Dangerous Beauty – aka The Honest Courtesan – is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 1998. It is about the life and career of Veronica Franco, who was a courtesan in 16th century Venice.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Produced by Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick and two others
** Directed by Marshall Herskovitz
** Screenplay written by Jeannine Dominy
** Based on Margaret Rosenthal’s book The Honest Courtesan (1992) (1993)
** Released on DVD in 2007
** Run time: 111 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Catherine McCormick as Veronica Franco
** Rufus Sewell as Marco Venier
** Oliver Platt as Maffio Venier
** Moira Kelly as Beatrice Venier
** Naomi Watts as Giulia de Lezze
** Fred Ward as Domenico Venier
** Jacqueline Bisset as Paola Franco – Veronica’s mother
The second group
** Jeroen Krabbe as Pietro Venier
** Joanna Cassidy as Laura Venier
** Melina Kanakaredes as Livia
** Daniel Lapaine as Serafino Franco
** Justine Miceli as Elena Franco
** Jake Weber as Henry III, king of France
** Peter Eyre as the Doge of Venice
** Michael Culkin as Bishop de la Torre
Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.
While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here. But the basic story is true.
I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. This is why I will not say too much about what happens in this movie, but I have to mention a few details in order to explain and justify my rating.
Veronica Franco was born in Venice in 1546 and died there in 1591. This drama does not cover her whole life from the beginning to the end. It covers only about two decades of her life, the time 1563-1580.
The first seventeen and the last eleven years of her life are not covered here. I understand why:
There is not much information available about her life during the first seventeen and the last eleven years.
When Veronica is about 17, she falls in love with a young man, Marco Venier. He falls in love with her as well, but soon he must tell her that they can never marry, because his family is rich and her family is poor. He must marry for money. He says she should do the same.
Marriage is not about love, it is a contract, like a treaty between two countries: both of them must feel that they are getting something out of it.
Veronica is heartbroken, but her mother tells her that there is another way: she can become a courtesan, who offers her services to rich men (whether married or not).
At the time a courtesan was highly educated. She was literate, she could read poetry and compose poetry of her own. Her mother reveals that she was once a courtesan, too. It seems this line of work runs in the family.
With her mother as her manager, Veronica soon becomes one of the most sought-after courtesans in Venice.
The Italian word for her profession cortigiana onesta has been translated as the honest courtesan. But it seems this translation is not quite correct.
The first Italian word is used for a person at court, “a courtier,” while the second Italian word should be translated as “honoured,” rather than “honest.”
The movie-makers do not tell the viewer where we are in time as the story moves forward. In what follows I will try to help the viewer. I will add a few significant dates in the life of Veronica and in the life of the Venetian Republic:
** The Great Siege of Malta is mentioned. The Ottoman Empire tries to conquer the small island. This happens in 1565. The siege fails. Malta survives.
** The war between Venice and the Ottoman Empire over Cyprus is mentioned. The Ottoman Empire wants to conquer Cyprus in order to control the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. This happens 1570-1573.
In 1572, the Ottoman Empire loses an important battle at sea – known as the battle of Lepanto – but Venice still loses the war, and the Ottoman Empire takes control of Cyprus in 1573.
** A plague begins in Venice in 1575. It runs for two years, until 1577. During this time, Veronica leaves the city in order to survive. While she is away, her house is robbed and plundered. In 1577, when she returns, she is not as rich as she was before.
** In 1580, three years after her return to the city, the inquisition comes to Venice. Veronica is arrested and accused of witchcraft. If she is found guilty, she may be executed.
She survives, because the charges against her are dropped. Why are the charges dropped? Perhaps because influential people in the city tells the inquisition to back off?
It seems she still has some friends in high places, but her career as a courtesan is about to come to an end.
How good is this drama?
How many stars does it deserve?
I think there are two ways of looking at this movie.
# 1. If we regard it as a historical drama – a fictional story that is placed in a historical context – I think it deserves a rating of five stars. It is colourful, emotional and dramatic. In addition, there are several romantic scenes where the actors are not wearing any clothes.
# 2. If we regard it as a historical biography of Veronica Franco, if we expect director and writer to follow the historical truth as closely as possible, then there are some serious problems, because historical truth is violated on several occasions.
Let me explain:
# 1. When Veronica and her mother enter the Venetian public library, which is actually off limits to women, we see many old books on the shelves. The books are probably one or two hundred years old.
But in 1563, books in a Venetian public library were not old. They were relatively new. At that time, the printing press was only about one hundred years old.
In addition, modern books are printed on paper that is thin and smooth. On this paper, we can print letters in a small font.
In the 16th century, books were printed on paper that was thick and rough. On this paper, letters were printed with a large font. The books we can see in the drama are too modern.
# 2. In the drama, Veronica publishes a book of poems before the war with the Ottoman Empire begins in 1570.
In the real world, her book was not published until 1575: the year in which the plague broke out! This is not exactly a fortuitous moment!
# 3. In the drama, Veronica’s mother dies during the plague, this is somewhere between 1575 and 1577.
In the real world, her mother died before 1570 and her death was not caused by the plague.
# 4. In the drama, Henry III, king of France, arrives in Venice before the war with the Ottoman Empire begins in 1570. The Venetian government hopes France will support Venice with ships in the upcoming war.
While the king is in Venice, he meets with Veronica. When this meeting is over, he is very pleased and he says:
“You will get your ships!”
In the drama, Veronica is praised as the saviour of the republic. But the chronology and the implications are totally false. Here is what really happened:
At first, Henry lived in France. In 1573 he was asked to become king of Poland. He accepted the job and travelled to Poland.
But shortly after his arrival in Poland, he learned that there had been a death in France, and now he was next in line for the throne of France. This job was much better. Now he wanted to return to France.
The direct route from Poland to France is through Germany. At the time there was no state called Germany, but there were several German states. Henry did not want to take the direct route. Why not? Because most of the German states were Protestant and he was Catholic.
What did he do?
How did he solve this problem?
He decided to go south to Vienna and continue to Venice. From Venice he travelled northwest to France where he was crowned as the next king.
He arrived in Venice in 1574. At that time, the war over Cyprus had already ended. His visit to Venice had nothing to do with the war. It had everything to do with avoiding the Protestants of the German states.
When he arrived in Venice, he was king of France, although he had not yet been officially crowned. During his visit, he enjoyed the pleasures of Venice, including a meeting with Veronica. Perhaps he was pleased with the meeting, but the fate of the republic did not depend on the quality of Veronica’s services.
# 5. There was a court case against Veronica in 1580. It was a serious matter, but the case did not play out as portrayed in the movie. For some reason, the case was dropped and this is why she survived the danger.
# 6. During her life, Veronica gave birth to six children; three of whom died in infancy. None of this is mentioned in the movie.
Why not?
Perhaps because the sound of a screaming baby would disturb the romantic story that dominates the script?
# 7. An on-screen message placed at the end of the drama tells us that Veronica and Marco lived happily ever after.
This is not true. They were not together. His star was rising, while her situation was getting more and more difficult.
What do reviewers say about this movie?
Here are some results:
71 percent = IMDb
70 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
85 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 1,100 ratings of this product, more than 600 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.7 stars which corresponds to a rating of 94 percent.
The famous movie critic Roger Ebert (1942-2013) offers 3.5 of 4 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 87 per cent.
As Roger points out, the script is written by a woman, and while the topic may seem immoral - an affront to the Catholic Church – the sympathy of the story is always on the side of Veronica:
“Few movies have been so deliberately told from a woman's point of view…. Most movies are made by males and show women enthralled by men. This movie knows better.”
I often agree with Roger, but in this case, I think he is too generous. I like this movie, and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there are some flaws which cannot be ignored.
When a movie is based on a true story, I expect director and writer to follow the true story as much as possible.
They should not alter historical facts or basic chronology in order to create a dramatic effect.
But this happened here, in particular in the scenes with Henry III, king of France. I have to remove two stars because of the flaws. This is why I think this product deserves a rating of three stars (80 percent).
PS # 1. In this drama, there is a violation of historical truth which no reviewer has mentioned, as far as I know: while the story takes place in Venice, all actors speak English, even the king of France.
Ideally, this movie should be made with Italian actors who speak Italian. The Italian dialogue can be covered with English subtitles. But apparently this is not what Hollywood wants!
PS # 2. The following items are available online:
Wendy Sloan, “Veronica Franco,” The Mezzo Cammin (no year given). In spite of the Italian title of the website, the text is written in English.
Friar Thomas Bacon, “Dangerous Beauty, a Review,” posted in September 1998.
*****
The Honest Courtesan
A historical drama
which premiered
in 1998
*****
The Honest Courtesan
A historical novel
By Margaret Rosenthal
(Hardcover 1992)
(Paperback 1993)
*****
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