![]() Looking at the things he wrote down, the council are impressed by the depth of material. They do reject it but want more information to consider. They find it hard to believe that the world to the East is full of pagan culture and gods. He sets the party free.īack in Genoa in 1299, Rustichello is given a break from the interrogation. The captor leader is an Italian who converted to Islam after being taken prisoner in Tripoli. In real life, it corresponds with the election of Teobaldo Visconti as Pope Gregory X.Īs the Polo family ready themselves to go East again, they are caught up in an ambush that kills Marco's friend Giulo.Īs they are taken prisoner, the party is taken before the Bedouin leader. When they return to him he reveals that he has been chosen to be the new pope by the college of Cardinals, and is providing two priests to accompany them so they can tell Kublai Khan about Christianity. They then receive a message that the cardinal of Acre ( Burt Lancaster) wants to see them again. The priest of the church is extremely reluctant to do it but grants it. In the city church, the Polos, at the favour of the cardinal of Acre, receive some oil of the Sepulchre via a letter from the Cardinal of Acre. A few days before arriving at Jerusalem, Marco has his first taste of the world when he witnesses a contingent of Crusaders massacre a tribe of Bedouin. Niccolò and Maffeo realise that they must take Marco with them on their journey, but only as far as Jerusalem until the heat dies down in Venice. Intrigued, Marco asks them to take him with them, but he is refused.Īs Niccolò and Matteo attempt to find a sponsor for their next voyage, the father of a girl Marco earlier attempted to run away with demands compensation for Marco taking her virginity. Marco's father and uncle tell him of stories of the great Kublai Khan and his court in the Yuan Dynasty in China. The Doge of Venice however, sees the potential of the Polos' quest and advises them to return to China immediately. The council has no interest in an alliance with the Mongols. The Polo brothers show the council Mongolian currency and tell stories of the might of the Mongols, but they are quickly rebuked due to the pagan nature of the Mongols. They appear before the Council of the Republic of Venice, hoping for a possible alliance between the Mongols and the Republic. His father Niccolò ( Denholm Elliott) and uncle Matteo Polo ( Tony Vogel) return home. As his mother ( Anne Bancroft) lies on her deathbed, Marco's aunt Flora ( Sada Thompson) laments for his father, who has been away since before Marco was born and has sent nothing but items that she sees as idols of another god. In his youth, Marco Polo was eager to hear merchants tell stories of their travels. As Rustichello narrates, the story shifts to Marco Polo in his youth. Both are concerned that the tales of Marco Polo are heretical and will corrupt the minds of people, especially children. The people questioning him are Brother Damien of Milan ( Patrick Mower) and Fillipe of Genoa ( Tony Lo Bianco), both members of the Order of Saint Dominic. Marco Polo is revealed to be another prisoner but is accused of lying. In the year 1299, in the Italian city of Genoa, Rustichello da Pisa ( David Warner) is held in a prison cell and questioned for information about Marco Polo. A raid results in Marco being taken as prisoner. Marco Polo ( Kenneth Marshall) accompanies a Venetian merchant fleet as it stops for the night. Marco spends several years in Beijing as a guest of the Great Khan, earning the trust of and respect from the Emperor. His journey through Asia lasts three and a half years and leads him through barren deserts and vast steppes. Set in the 13th century, the series follows the adventures of Marco Polo, who departs with his father and his uncle to China. The series is sometimes divided into six equally long episodes. It was originally broadcast in four episodes, where episodes 1 and 4 were twice as long as episodes 2 and 3. The series also features appearances by Denholm Elliott, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Burt Lancaster, Ian McShane, Leonard Nimoy, and others. It stars Kenneth Marshall as Marco Polo, the 13th-century Venetian merchant and explorer. Marco Polo is a 1982 American-Italian television miniseries originally broadcast by NBC in the United States and by RAI in Italy.
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