Executive producers, Michael Nathanson, Stephen Randall. Produced by Milchan, Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick, Sarah Kaplan. release of a Regency Enterprises presentation of an Arnon Milchan/Bedford Falls production. In a more commercial vehicle, it would be a star-making role.Ī Warner Bros. She does well enough, and is greatly abetted by Sewell’s facility at conveying his character’s struggle to balance ardor with social obligation.

McCormack works hard to pull off a near impossible act - creating a woman who’s meant to be irresistible. It’s so finely realized, one almost doesn’t notice how indifferently the picture is shot or the banality of the music score. Though a number of performers strain period credulity, Norman Garwood’s production design handsomely anchors the story in the past. Long before there was a feminist movement, our heroine lays out the hypocrisy of her time in an emotion-packed trial in which Vatican emissaries accuse her of witchcraft. The pic’s other dramatic ace is in dealing with the indentured nature of women, even those of wealth. The notion of star-crossed lovers transcends time, and McCormack and Sewell possess the vital chemistry to make us care about this umpteenth version of a familiar scenario. It’s actually the Harlequin romance elements of the drama that play best. Too often the result is unintended humor. And director Marshall Herskovitz’s concept of historical background is to have characters intone somberly to the court that the Turks have invaded or the plague has arrived. Out of the boudoir, Veronica duels using both words and swords with more vigor than skill. Though based on real characters and incidents, there’s a grand, swashbuckling quality to the material that verges on campy, Pythoneque satire. She also becomes used to the sexual nature of her position. Initially, Veronica is shocked, but she warms to the idea because it allows her to read and exchange views on poetry in the male-dominated society. The young woman’s mother, Paola (Jacqueline Bisset), recommends that Veronica pursue her own former path as a courtesan. But both are told forcefully by parents that this is a match that can never be consecrated in marriage. She aspires to rise above her station, casting her sights on Marco Venier (Rufus Sewell), a nobleman’s son who’s favorably disposed to her glances.

Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack) is a young woman whose circle falls just outside the core of the Venetian court.

Dangerous Beauty 1998 720p magnet