Dangerous Beauty based on The Honest Courtesan - Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in Sixteenth-Century Venice by Margaret Rosenthal - 9 out of 10

 

Dangerous Beauty based on The Honest Courtesan - Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in Sixteenth-Century Venice by Margaret Rosenthal

9 out of 10

 

 

Anticipating some possible objections, for it has happened in the past, however seldom, let me repeat what is in the ‘headline’ of this note – it is not about the book per se, but about the film based on it, and I would put down a few reasons why this inconceivable tomfoolery is thrown out here…first, I have tried and inserted a new entry on some movies on the goodreads platform in the past, to do the honest deed, when they do not allow you to add to the extant script, like you can review The Banshees of Inisherin http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-banshees-of-inisherin.html in my book, by far the best motion picture of 2022, far ahead of the competition, including the favorite to win, Everything, Everywhere All At Once – I could only watch about twenty minutes and then abandoned it https://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2023/01/one-of-important-motion-pictures-of.html

 

Only librarians can add items on goodreads alas – though it used to be different, I have added quite a few things and was not asked for credentials – then there is a second motive, which has to do with the notes I place on the books I read, and when I do not like it, I say so, and then I am tempted to go off on tangents and write about whatever the failed read has brought to mind…I have started a few days back Solomon Gursky Was Here and when I saw that this is six hundred pages long or something daunting like that, I lost the appetite and trust that I will stay with such a long narrative for too long, and there is no note on this ‘experience’, but there you go, I mention it here and who knows, it could be coming soon

A third reason would have to do with the knowledge that this is not going to make the day for anyone really – yes, once in a while, there are ‘likes’ attached to my ‘reviews’, but that is not because of the Unbearable Burden of Massive Talent (or whatever the name of the new Nicholas Cage fiasco is called) it is due to the Reciprocity Rule explained in the quintessential Influence http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-absolute-psychology-classic.html by magician Robert Cialdini

 

You like my text, I like your note and therefore we have a virtuous (or is it vicious) circle, wherein we get a boost in morale, but is it really justified to be thrilled that somebody enjoyed, related to your thoughts, when you doubt whether that was just in answer to the rule of Influence, and not really any merit of whatever you say in your take…I have made a habit of provoking, inserting passages asking for a reaction (let us see yours), or just playing a solitary game, where I admit to myself that there are no readers out here, maybe a few start reading, but when they see the atrocious menu -as in The Menu https://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2023/01/87-out-of-100-for-menu.html - they run, as they should

Cortigiana Onesta aka The Honest Courtesan is Veronica Franco, a dashing, admirable, clever, educated, brave, honest, generous woman, who lived between 1546 and 1591 in Venice, a city state that was at the peak of its power, a zenith which had it fighting, and alternatively trading with The Ottoman Empire, received the visit of the British monarch, King Henry, who has an episode with the Cortigiana.

 

At that encounter, the sovereign shows the dark side, he takes out a small sword and threatens the woman, talking about his reputation, he is taken for a pervert, and he looks and acts like one, only the power, grace, emotional, social intelligence of Veronica Franco help her handle the beast, and not just that, but the result of her intervention (perhaps also the intimacy, however unclear I am on the issue, I mean did they copulate, was the badass into Carnal Knowledge http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/carnal-knowledge-written-by-jules.html or did he get his kicks only from bullying, threatening, cutting and who knows what other cruelties he liked to inflict on women and potentially other

The Honest Courtesan loves a young man, Marco Venier, but the difference in station prevents the union, in all but carnal ways, for he has high aspirations, for fortune and power, and whatever Paola Franco, the mother of the main character and once a cortigiana herself, had accumulated has been squandered on drink by the irresponsible father, and hence she is unsuitable for marital bliss with the rather loathsome Venier, at least at this stage in the narrative, he may have a chance to redeem himself later…

 

This has reminded me of Emma http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/11/emma-by-jane-austen-10-out-of-10.html by Jane Austen, the archetypal classic right (?), and a comment from a documentary on Capital in the 21^st century by the trendy economist, the French Thomas Pickerty, with a leftist outlook…apparently, there is no way under the sun that the characters in the Jane Austen, and for that matter, so many other novels, to meet, never mind get together and live for ever after, for they lived in different universes, their worlds never intersected, ‘forget about it’ – to quote Donnie Brasco http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/donnie-brasco-written-by-paul-attanasio.html with those love stories

in that, The Honest Courtesan is indeed genuine on two fronts, first, we have the plain verity, she can have a connection with the proud aristo only in bed, and without marital vows exchanged, otherwise, it is the end game, which indeed, it looks to be in the first chapter, when he tells her she wants to be with her, but not in front of a priest and she rejects that and is furious and destroyed, until her mother pushes her to become what was a prostitute maybe, but I am not sure about that, things were different

 

a courtesan could read, she gets access in a library, where a ‘common, normal woman’ was forbidden to enter, and though they end up near the canal, for most of the time, due to abuse, physical and mental violence, where they struggle to make ends meet, some of the most coveted women in this domain could acquire power and wealth, which Veronica sets to do, showing her literary and other talents in the process, with vivacity, resilience, dedication, even passion, forced as she is to become a cortigiana (and this the second front where she is honest, she does not hide it, and she would help Venice at a difficult moment) because her family has no more means to survive and Veronica has to support them…

 

If you are curious, this is me: http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world