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Featured Actress: Catherine McCormack - When Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack, Braveheart) comes of age in 16th century Venice, the parents of the man she loves refuse to allow a marriage because she's penniless. After her mother (Jacqueline Bisset) advises her to become a skilled courtesan, Veronica pursues a dashing Venetian senator (Rufus Sewell) and convinces France to join forces with Venice in a war against Turkey. When a plague overtakes the land, the church charges her with witchcraft.
Herskovitz adroitly handles the story, balancing the heavy drama with lighter moments and McCormack turns in the kind of performance that makes you wonder why she hasn't become a bigger star. It's also nice to see Sewell outside of his typical villian typecasting. More period pieces should look at this as a model instead of looking like stiff museum pieces.
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