Marshall Herskovitz Talks Dangerous Beauty

"Venice may as well be deemed one large floating brothel." On today's episode of Forbidden Films, Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky welcome a very special guest: Oscar-nominated writer-producer-director Marshall Herskovitz, the man behind cultural TV landmarks such as Thirtysomething and My So-Called Life and such hit films as Legends of the Fall, Traffic, The Last Samurai, and Blood Diamond. In this episode, the trio navigate the libidinous canals of 16th-century Venetian sexual politics with Marshall's 1998 film, Dangerous Beauty, which chronicles a legendary courtesan's journey from nobility's favorite prostitute to savior of her city to landing in the crosshairs of the Inquisition. Starring the always alluring Catherine McCormack in her most sex positive role, with supporting turns from Rufus Sewell, Oliver Platt, Naomi Watts, Jacqueline Bisset, and Fred Ward. Dangerous Beauty takes us on a compelling journey, one filled with liberal doses of nudity and debauchery, in its portrait of a woman whose only escape from the shackles of "perpetual inconsequence" was to fuck her way into enlightenment and personal freedom. Beneath its glossy eroticism lies a treatise on feminism and social justice that is completely on brand for the Bedford Falls socio-political canon. So fork over those gold ducats, pour yourself a flute of Malvasia, and step inside the Honest Courtesan's inner sanctum to be instructed in the most taboo of all vices: how to produce a period sex epic with no movie stars on the studio dime.

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