USA: CATHERINE McCORMACK JOINS RUFUS SEWELL AND JACQUELINE BISSET IN "DANGEROUS BEAUTY"

Record ID: 545339

  • Title: USA: CATHERINE McCORMACK JOINS RUFUS SEWELL AND JACQUELINE BISSET IN "DANGEROUS BEAUTY"
  • Date: 29th January 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 29, 1998) (REUTERS) CATHERINE MCCORMACK SAYING, "A COURTESAN WAS A HIGH-POWERED, WOMAN IN THAT TIME WHO WAS ALLOWED TO ACCESS KNOWLEDGE, AND GO INTO LIBRARIES WHICH WOMEN WEREN'T ALLOWED TO DO BACK THEN, TO MIX WITH NOTABLE MEN IN SOCIETY, HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS AND THE CLERGY AND ALLOWED TO DISCUSS POLICY AND ALLOWED TO BECOME MUSICIANS AND POETRY-READERS, POETESSES, AND YOU KNOW, BECAME FAMOUS, ACTUALLY, A LOT OF THEM, IN CERTAIN WALKS OF LIFE WHICH, WOMEN WEREN'T ALLOWED TO DO BACK THEN, SO IT WAS KIND OF ELEVATED IN SOCIETY AND SEEN AS THESE INCREDIBLE SEXUAL BEINGS AS WELL AS BEING INTELLIGENT AS WELL." (ENGLISH) JACQUELINE BISSETT SAYING THROUGHOUT HISTORY WOMEN HAVE BEEN PUNISHED FOR THEIR SEXUALITY. MARSHALL HERSKOVITZ, THE DIRECTOR, REALLY WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SUBJECT OF HOW WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EXPRESS THEIR FULL SEXUALITY WITHOUT BEING PENALIZED AND I THINK HE WAS ALSO TALKING ABOUT MEN NEEDING TO BE ABLE TO. I FELT THAT HE ASSOCIATED VERY MUCH WITH THE CHARACTER OF CATHERINE AND HE'S ROOTING FOR WOMEN. HE'S REALLY ROOTING FOR WOMEN TO BE THE FULL HUMAN BEINGS THEY ARE WITH ALL THEIR POWER (ENGLISH) DIRECTOR MARSHALL HERSKOVITZ SAYING YOU TAKE ANY FILM DIRECTOR AND SAY OKAY YOU CAN BUILD A CANAL FROM VENICE, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE A HAPPY GUY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS PART OF WHY WE MAKE MOVIES BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE ORSON WELLS SAID, IT'S THE GREATEST TOY TRAIN SET IN THE WORLD, YOU KNOW. TO BUILD THIS 120 YARD LONG DOUBLE CANAL AND FLOOD IT WITH WATER AND PUT THE SPECIALLY MADE GONDOLAS ON IT, IT WAS A GAS, IT WAS GREAT FUN (ENGLISH)
  • Embargoed: 13th February 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA15AVUZPW3RRG6PLQXV06SO27V
  • Story Text: - After playing Mel Gibson's 13th century wife in the Oscar-winning "Braveheart," Catherine McCormack plays a spirited courtesan in 16th century Venice in the new drama "Dangerous Beauty." McCormack and her co-stars Jacqueline Bissett and Rufus Sewell attended the film's Los Angeles premiere this week (February 9).
    Based on a true story, the film details the life of Veronica Franco, a brilliant but destitute young woman who cannot marry the handsome aristocrat she loves.
    Played by Rufus Sewell, Marco Venier is above Veronica in social standing and despite his feelings, is forbidden to marry her.
    Instead, her mother Paola (played by Bissett), teaches Veronica to become a courtesan, one of the exotic companions favoured by the richest and most powerful Venetian men.
    Courtesans, though excluded from the polite female society of wives and daughters, were the only women allowed an education or knowledge of the arts.Their sophistication gave them access to the hearts and minds of men in the highest places.
    Veronica eventually rises to become the most successful and celebrated courtesan in Venice -- a woman whose beauty and wit bring her everything she could possibly want -- except a legitimate place in society and a life with the man she adores.
    The film also stars Oliver Platt, Moira Kelly, Fred Ward and Jeroen Krabbe.It was directed by Marshall Herskovitz, whose credits include directing the Danny Devito film "Jack the Bear" and producing the Brad Pitt vehicle "Legends of the Fall." His biggest challenge was creating the 16th century Venetian setting.After scouting locations in Venice, he decided the logistics of actually filming there were far too complicated.Therefore, his crew re-created the ornate architecture and gondola-filled canals of the famous city at Italy's Cinecitta Studios in Rome.
    The final set incorporated facades more than 40 feet high and two sections of canal running more than 300 feet.
    Construction took almost 14 weeks from design to completion.
    The canal was built from a studio tank that was formerly used by filmmaker Federico Fellini.It was about five feet deep and held 22 million gallons of water.
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