Other Titles • Dangerous Beauty • The Honest Courtesan (1996) • Courtesan • A Destiny of Her Own • Venice (1996)
Synopses for Dangerous Beauty (1998)
1.
A period drama, set in 16th century Venice, about a beautiful young woman who falls in love with a gentleman. Unable to marry above her station, she becomes a courtesan, using her powers over wealthy men to live a luxurious life.
(17 votes)
2.
Although it was unfortunately ignored during its brief theatrical release, this sumptuously seductive production is that rarest of cinematic breeds, the (barely) respectable guilty pleasure. Combining historical fact with hysterical anachronisms of language and mannerism, it's been tailored for maximum contemporary appeal but maintains a lush, romantic feel for its factual 16th-century tale of Venetian love, lust, and political repression. Catherine McCormack (Mel Gibson's ill-fated bride in Braveheart) delivers a star-making performance as the "dangerous beauty" who becomes a skillful courtesan to pursue her forbidden love for a dashing Venetian senator (Rufus Sewell). It's all rather silly in a high-toned fashion, and the film turns dour when the church intervenes with a Scarlet Letter-like papal inquest. But the movie's joyously ribald vitality is utterly irresistible, and the casting of McCormack with Jaqueline Bisset (as her mother and courtesan mentor) is a stroke of pure genius. Merchant-Ivory would've made a smarter film from this material, but it probably wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. --Jeff Shannon
(15 votes)
3.
The sensuous true story of the woman who defied convention in 16th-century Venice comes to the screen in the ravishing Dangerous Beauty.
Catherine McCormack plays Veronica Franco who, under the knowing tutelage of her mother (Jacqueline Bisset), becomes a courtesan to the rich and powerful. She'll pay a price. Veronica may have to turn away forever from the nobleman (Rufus Sewell) she loves. And she may stand alone when the Inquisiton charges her wiles are witchcraft. Shot on Italian settings recreating Renaissance Venice, Dangerous Beauty is as sumptuous as it is passionate, a work of redemptive romance that fills the eye and heart.
(15 votes)
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