The Honest Courtesan [VHS] [1999]

The central lead played by Catherine McCormack, is an extremely intelligent, brave beautiful young woman in renaissance Venice. Coerced into the role of Courtesan she plays the part with honour and independence of mind.

One of my top three films of last year (along with American Beauty and Saving Grace, for anyone who wants to know). Its just so DIFFERENT from the mindless violence type of adventure offered up by Hollywood. It has a real feel of fantastic early cinema - Imagine an Errol Flyn film blended with a great Katherine Hepburn movie and you'll have a pretty good idea of what you're in for.

The story is light & fun but based on a true story which encourages you to think & raises some interesting questions. Much of the scriptwriting is closely linked to the writing of the heroine (which I was prompted to read after watching this film). I have enjoyed this film on many levels.

The story is compelling as you step inside the lives of women in 15th century Europe where the only women allowed inside a library were women. Where women played a key role as courtesans or mistresses in the affairs of state but were so limited in assuring their own safety & futures. It does not glamorise the role of a courtesan but highlights the limited options for spirited women at the time.

The tensions between the church & women are still relevant today, and it is interesting to see how the views on women at this period, when the Bible was first made available to the people (through the reformation) have influenced its current (mis)interpretation.

There are also beautiful scenes which transport you to how Venice would have looked during this time, with the unique architecture, beautiful costumes & contrasting opulance with poverty.

I had two major concerns in watching this movie. The first was the idea that this was a true story, because I had the feeling at some point my credulity on this score was going to be tested. This indeed turned out to be the case, because at the climax of this film Veronica ends up being called before the Inquisition and being one of the most public prostitutes in Venice actually turns out to be an advantage. Veronica might not be a saint like Joan d'Arc, but apparently some sins are much better than others in Venice in those days. The second was that Rufus Sewell was in the film, and having seen him in "A Knight's Tale" and the "Helen of Troy" mini-series, I was predisposed to think of him as a bad person. Yes, this 1998 movie was made before either or those productions, but such was my thinking and it took me a while to understand that his character was actually a good person, albeit one constrained by the strictures of his society and class.

Just as I was surprised by who was to be the "hero" in this film, relatively speaking, I was equally surprised by the villain turning out to be Oliver Platt, who plays the studious Maffio Venier. Veronica makes her public reputation as a courtesan due in large part to a verbal duel she has with Maffio, but when she refuses his attention because she values his friendship, the duel become a more literal one. Maffio then goes in the completely opposite direction and comes up with a logical, but unexpected way of bringing her to task for her refusal. This sets up the big finish, where Veronica learns that she apparently she is tolerated more than respected, despite the service she has done to her city-state.

This is only the second film that Marshall Herkovitz has directed, the first being 1993's "Jack the Bear," although most would be familiar from his work on television's "thirtysomething," "My So Called Life," and "Once and Again." I did not know if I realized how often Herkovitz's constant partner Edward Zwick was doing the work behind the camera. Of course in any sort of costume drama the key is to have a good cinematographer (Bojan Bazelli), art direction (Stefania Cella and Gianni Giovagnoni), set direction (Ian Whittaker), and costumes (Gabriella Pescucci), and Herkovitz has all of those in his favor. However, in the end I am curious as to whether the ending was originally in Margaret Rosenthal's book or created by Jeannie Dominy's script, because if I had not been told upfront that this was essentially a "true" story, I would have been judging the big finish quite differently and probably not as harshly.