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| | Film Review: Dangerous Beauty |
 | | Dangerous Beauty, from thirtysomething director Marshall Herskovitz, purports to tell the true story of Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack), a 16th century Venetian poet who, as a popular courtesan, exercised considerable influence over the politics of this Italian city-state. |
 | | The Honest Courtesan by biographer Margaret F. Rosenthal, on which the film was based, emphasizes Franco's intellectual accomplishments, and in the film, Veronica's mother (portrayed with grace by Jacqueline Bisset) convinces her daughter to become a courtesan by promising her access to the city's libraries. |
 | | That is, until I saw the film's opening scenes, when I remembered that these were all male critics, and developed my own theory: the opening credits include a parade of colorfully-dressed courtesans floating in gondolas down the canals, baring their bosoms to the cheering crowd.... |
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