this Serie: the Characters, the Costumes, the Decors, the Drama, the Story, the Background Musics, the History... It's an Addicted Show full of Suspense and Emotions!

It's very Interesting because we see the Evolution of Kösem Sultan through the Periods: Anastasia was Innocence, the Second was Maturity and the Third was Power. It was Incredible!

The Strong Points compared to the Previous Serie Magnificent Century are the Faster Pace, the more Dramatic Atmosphere and the more Memorable and Stiking Developments!

Too bad that in the 2nd Season the Era of Ibrahim, the Story of Turhan and Dilashub were short and we didn't see the Kösem's Daughters Ayse and Fatma.

This show was amazing I watched it as a child with my family then I rewatched the show when I was about 15 it was amazing This show had plot twists action love and drama the actress that played Kosem who is called Beren Saat did an amazing job her acting brought me tears she did very well this show was one of my first turkish shows loved it so much defo reccommend it. All of the actors did good in this show. In this show you will see deaths and other scenes like killing so if you dont like that this show is not for you as it has alot fo that but it shows that love does win through everything. Kosem is a strong ruler who wanted the best for the kingdom her lover ahmed and her children she faces enemies on the way.