It is hard to believe that barely 18 months ago, Marco Polo star Lorenzo Richelmy didn't speak a word of English.
Such was the determination of the producers to offer absolute realism in the historical epic that they took the chance of casting the little-known Italian in the role of the young Venetian merchant during his years at the court of Kublai Khan.
Richelmy had to learn the language while working on the Netflix show – which has won widespread acclaim, with the second season making its debut on Friday. Understandably, Richelmy says the experience was the biggest challenge of his career.
“It was tough,” Richelmy says. “We shot the first season chronologically, so we started with Marco Polo in Italy then the action moves to Mongolia, which is pretty much what happened to me too. From episode one to episode 10 you’ll see a big difference in my accent, which I guess is what would have happened to Marco in reality. I was scared as hell, but I want to be an actor and, I think if you want something badly enough and you have the drive, you can achieve whatever you want.”
A major part of its appeal is the attention to detail, not just in terms of its multicultural casting – the series also stars British actor Benedict Wong and veteran Chinese-American actress Joan Chen – but for the fact-based scripts.
It is the latter that Richelmy is most proud of. “We’re also hoping to school people about a period in history that [most] people know nothing about,” he says.
“We’re talking about the biggest empire in the history of the planet, and nobody knows anything about it. It’s ridiculous, and it shows how the West is so self-focused on its own history. I don’t know that we feel a responsibility to do this, but there’s certainly a pride that we’re doing it. Just to have an Italian lead in a big US show is an achievement, and we want to be really close to that eastern culture, not just a western fantasy version of it.”
Joining the cast in season two, in a yet-to-be-revealed role, is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Michelle Yeoh.
The Chinese-Malaysian actress agrees Marco Polo has a mission to educate as well as entertain.
“There was a very interesting side to Kublai Khan that we didn’t know about. He wasn’t just a warlord who came in and destroyed everything, he kept things and he made people learn about things. There was an intellect that went behind all that,” she says.
“So the martial arts scenes aren’t just for the sake of some action. They weren’t there for a token ‘Ooh, we’re in China, let’s do some kung fu’ – they really did train very skilled fighters, because they had to protect the emperor and he needed the most skilled people around him because people would definitely try to assassinate you. I’d hope to offer a realistic version of the culture we’re representing, and they certainly do that with Maro Polo. Of course there are some liberties taken for the sake of the story, but if you don’t have a solid base in fact how can you tell that story?”
The approach has won some friends in high places. Last year, the Mongolian president Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj presented the series creator John Fusco and the Marco Polo creative team with an award, honouring their positive portrayal and the global presentation of the subject matter.
With a first-season budget reportedly to be around US$90 million (Dh330m), Marco Polo is the second most-expensive television production ever made, after Game of Thrones. Richelmy promises things are only going to get bigger in season two. "We're going to add to it. The show will become more complete. Obviously the sets and so on are already built, but we can add in other areas, we can build on it emotionally," he says.
“You’re going to experience the dark side of each of the main characters in season two. That’s as much as I can give away right now scriptwise, but I promise you it’s going to get really dark.”
• Marco Polo season two will be streamed on Netflix from Friday. For details, visit www.netflix.com
cnewbould@thenational.ae
The biog
Hobby: "It is not really a hobby but I am very curious person. I love reading and spend hours on research."
Favourite author: Malcom Gladwell
Favourite travel destination: "Antigua in the Caribbean because I have emotional attachment to it. It is where I got married."
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
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The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
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