Dangerous Beauty (1998)

[mrs_emma_peel]

Dangerous Beauty (1998) aka The Honest Courtesan aka A Destiny Of Her Own

'Courtesans, my dear, are the most educated women in the world …
Cleopatra could seduce a man at twenty paces ...'

We danced our youth in a dreamed of city
Venice ... paradise, proud and pretty

We lived for love and lust and beauty
Pleasure then our only duty

Floating then 'twixt heaven and earth
And drunk on plenty's blessed mirth

We thought ourselves eternal then
Our glory sealed by God's own pen

But paradise we found is always frail
Against man's fear will always fail.

Although it was unfortunately ignored during its brief theatrical release, this sumptuously seductive production is that rarest of cinematic breeds ... a (barely) respectable guilty pleasure. Combining historical fact with poetic license in more ways than one ... the film is designed for maximum contemporary appeal but maintains a lush, romantic feel for its factual 16th-century tale of Venetian romantic love, erotic lust, and political repression.

Catherine McCormack (Mel Gibson's ill-fated bride in Braveheart) delivers a stunning performance as the 'dangerous beauty' who becomes a skilful courtesan to pursue her forbidden love for a dashing Venetian senator (Rufus Sewell). The movie's joyously ribald vitality is utterly irresistible, and the casting of Catherine McCormack with Jaqueline Bisset (as her mother and courtesan mentor) is pure genius.

Venice 1564-1583 ... Beautiful and sensual Venetian courtesan, Veronica Franco, becomes a voluptuous heroine to her city, but later becomes an accused victim of a cruel Holy Inquisition by the Church for performing the devil’s work of wantonly wicked erotic sorcery and witchcraft.
'... the Holy Inquisition has heard the evidence against you and is satisfied ...
In the name of the Pope ...' She is indicted for being a 'dangerous beauty' ...

'We lived for love and lust and beauty ...' Based upon the book The Honest Courtesan by Margaret Rosenthal ... Dangerous Beauty is the true story of Veronica Franco who was born in 1546 and died in 1591, aged 45. She was the most famous courtesan in Italy, and one of the most gorgeous, but she was also celebrated for her brilliance in risqué satire, wit and poetry.

George Fenton’s and Rachel Portman’s wonderfully evocative semi-classical soundtrack ...


A Fencing Duel of sword and verse ... a fight that draws blood and curse ...


I first saw this lost treasure many years ago on Sky movies and immediately feel in love with this little known, gem of a movie.

This sumptuous, breathtakingly beautiful, risqué, highly entertaining film ... superbly well acted by an extremely athletic Catherine McCormack as 16th century Venetian courtesan Veronica Franco, and Rufus Sewell as Marco Venier and Jacqueline Bisset as Paola Franco, beautifully photographed by Bojan Bazelli ... with a luscious, semi-classical Venetian music score by George Fenton and Rachel Portman ... and directed by Marshall Herskovitz … new (I think) to Region 2 DVD … (according to the DVD cover at Amazon.co.uk)
I you can guess ... I love it!
Emma