Original subtitles

''We danced our youth in a dreamed-of city

Venice

Paradise proud and pretty

We lived for love and lust and beauty

Pleasure then our only duty

Floating then 'twixt heaven and earth

And drunk on plenty's blessed mirth

We thought ourselves eternal then

Our glory sealed by God's own pen

But paradise we found is always frail

Against man's fear will always fail. ''

Is anything wrong, Mama?

Nothing at aII.

I feeI faint.

I feeI faint.

I feeI faint.

What are you doing?

Come on, Beatrice.

Quick!

SIow down!

Veronica!

Look!

HeIIo!

Your brother!

HeIIo, Venice!

What if he sees us?

He's Iooking at them, not us.

HeIIo, Venice!

Did you get my Ietters?

No? I'm not taIking to you anyway. You broke my heart.

Come on!

Come on!

AII this for me?

Oh OIivia

Oh gIorious maid

Of virtue spare

With bosoms Iike those who couId care?

My rod...

...my Iady, a hand.

-Come. -HardIy.

It's Venus, come to bIess the Venetians!

You smeII Iike a sewer.

Thank you. That's a fine weIcome, IittIe sister. Look at you.

You might make a wife after aII.

-Did you see him? -Who?

You know who. My husband-to-be.

Is he handsome?

-He's powerfuI. -He is.

WeIcome home, Marco.

I think I've missed you.

With aII the court Iadies to amuse you?

Roman women, they can't hoId a candIe to the Venetian.

Nor can French, FIorentine nor any from Europe to the Levant.

No doubt you've sampIed them aII.

AII but idIe amusement untiI you bIossomed.

What keeps a son from greeting his own parents?

Beauty, I think.

You're drenched. Come on, you'II catch your death.

I thought you were going to miss dinner again.

Ladies have better things to do than poison their minds with books.

Such as?

Such as minding their manners.

The butcher said he must be paid.

Sera, do you know when you saiI?

Next week.

Wish I couId saiI the high seas.

Veronica, high seas, indeed.

She'II never find a husband if she carries on Iike a chiId.

How do peopIe marry, Mother?

They strike a bargain.

What's to bargain over if you're in Iove?

Marriage is a contract, not a perpetuaI tryst.

Have you got someone in mind?

-Love poetry? -Give it back!

''Life's harshness aII forgave

Hearts yearning met When God...

...your souI did--''

Must be true Iove.

I'd have made a dashing courtier.

Or maybe a pirate!

Disengage.

And again, back. Back, extend and Iunge.

Nor in hope

The world can show a fatal...

...love for me

But since that I must--

I really love you Please won't you love me

And where might you be going?

Nowhere.

That 'nowhere' has a nice tenor.

Veronica is on the canaI with Marco Venier. AIone.

Mother Franco!

EIena, don't caII me that. Makes me feeI ancient.

Young Iadies of marriageabIe age must be chaperoned.

A good marriage for Veronica couId win me a proper commission.

I aIways Iiked Marco.

He won't marry her if he's had her.

Marry her? A bride of Marco's wiII need a king's ransom.

''I see my fated stars Your eyes...

They meIt me as the sun does snow''

I bought this in Rome for you.

You didn't buy it for me.

Yes, I did.

I just didn't know it.

Such an easy gift might easiIy be taken back again.

Then name me any other gift.

The book wiII do for now.

I think perhaps you're too young...

...to accept what I wouId...

...truIy give you.

I am not so young as you are vain.

You haven't changed, have you?

How wouId you know?

I fear you mistake me for one of your easy court companions.

I mistook the asking in your eyes.

Do you not Iike my kiss?

I wish it were not a sin to have Iiked it so.

God made sin...

...that we might know His mercy.

I find myself within his eyes

I long for more of myself to know

He hears, it seems, my silent cries

And makes my heart my reason's foe

How can this be, to love so quickly?

''Love does not wait, '' is his reply

What magic weaves his touch to trick me?

How can I now my love deny?

For my bride...

...a IittIe wedding trinket.

Lorenzo Gritti and his fair bride

Your union gives us greatest pride

Good heaIth, great weaIth and Iasting Iine

On your union, God's gIory shine

-How couId they? -How couId who what?

Your parents marry your sister off to that piece of decaying fIesh.

That piece of decaying fIesh is a cousin of the doge, confidant of the pope.

-The Roman court adores him. -They don't have to sIeep with him.

You'd be surprised.

Save your bIushes. They don't sit weII with the bIuntness of your tongue.

SureIy they couId have traded down a few ducats for an ounce of viriIity.

-Why? -For your sister's sake.

She's a prude.

Then it wouId hardIy have been more crueI marrying her to God.

God isn't as rich as Lorenzo Gritti.

Do honor to the houses of Gritti and Venier.

For Venice.

I've seen how you Iook at her, how she Iooks at you. I know that Iook.

Do not underestimate Iove's aIIure, Marco.

Enjoy it...

...but guard your head and your heart.

You cannot marry her.

I know.

Pietro, come.

I wish that were our bridaI chamber.

You think me terribIy wicked for saying that?

You know we can't marry.

I know onIy what you teII me.

I must marry...

...according to my station and my famiIy's weaIth.

Then why are you here?

Because I couId not stay away.

Then don't.

My marriage must be a marriage of state.

My peopIe are true citizens 700 years back.

A coat of arms does not an inheritance make.

I speak of Iove and you taIk of money.

Of my duty.

And your heart?

This isn't about my heart, it's about poIitics.

How romantic.

Marriage isn't romantic. That's why God invented poetry.

To sweeten men's Iying Iips!

If I were a Iiar, wouId I teII you this now?

If you cared for me, you couId not teII me this ever.

I want you.

Not enough.

Daughter, you have reached too high.

I toId you, marriage is a contract.

Two countries signing a treaty.

To a man of Marco's station, it has nothing to do with Iove.

But you can stiII have Marco.

But not in wedIock.

There's an aIternative to marriage.

You'II become a courtesan.

I've seen you watching them. I've seen you mesmerized by them.

You'II become a courtesan...

...Iike your mother used to be.

You were a courtesan?

One of the best.

When?

A Iong time ago.

I had hoped to buy you a good marriage.

But your father...

...drank away your dowry.

Your brother must buy his posting.

And I am too oId.

It is you...

...who must support us now.

Look at these hands.

Soft.

Too soft...

...for a scuIIery maid...

...or working the winery.

Perhaps a Iady's maid.

Beatrice might hire you.

-WouIdn't that be funny? -Send me to the convent then!

You are not the type.

How wouId you know?

What're you doing?

Whichever deviI you choose, you'II Iook him in the eye first...

...which is more than my mother gave me.

First secret of aII great courtesans:

You must know pIeasure...

...to give pIeasure.

Beauty is a manifestation of the divine.

That theory buiIt the Sistine ChapeI, and it'II do the same for you.

Height is an advantage to women as weII as men.

Carriage creates the first impression.

Come with me, Veronica.

Mother, we can't go in there.

Ladies can't go in there.

Courtesans can.

The emperor PericIes reIied more for poIicy on his mistress...

...than he ever did on his Iieutenants.

Courtesans, my dear, are the most educated women in the worId.

A courtesan is a force of nature in a civilized cloak.

Any chambermaid can flop down, take off her shirt...

...and men will come.

Your true power comes from something much deeper than beauty.

CIeopatra knew that.

Theodosia.

Aspasia. She couId seduce a man at 20 paces...

...without reveaIing an inch of fIesh.

How?

With her mind.

Desire begins in the mind.

I don't understand.

No, you don't.

Think of Marco.

I know you know anger.

Try disdain.

Amusement.

Submission.

Rapture.

Now...

...make him beIieve that he is the onIy man in the universe.

Who taught you?

Your grandmother.

In order to choose your Iovers wiseIy, you need to understand men.

No matter their shape or size...

...position or weaIth...

...they aII dream...

...of the temptress.

The irresistibIe...

...unapproachabIe Venus...

...who quickIy turns pIiabIe maiden when they've had a hard day.

Come.

You can't be squeamish.

If you don't enjoy it...

...they'II smeII it, Iike a dog smeIIs fear.

And they'II hate you for it.

What's there to be squeamish about?

If you touch...

...here.

Amazing.

Use your fingers IightIy...

...Iike feathers.

Then harder.

Your tongue, Iike Iicking sweets.

Your teeth, with restraint.

Just enough...

...to keep him wanting more.

It's wanting...

...that keeps us aIive.

Minister Ramberti.

I'd Iike to present you to my daughter, Veronica.

It wouId bring me Iuck if you'd pIay a hand for me.

Remember, Veronica, Iove Iove.

But do not Iove the man, or you'II be in his power.

Good Iuck.

May I caII?

May I caII?

LoveIy.

This is my first bet.

Your first?

UnmistakabIy.

I'm honored.

Repent your empty excesses!

There is no comfort here.

Repent, you sinners!

Friends.

May I ask you, is this God's game?

Why do you gambIe with your souIs?

What is it you want?

Your saIvation.

This is no company for one so fair.

Venice may as weII be deemed one Iarge fIoating brotheI.

What's biting your ass this fair evening, cousin?

Poverty aIways puts me in a bad mood.

You'd begrudge the fairer sex their IittIe crumbs?

No, though they do make more in a night than I a month.

Go make yourseIf usefuI. Give us a rhyme.

I'm no performing monkey for the idIe masses.

Since when?

We're aII of us performing monkeys, nephew.

Paupers and poets aIike.

I'm at your service, UncIe.

If it's rhyme you wish, I'II gIadIy obIige.

A subject?

Doge?

Venice. To ceIebrate our pIenty.

Born in gIory

The virgin's exuItation

Fair and mighty Venice

Queen of the sea

Unconquered maid

Sovereign isIe is she

Chaste goddess

Rising from the foamy depths

Wine?

PIease.

Curb your surprise, Signor Venier. It's vagueIy insuIting.

Signor Venier? Don't be absurd.

I'm not being absurd. I'm just...

...treating you with indifference, as you did me.

You confuse indifference with honesty.

You confuse honesty with venaIity.

You think me venaI?

You are a venaI cur.

HeIIo, Marco.

Something I can do for you?

Here, beauty, wit and weaIth combined

Gateway 'twixt distant East and West

Mother of Iiberty

ChiId of honor

Home and hearth and heart

To men of vaIor

Perhaps the fair maiden can do better.

A dueI!

Venice...

...mother...

...virgin, queen and...

...goddess

To be aII 5 at once is no mean trick.

If women's Iust Iost Eden Our redress to be

Hearth, heart and home to every...

...prick.

Who is she?

Sweet Iagoon

That brings us...

...IoveIy Iife

Rank with...

...greed and trade's...

...devouring strife

Lady Venice

Her baubIed seIf does show

Her raiment, as the moon doth gIow

Her wisdom

Her wisdom shines bright As envious day

Her wives...

...Iike booty...

...are Iocked away

Never ever hide that face again.

ChiIdren are a deficit.

It's not infaIIibIe.

It's more comfortabIe than a turtIe sheII.

So?

You didn't teII me everything.

How couId I?

They won't aII be Rambertis.

Who's next?

Honor us with a poem, Signora Veronica.

I wouId be too humbIed before such eIoquent minds.

Make us Iaugh as you did before.

Perhaps if I'm cIever next time I shaII make you weep.

I shaII weep if I don't see you again.

Thursday?

Every Thursday?

I shaII count the hours in between.

Scrape any Iower you can have shoes for earrings.

Why, Marco Venier, I do beIieve you're jeaIous.

I can onIy be jeaIous of what I cannot have.

-And you cannot have me. -There's no one in Venice I can't have.

And there's not a man in Venice that I can't have.

We are so aIike, you and me.

We both know that Iove is inconvenient, if not impossibIe.

So why not enjoy what IittIe we're aIIowed together?

I'm aII booked up.

WeII?

WeII, what?

I see you're enjoying yourseIf.

Yes, thank you, Signor Venier.

Domenico.

Otherwise, you'II make me feeI oId.

Let me heIp you.

It's not a sight for such beautifuI eyes.

I'm not afraid of fIesh.

The man who bid you rhyme...

...Francesco Martenengo...

...admiraI of our fIeet.

Andrea Tron.

Whatever you do, don't make him mad.

Bishop De La Torre.

His coIIection of paintings is surpassed onIy by his coIIection of women.

So many?

BibIicaI.

Ramberti, you know.

Minister of Defense. I teII you, he's in Iove with you.

You say that as if you thought it a disease.

You think, perhaps, I want you for myseIf?

I wouId not presume.

Pity.

I was fIattered to think you might harbor such suspicions...

...under the circumstances.

I wouId be happy to attend to you under any circumstances.

''AII the best courtesans have one.''

Signor Marco Venier wishes your audience.

A peacock does not an inheritance make.

Look at these gowns. Each is a unique work of art.

Charming spectacIe.

I've seen better.

Must be interesting...

...being in a room fuII of men, most of whom you've seen naked.

Puts it aII in some kind of perspective.

I was wondering....

I wouId enjoy it if perhaps we might...

...exchange verse again...

...some night.

We can't afford one another, Maffio. We're both...

...courtiers singing for our supper.

Of course.

What was Cousin Maffio on about?

The pIeasures of poetry.

Enjoy the hunt?

The hunt possesses, doesn't it, such a crueI beauty?

Much Iike your own.

Is my beauty crueI?

I think so.

To those that you refuse, yes.

It is onIy my refusaI that arouses your Ionging.

You underrate yourseIf.

FIatterer.

Put it to the test.

Say yes...

...and then see if you're rid of me.

Let's see.

If I'm right...

...you'II tire of me, and if you're right, I'II tire of you.

Maybe we shouId just stay as we are.

You know I do regret...

...the hurt that I caused you.

With aII my heart.

The heart is higher up.

Her father owns haIf of Lombardy...

...and her aunt is the pope's niece. An aIIiance with this famiIy is a godsend.

You wiII marry GiuIia da Lezze...

...for Venice, if for no other reason.

You have the feigned indifference of a man in Iove.

Go on, son...

...teII the truth and shame the deviI.

The Turks are on the move again?

The suItan wants the Mediterranean for his bathing pooI.

So what is that heavenIy thing?

Ermine.

I'm an ass!

My IittIe poetess.

I'm an ass!

You are the brightest...

...star in the Venetian firmament.

Excuse me.

The coIdest.

CoId.

But aIso the brightest.

My uncIe...

...teIIs me...

...I have...

...the feigned indifference of a man--

Of a man about to be married.

I'm getting married. CongratuIate me.

FeIicitations on your grand match.

GenerousIy put.

Do you Iove her?

Do I have to?

I hope it's a profitabIe union.

Do you Iike poetry?

I know the PsaIms.

TeII me a secret.

-I have no secrets. -Everyone has secrets.

TeII me a desire.

Deep desire.

I hope to give you many strong sons.

No, I mean something...

...for you.

Something just for you.

To be a good wife to you is my onIy desire.

'Tis not wanton flesh But love that brings me shame

Mocked by fate Imprisoned by my womb

My jeaIousy possessed Which sIow consumes

An ice-coId, gIoomy vicious fIame

I Iove the very weapons which me wound

Lucky is the man that can inspire your poet's heart.

The onIy form she's mastered is a whore's.

HonestIy, I didn't think UncIe was stiII capabIe of getting it up.

What did you do to him, to get him to pubIish this IittIe piIe of ditties?

Won't give the time of day to his own fIesh and bIood.

She worked for it.

I'II bet she worked for it.

What do you cost these days?

If your prick is as Iimp as your verse, no price couId purchase time enough.

Just making a point, Cousin.

Very brave. What point wouId that be?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I apoIogize.

Have you the guts to try again BIade to bIade and pen to pen?

Madonna Veronica.

VeritabIy unique whore

May sing...

...and rhyme...

...and more

StiII...

...is at best a sIut

With every horny mutt

You pride yourseIf on arts and Ietters

And fucking best your manIy betters

I save the goodIy wives of Venice From their husbands' IustfuI menace

Then you confess...

...you Iove...

...to rut

And your beauty's gIadIy stuck

LittIe mistake.

I confess...

...I fuck divineIy

Those who Iove and weII opine me

I confess...

...I fuck divineIy

Those who...

...richIy wine and dine me

On the page or on the sheet You'II never find a tongue more sweet

On the page or on the sheet

On the page or on the sheet Greet bIeat....

On the page or on the sheet A greater hack you'II never meet.

You fight Iike a saiIor.

I Iearned from a saiIor. Now stop staIIing.

Recant the curse you give my kind

Admit I have, as you, a heart and mind

A greedy hand, an empty heart Is aII that wrests your Iegs apart

How did you Iet this paragon of cities turn into a cesspit...

...of vice and depravity?

For as the waters fIow through Venice every day...

...and wash away the fiIth...

...so the Lord wiII wash away this eviI.

Do you not agree?

I think not.

A souI in torment is a souI without God.

AII fIesh is grass.

We must aII meet our Maker.

To this end we must aII come.

Even Venetians.

You can be saved, my brother.

It's your desire that makes you weak.

You can...

...cure me of my desire...

...young ideaIist?

No.

I can't.

Tonight's too many hours away.

My affections aren't mine to give you tonight.

What?

I have mouths to feed Iike you.

I'II support you.

No. There wiII no money between us.

So you'd continue with this Iife?

I have no choice. This is the Iife I was given.

You do have a choice.

If I were yours aIone, your property...

...you'd soon tire of me.

You're wrong.

Am I?

If you cared for me, you couId not do this.

Do not ask of me what you cannot give.

Your wife is waiting.

What aiIs you, Marco?

What do you mean?

I want to be a good wife.

Impending deprivation...

...aIways makes me hungry.

My dear...

...you're not eating.

But you are though, darIing.

There'II be no more of these IittIe deIicacies if the suItan turns nasty.

Why are beIIs ringing at this time of night?

The suItan has attacked.

He took 8 ships near MaIta.

If we don't saiI for Cyprus by Easter, we won't be saiIing back.

-Sooner, I think. -If we can't raIIy France, we won't.

The Turks have 3 ships to our 1 .

-WiII the IKing of France heIp us? -If we amuse him.

IKing Henry's a boy in men's breeches.

-A powerfuI boy. -A boy nonetheIess.

He commands a Iot of ships and has no Iove for the Turks.

Your wife beIieves she has bewitched you.

What's the harm in bewitching a married man?

That man has to have heirs. He's to be a senator soon.

So he shaII.

What God and greed have joined together...

...Iet no Iove put asunder.

The woman you Iove is not good...

...not pure, not meek.

I'm a courtesan. It's the onIy thing you'II Iet me do--

I can't bear it.

I know I have no right...

...but I won't share you.

But I must share you. I must bear that. I have no choice.

PIease don't envy GiuIia. She wiII never have what you have.

PIease trust me.

I don't know how.

I'II earn your trust.

Let me.

You'II go to war and die.

Not with you to come back to.

Stay with me for as Iong as we have.

And be your private whore?

Don't ever say that.

You're Veronica Franco.

You're a poet.

And you're my Iady.

CanceI my appointments, pIease.

It's a treacherous game you pIay, my IittIe idiot.

You outdid me Iong ago.

I know that.

And the irony is, it's not because...

...you're prettier than I was, because you're not.

Nor that you're a better Iay, because you aren't.

It's because you're smarter. You have a gift.

-Don't throw it away. -For God's sake, haven't I done enough?

He's a cIient Iike the others. Love him and Iose.

I must go. IKing Henry's coming.

I'II get my things.

You've been seIfish, keeping her hidden away.

You came back in time...

...to seduce the French king. He arrives tomorrow.

He'd Iet Paris burn for a good Iay.

He'II hardIy fight for Venice.

Depends on how Venice Iays him.

I don't mind fighting, but I prefer a war I can win.

Without France's ships, it's a suicide mission.

GIorious architecture.

Indeed.

Good Henry!

We must fight the infideIs here...

...before we can beat them abroad! Before we can fight them at home!

Take this paper to the king!

Let me go! I'm a man of God! Give him this paper!

France has zeaIots too. We prefer heretics. They're not so serious.

ZeaIots are creating difficuIties everywhere.

Our captains teII us...

...the MusIim Turks have been spotted near Cyprus.

Rather presumptuous, don't you think?

Rather presumptuous to think the Church wouIdn't come to its defense?

What about these courtesans Venice is so famous for?

The suItan is too experienced to gambIe--

I'd Iike to meet them.

Are they nearby?

Who's that? She's not with the others.

Veronica Franco, Your ExceIIency. The poetess.

Is she a courtesan?

She is, Your Highness.

TeII her to come forward.

I want her.

Most exquisite.

-You do me great honor. -I take you from the one you Iove.

I come wiIIingIy.

You have to say that. I'm the king.

I have to say that because Venice needs you.

What do you yearn for, IKing Henry?

You've heard the rumors.

Yes, sire.

The king is a pervert.

What do you reaIIy yearn for?

Tears.

For whom?

Your tears.

You yearn for my tears?

I don't think so.

Then what do I yearn for?

Why don't we find out?

You'II get your ships.

-Poet to kings. -A nationaI asset.

More than 1 00 French ships.

We shouId make you ambassador to the emperor.

He doesn't deserve her.

WouId he sooner we didn't get the ships?

He wouId rather he had the right to refuse even a king your hand.

I couId not refuse.

CouIdn't you?

I think you Iike it.

You Iike what it has made me.

I don't Iike what it makes me.

Why did you not stop me?

You're not mine to stop!

Whose fauIt is that?

You sIeep with GiuIia for duty's sake.

I sIept with the IKing of France once for duty's sake. Who does not forgive?

Perhaps I can't Iive with it.

But I Iove you.

I pray God to watch over you.

Save your prayers, Veronica.

The deviI's got my heart now. God hasn't a chance.

We were hoping you'd teII us what's happening with the war.

What do you know?

Just that we're fighting the Turks again.

And that's aII?

Their suItan sent us an uItimatum.

Either we surrender Cyprus or he takes it by force. Our fIeets went to defend it.

Is Cyprus so important, we must send our husbands to battIe?

Without Cyprus...

...we Iose controI over the eastern Mediterranean.

If they cannot be contained, the Turks wiII find their way to Christian shores.

I know we own it...

...but where exactIy is Cyprus?

My husband...

...do you know if he is aIive or dead?

AIive and weII.

And mine?

The admiraI is aIive. And a hero.

And my husband?

Who is your husband?

Vicco.

My husband is Pietro Vicco.

He's strong. He'II come home safeIy.

You know her husband weII.

Not at aII weII, but his reputation precedes him.

Go on, ask her.

Ask her what you're Ionging to.

Ask her what draws our husbands back to her again and again...

...Iike pigs to a trough!

The Latin for banana is ariena .

Banana tree is pala .

A woman's greatest and most hard-won asset...

...is an education.

Just because you can say it in Latin doesn't make it Iess obscene.

Just because you took a vow doesn't mean you know Iove.

Either that whore Ieaves or I Ieave. No Christian woman couId toIerate this!

You're unfit to be a mother.

At Ieast I am a mother.

You won't be once Lorenzo hears of this.

Thank you for your assistance, Signora Franco.

He's aIive.

You made many enemies today.

They were aIready enemies.

Now they wiII become more so.

Did you come to warn me?

When my daughter is oId enough...

...make her a courtesan.

I wiII not pimp your daughter.

Look at the Iife you Iive.

The freedom that you have.

You'II deny my daughter the same chance?

Turn right up ahead.

Look.

Look outside.

This is where we go to die.

You wiII not end here.

Livia, Venice's reigning Venus.

A jeaIous Iover did that.

Who wants her now?

My cage seems bigger than yours, but it's stiII a cage.

You won't get sympathy from me.

I don't want it.

Do you know what my daughter's nurse toId her today?

That in a girI's voice Iies temptation.

A known fact. EIoquence in a woman means promiscuity.

Promiscuity of the mind...

...Ieads to promiscuity of the body.

She doesn't beIieve her yet, but she wiII.

She'II grow up Iike her mother.

She'II marry, bear chiIdren...

...and honor her famiIy. Spend her youth in needIepoint...

...and rue the day she was born a girI.

And when she dies...

...she'II wonder why she obeyed aII the ruIes of God and country...

...because no bibIicaI heII couId ever be worse...

...than this state of perpetuaI inconsequence.

Silent God ignores my prayer

And renders lost

What once was fair

Once blissful Fortune's favorite city

Now wheeled fate turns

No trace of pity

Citizens of Venice!

Look around you now at the disease and deaths...

...that have taken over our once beautiful city, and tell me...

...this plague is not a punishment...

...from God!

We are surrounded by harlots...

...and courtesans!

We must cast out those who tempt us...

...for we are a city of shame...

...of fornication...

...and carnal practices that defy description.

We will go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah...

...and become dust in the sands of time!

There's news from Venice.

The corruption of fIesh, the paint on their faces...

...the viIe coIoring of their hair, their wanton dress....

Look on them and within yourseIves.

You're aIive.

You're aIive.

Forgive me.

PIease forgive me.

I'm sorry.

Signora Veronica Franco...

...I hereby summon you to appear before the tribunaI of the HoIy Inquisition.

You have no jurisdiction here, Senator. I speak for the Church.

The Inquisition?

In Venice?

We have 56,000 dead.

The Iiving want answers. They may be wrong answers, but they want them.

Be gIad the bastards aren't burning us out.

You can stop it!

If the doge came out in defense of a notorious courtesan--

Now she's notorious? Before she was a nationaI asset.

It wouId toppIe the government.

These are grim times, Senator.

I can no Ionger be a party to this.

You're an eIected officiaI.

You cannot refuse your office.

Then you compeI me to condone these proceedings.

Am I mistaken, or is Venice stiII a free repubIic?

Do you think ruining yourseIf wiII heIp her?

By order of the pope, the Inquisition has come to Venice...

...to seek out heresy and beIiefs anathema to the Church.

Veronica Franco...

...you have been denounced...

...on the charge of witchcraft, a mortaI sin punishabIe by death.

ShouId you confess and repent during these proceedings...

...you wiII be mercifuIIy weIcomed back into the bosom of the HoIy Church.

Your HoIiness--

SiIence!

The accused shaII make no utterance but to answer our questions or to confess.

Proceed, Monsignor.

Venice...

...ever a nobIe repubIic...

...home of Iearning...

...art, commerce...

...has been brought Iow by war and pIague.

Do you know why?

I am not that wise.

TeII us...

...how many...

...of the worthy men of this city have you taken into your chamber?

I've not counted my Iovers.

More than 20?

Answer the question.

Yes.

More than 1 00?

I don't know.

You don't?

Yet for each you paraded your miIky breast and hair of spun copper.

For each you Iearned his unique favored touch...

...and enchanted him to beIieve he was the onIy man in the universe.

How many per week?

I toId you. I enchanted no one.

Did you feign Iove with more than 1 0 weekIy? Or wouId 5 or 6 have sated you?

I never feigned Iove.

So why'd they pay?

For the dream of Iove...

...as it cannot exist in this worId that you've created.

For the hope there might exist on earth some corner of this paradise--

Paradise?

When 56,000 have faIIen?

You say this.

You...

...who fiII your home with feast and dance whiIe Venice suffers?

Who creates a sumptuous worId of fIesh...

...and depravity, of orgiastic rites invoking the deviI?

-This is paradise? -The onIy deviIry here is your spite!

He's jeaIous of what he cannot have!

Do not intrude into the proceedings.

I'm a senator of Venice. The Inquisition is here by our consent.

This is an eccIesiasticaI court. You are here by my consent.

This is a personaI vendetta.

You wiII abide by our ruIes or be removed.

Is that understood?

Is that understood?

The senator speaks the truth.

I was bewitched by her.

In my weakness, I feII under her speII to pathetic ruin.

It's onIy by the grace of God I stand here today.

I didn't seek your Iove.

Because I couId not pay your fee.

I Ioved another.

In other words...

...you cast your speII over aII who cross your path.

You compeI sacred Iove to garner riches. What is this if not witchcraft?

Ever give yourseIf to a man who couIdn't pay?

I gave my heart where riches were no use.

I did what was needed to Iive.

Did you give yourseIf to a man who couId not pay?

What other profession do you aIIow me? How shaII I survive if I cannot marry?

Answer!

Why, when you are determined to damn me?

Look at her.

FeeI her wrath...

...her power.

She, who Iures the nobIe fathers of Venice from their wives...

...their chiIdren...

...their abiIity to Iead the repubIic!

It is she and her kind who turned God's hands against us, Your Grace.

Your Grace...

...we must do our duty.

Veronica Franco, you hover at the brink of extermination and heII.

You wiII return tomorrow to hear God's mercifuI judgment and, I hope...

...to repent before that judgment takes its course.

Remove the prisoner.

You must save yourseIf.

How?

Confess whatever fooIishness they put before you--

That I'm a witch?

What does it matter what you say?

I wouId be saying it.

There is no honor with fooIs Iike these.

God wiII forgive you.

If I give them my Iie, I give them my souI.

I'II Iose everything I ever was.

My Iove, my words, my heart.

But you wouId Iive.

As someone eIse.

I've Iet you go too many times.

I can't do it again.

There is no choice.

I'II never see you again.

Veronica Franco, you have been denounced a sorceress.

Either confess and pIead mercy, or stand to receive my judgment.

I wiII confess, Your Grace.

That wiII pIease God.

Proceed.

I confess...

...as a girI I Ioved a man who wouId not marry me for want of a dowry.

I confess I had a mother who taught me a different way of Iife.

One I resisted at first but Iearned to embrace.

I confess I became a courtesan.

Traded yearning for power, weIcomed many rather than be owned by one.

She does not speak to the charge.

I confess I embraced a whore's freedom over a wife's obedience.

This is not repentance.

What am I to do?

I must confess my eviI. These are my sins.

Your Grace, her mortaI sins are not at issue.

She must repent witchcraft.

Perhaps she heads in that direction.

You have been warned.

The Church cannot deny her right to seek God's mercy. Confession is sacrosanct.

Don't instruct me on the Church's Iaws!

Then I caII upon the doge to demand that the Inquisition abide by them.

If Christian mercy is gone, then at Ieast Venetian justice stiII exists.

I pray Your Grace has heard enough of this.

It does seem odd that the HoIy Mother Church wouId deny a sinner confession.

I see no harm in hearing her.

She wiII save or damn herseIf.

The prisoner has aIready damned herseIf.

But if it pIeases the esteemed doge of Venice...

...she may continue her heresy.

I confess I find more ecstasy in passion than in prayer.

Such passion is prayer.

I confess--

I confess I pray stiII...

...to feeI the touch of my Iover's Iips...

...his hands upon me...

...his arms enfoIding me.

Veronica, stop!

Save yourseIf, pIease.

Such surrender has been mine.

I confess I hunger stiII to be fiIIed and infIamed.

To meIt into the dream of us...

...beyond this troubIed pIace...

...to where we are not even ourseIves.

To know that aIways...

...aIways this is mine.

Your Grace...

...is this necessary?

She hopes to bewitch us aII.

If this had not been mine, if I had Iived another way...

...a chiId to a husband's whim...

...my souI hardened from Iack of touch and Iack of Iove...

...I confess such endIess days and nights...

...wouId be punishment greater than any you couId mete out.

Finished?

No, Your Grace.

You, aII of you...

...who hunger for what I give but cannot bear to see such power in a woman...

...you caII God's greatest gift...

...ourseIves...

...our yearning, our need to Iove, you caII it fiIth...

...and sin and heresy--

Enough. One Iast time before you are condemned: Do you repent or not?

I repent there was no other way open to me. I do not repent my Iife.

Then the HoIy Inquisition has heard the evidence against you and is satisfied.

In the name of the pope--

There is more to be heard.

I demand the same rights of confession!

You're not on triaI!

We're stiII on consecrated ground. I confess I am her accompIice.

If she is a witch, damn me. I do not repent. I wiII not Iive without her.

This is a cynicaI trick. He does this to save her.

She's a witch!

Proven and convicted, the deviI in our midst...

...and I am her accompIice! Condemn her if you wiII...

...but arrest me too. Arrest a senator of Venice for witchcraft.

I'II not shrink from judging the mighty.

I weIcome it. I wait for the shackIes.

He speaks with his heart, not his head.

He's bIinded by his own Iust.

If she's a witch, so is every woman in Venice!

SiIence!

We are a strange city, Your HoIiness.

Perhaps accursed.

And perhaps we Iive in a pecuIiar state of grace.

I am not aIone...

...in Ioving this woman...

...though I Iove her far, far more than they.

We accompIices...

...were many...

...and proud.

If we do not speak now...

...if Venice...

...does not stand up now and acknowIedge who she is, then we are aII damned...

...not before this court...

...before eternity.

If what he says is true...

...then you must speak the names of your accompIices.

Your Grace...

...the men who Ioved her were under her speII.

They had no voIition.

ShaII we punish even the victims of her eviI?

If the souI of the city is corrupt...

...and you heIp me root it out, I wiII spare your Iife.

I had no accompIices, Your Grace.

Stand.

Stand!

Stand...

...aII you who defiIed your sacred marriage beds...

...and decIare your sin. Stand up...

...with me...

...as we stood against our enemies at sea!

There.

You see, Your Grace...

...there are no accompIices.

He does this to rescue her from your justice.

Then I stand aIone for Venice and for this woman.

Arrest the senator.

His triaI wiII commence tomorrow.

Minister.

Do you wish to speak?

I repeat, do you have something to say to this court?

I am standing.

Your Grace.

Perhaps there's another who'd Iike to stand?

Perhaps we've been hasty, Your Grace.

What are you doing?

Witchcraft may be too harsh a charge.

Is everything...

...I heard about this city true?

SureIy the HoIy Inquisition need not suIIy its hands with a common whore.

This is a matter for the state, don't you think?

I Ieave this woman to Venice...

...which richIy deserves her.