Leonardo da Vinci (Season 1)

Leonardo da Vinci (2024) is a documentary series you can watch online on iFILM. It's Ken Burns' first film about a subject outside American history — four hours across two parts, centered on a man who sketched flying machines five centuries before anyone left the ground.

The film traces da Vinci from an illegitimate boy in a Tuscan village to the artist whose mirror-script notebooks brim with designs that outran his own century. Working with Sarah Burns and David McMahon, Burns doesn't just list the masterworks; he digs into how a single mind could paint the Mona Lisa, dissect corpses to understand anatomy, and draft war machines all at once. Adriano Giannini gives voice to Leonardo, while Guillermo del Toro and art historian Carmen Bambach add their reading of him.

There's none of the usual biopic polish here — the filmmakers leave in the unfinished commissions, the distractions and the dead ends of someone curious about everything at once. For viewers who prefer a patient historical documentary over a quick portrait of genius, this one rewards the time. Stream Leonardo da Vinci (2024) online on iFILM.