Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 10/27/1998
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 112 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
Marshall Herskovitz directed this look at life in 16th-century Venice, based on
Margaret Rosenthal's 1994 book
The Honest Courtesan. Positioned outside of the Venetian court, Veronica Franco (
Catherine McCormack) hopes to rise above her station, but her interest in nobleman's son Marco Venier (
Rufus Sewell) is blocked since his parents forbid their marriage. Following the path taken by her mother, Paola (
Jacqueline Bisset), Veronica becomes a courtesan, finding this gives her a niche in the male-dominated society. When Vatican emissaries accuse her of witchcraft, she lashes back, using the trial as a feminist forum to expose the hypocrisies of the period. Filmed in 1996 in Venice and Rome with a variety of working titles (
Courtesan,
Venice, and
The Honest Courtesan).
~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide