Cleopatra was more in her line, or La Donna di Garbo in the play by Goldoni. The haughty beauty dangling her lovers on a string. But vulnerability was not beyond her capabilities as an actor. She took as her model St Catherine of Alexandria, her name sake in the famous painting by Caravaggio, leaning against the wheel they were about to break her upon. She did not have a wheel, but the chains helped. She had been advised by her captor, Murad Rais, on what to expect. ‘They will call out your name,’ he said, ‘and the foreign consuls will have an opportunity to speak up on your behalf.’ He thought there was still a Venetian Consul in Tripoli. But if there was not, then as a woman of God – he smiled sardonically – she might appeal to the Catholic Fathers. Caterina knew of the Catholic Fathers. They were one of the charities supported by her convent with the profits of their various commercial enterprises. They worked among Christian slaves on the Barbary Coast and raised money to buy their freedom if they had no resources of their own.
What do You think about The Flag Of Freedom (2012)?
