The real events were not exactly adhered to 100%, but after some more digging, this is as close as you can get it in a serialized drama, with the exception that 100 years after her execution it is pretty well established that Mata Hari was not a German spy at all.
However, the artistic license taken was done quite well. This is mainly a critique of some of the reviews here, in order to set some things straight about this International mega production with faces that will be familiar to a world audience.
While some of the historical and biographical details can be nit-picked, the series does compel one to do at least some rudimentary reading about the real characters and times they lived in. There are a few deviations, but overall this is a fascinating period costume piece! Anybody interested in and watching "Downton Abbey" and other similar drama series with a deliberate pace and detailed story telling, will have an interesting time watching this series, and will not be bored in the least.
Many quite obviously chauvinist reviewers have expressed their misgivings about some "feminist" rewriting of history. Like it or not, this is a woman's history, so tossing in some background is called for, and needs to be seen in context. Why else would a small time house wife coming from a bad marriage end up being a world stage player amongst royalty, which is what Mata Hari was. As far as some of the supposed "strange" behavior, like in the rape scene, it is actually quite common that fear and terror cause breakdowns and surrender, with the offender getting the upper hand, especially when they are aggressive manipulators. Humans have many different reactions, which are unpredictable, and never expected, when they are subjected to forced situation of violence and humiliation!
It is also rather typical of a xenophobic audience to complain about voice dubbing. It is far less distracting to watch and listen in a dubbed version, than having to endure reading sub titles that distract from the cinematography in an international production, but some audiences still need a lot of education in that regard. This was never even a discussion topic in Europe, where dubbing is preferred and done routinely, and people watch movies and TV from many countries without getting daft about occasional slips. I am used to dubbed movies and TV, and the quality of all the dubbed scenes in this series is actually rather excellent. The pace, cinematography, dramatic pauses used, are all tools of advanced dramatic theater arts, and are well used here. The acting is top notch. This is NOT a wham-bam action piece, but a thinking person's piece, for one who takes their time to sink into the story telling.
The atmosphere and spirit of the times before and during WW1 are right. Women were indeed second class humans then, even more so than now. Characters like Mata Hari were certainly created by the circumstances of their times, as is told here. It is interesting to watch the slow turning of a common house wife into an International power player. "Mata Hari" claims no innocence for her, but shows a gradual corruption of a human being into a dark fate, that could have been so different in better circumstances.
100 years after her execution, France actually released all of her files, and it turned out, that she was executed for political expedience, not for being guilty as a spy.
However, the artistic license taken was done quite well. This is mainly a critique of some of the reviews here, in order to set some things straight about this International mega production with faces that will be familiar to a world audience.
While some of the historical and biographical details can be nit-picked, the series does compel one to do at least some rudimentary reading about the real characters and times they lived in. There are a few deviations, but overall this is a fascinating period costume piece! Anybody interested in and watching "Downton Abbey" and other similar drama series with a deliberate pace and detailed story telling, will have an interesting time watching this series, and will not be bored in the least.
Many quite obviously chauvinist reviewers have expressed their misgivings about some "feminist" rewriting of history. Like it or not, this is a woman's history, so tossing in some background is called for, and needs to be seen in context. Why else would a small time house wife coming from a bad marriage end up being a world stage player amongst royalty, which is what Mata Hari was. As far as some of the supposed "strange" behavior, like in the rape scene, it is actually quite common that fear and terror cause breakdowns and surrender, with the offender getting the upper hand, especially when they are aggressive manipulators. Humans have many different reactions, which are unpredictable, and never expected, when they are subjected to forced situation of violence and humiliation!
It is also rather typical of a xenophobic audience to complain about voice dubbing. It is far less distracting to watch and listen in a dubbed version, than having to endure reading sub titles that distract from the cinematography in an international production, but some audiences still need a lot of education in that regard. This was never even a discussion topic in Europe, where dubbing is preferred and done routinely, and people watch movies and TV from many countries without getting daft about occasional slips. I am used to dubbed movies and TV, and the quality of all the dubbed scenes in this series is actually rather excellent. The pace, cinematography, dramatic pauses used, are all tools of advanced dramatic theater arts, and are well used here. The acting is top notch. This is NOT a wham-bam action piece, but a thinking person's piece, for one who takes their time to sink into the story telling.
The atmosphere and spirit of the times before and during WW1 are right. Women were indeed second class humans then, even more so than now. Characters like Mata Hari were certainly created by the circumstances of their times, as is told here. It is interesting to watch the slow turning of a common house wife into an International power player. "Mata Hari" claims no innocence for her, but shows a gradual corruption of a human being into a dark fate, that could have been so different in better circumstances.
100 years after her execution, France actually released all of her files, and it turned out, that she was executed for political expedience, not for being guilty as a spy.