My first day in Venice involved a walking tour where I saw the Doge’s palace and St Mark’s Basilica where the body of the saint is entombed (they charge extra to see that!) The reason they are so close together is that the Doge – or duke – who was the leader in Venice used the Basilica as his private chapel. You may draw your own conclusions about the lack of separation between church and state.
I also walked across the Bridge of Sighs, so named because it led from the prison to where the judges meted out the prisoners’ fates. Good name for the right movie: The Bridge of Sighs. Love story or thriller? You decide.
The definition of a good title is one that says both what the story is about and suggests possibilities. My script would be a romance set in the present, where a tourist finds and loses love, but gets a second chance by taking the tour and re-meeting his or her lover as they walk down the stairs into the sentencing room, maybe after years apart. The symbolism is that love thwarted or denied is like a life sentence.
What would your film – entitled Bridge of Sighs – be about?
