Dangerous Beauty

Tonight I wanted to see a movie that takes place in Venice, where I will be next week. I selected Dangerous Beauty, a movie that has good ratings.

Dangerous Beauty takes place in 16-century Venice. It follows Marco Venier (Rufus Sewell) who is of a wealthy and powerful family, and is a Senator in good standing in the community. He is also in love with Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack), who though intelligent and beautiful, is beneath Marco's station in society, and they are, therefore, forbidden to marry. Instead, Marco's father, Pietro (Jeroen Krabbe), has arranged a marriage for his son, an alliance that will be to the substantial benefit of both families. Veronica's family, meanwhile, due to prevailing circumstances must look to Veronica for support, so her mother, Paola (Jacqueline Bisset), not only arranges for Veronica to become a courtesan, but instructs her herself in the fine art of seduction and the kind of pleasures that will put the most coins in the coffers, as well as how to survive by being in love with `love.' 

I very much enjoyed this true story. It is a well-crafted, intelligent movie that I reccomend.