Casanova
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Movie Reviews of Casanova
Movie Review: Love, lard, and a merchant in Venice...
Summary: 5 Stars
Casanova is a minor gem of a film. It is carefully bracketed as a memoir of Casanova, who is busy in his old age writing his memories in his famous book. However, this is worth paying attention to, because in a film of masks, deceptions and subterfuge, this too is perhaps the best of all possible masks. Giacomo Casanova may be many things to many people (particularly the women of Venice), but he is a very human being, if he would but know it.
After spending the greater part of his youth in pursuit of being the pursuer ('be the flame, not the moth,' he says as he gives advice to a young man in need of help courting his love) rather than the pursued, he has finally had to promise (the Doge and the Inquisition) that he will mend his ways and marry. But, in typical Casanova fashion, the woman he intends is the unofficial intended of another, and the woman he wants is not his intended, but intended to another. If you can't quite keep pace, you might be on to something. For Casanova's desire (not to be confused with his intended) is intended to another, whose identity Casanova 'borrows' to better woo her.
In the end, this is a fairly standard but well-done costume drama of mistaken identities, plots going awry, and love triumphant (of course it would have to be, for after all, this is Casanova). Heath Ledger plays a very serviceable Casanova (no pun intended, well, perhaps a little intended); Sienna Miller plays the fair Francesca, a woman with a brain far in advance of her time (she is some ways portrayed as a female da Vinci-esque character). Lena Olin plays Francesca's mother, who has arranged a marriage for Francesca, which certainly does not involve Casanova. Charlie Cox plays Francesca's brother, Giovanni, jealous of the attentions Casanova is paying to his unannounced intended across the canal (in an interesting twist, Charlie Cox played in 'The Merchant of Venice' the year before this film was made, together with Jeremy Irons).
I was very pleased with the role played by Oliver Platt, the merchant of Genoa (coming to Venice, a very subtle, witty reversal on Shakespeare) - he played the intended of Francesca, a pupil of Casanova, a lard merchant of wealth and fame, and in the end one of the good guys. Tim McInnerny plays the hapless but good-intentioned Doge. However, highest praise goes to Jeremy Irons, who plays the papal visitor/inquisitor, Bishop Pucci, who, if he isn't threatening inquisitorial tortures on illiterate philosophers or falling over backwards in boats is promising to restore the virginity of young maidens. Irons provides a delightful mixture of terror and farce that plays in both comedic and dramatic ways, and he looks every inch the post-medieval bishop.
The sets are stunning - of course, this was filmed on location in Venice, so how could they be otherwise? The music is well-selected and drawn into the overall film, using Italian and Italian-influenced compositions of the Renaissance and later periods heavily.
This is a fun film, with an unexpected ending in several ways, but love reigns triumphant, and Casanova (in a very interesting twist) both 'gets the girl' and continues his amorous ways - but I'll not spoil it for you.
Movie Review: Heath Ledger as "Casanova"
Summary: 5 Stars
"Casanova" is Rated "R". Running Time: 1 hr, 51 min.
Ah, yes. Casanova! The many loves of Casanova. We see him with Sophia, then a nun, Sister Beatrice (Lauren Cohan) and yet another nun he knows (Danielle Baker).
Signor Giancumo Casanova (played by Heath Ledger) never gets to finish and always has to hide in the closet or make a mad dash at an escape.
This time, he got caught.
He will be hanged tomorrow. But wait! The Mayor of Venice is going to save his life, on grounds of mistaken identity.
You see, no one in the town of Venice really knows for sure who Casanova is, except for the ladies that are mums the word. The town square even makes fun of this Casanova by staging of an outdoors play.
The Mayor is expelling him from Venice. However, their is a reprieve. casanova must find a respectable wife before Carnevale and must be on his best behavior until then.
Casanova's eye is on the virginal francesca (Sienna Miller).
Also in the cast: Olivier Platt, Omio Djalili, Lena Olin, Stephen Greif, Jeremy Irons, Helen McCrory, Leigh Lawson, Charlie Cox, Natalie Dormer, Eugene Simon.
Bryan Korenberg is the scene stealer as the man in the brothel.
Actually filmed in Venice on location.
Released the same year as Brokeback Mountain (Full Screen Edition) (2005)
DVD Special Features: (12 minutes) "Creating An Adventure" featurette
(5 min.) "Dressing in Style" featurette
(3 min.) "Visions of Venice".
Audio Commentary by Director Lasse Hallstrom.
The real-life Casanova lived 1725-98.
Other "Casanova" movies:
Casanova's Big Night (1954),with Bob Hope, Vincent Price.
Casanova 70 (1965 French-Italian)
The Amorous Mis-Adventures of Casanova (AKA Casanova & Co.)(1976 Australian-Italian-French-German), with Tony Curtis.
Note: Health Ledger unexpectedly died January 22, 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. He had finished The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition) (2008) and was filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). Ledger will still be seen in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell continuing his changing character.
Movie Review: Delightful
Summary: 5 Stars
Some viewers may not rate Casanova as highly as Lasse Hallstrom's 1987 masterpiece, My Life as a Dog, or his 2002 rendition of Annie Proulx' novel, The Shipping News. But I thoroughly enjoyed this comic adventure, set in 18th century Venice, and scored almost completely with period works by composers Antonio Vivaldi, Roman, Tomaso Albinoni, and Jean-Philippe Rameau.
The story is a fast-paced adventure of mistaken identities, and quickly engrosses the viewer. The story begins as the aged Casanova breaks off writing his memoirs to tell the story of one Francesca, a story, he says, that is not really his own. Then we are transported back to Casanova's childhood, as his mother sends him to live with his grandmother in Venice, promising to come back for him someday. We next find Giacamo Casanova (Heath Ledger) making love to a novice at a Venice convent, when a fellow nun knocks loudly at the door to warn him that the Inquisition officers are searching the convent for him.
After a chase over tiled Venetian rooftops and jumping over canals, Casanova is taken into custody, where the Doge (Tim McInnerny) warns him that unless he marries an upstanding woman by Carnival, within three days, he will be exiled from his beloved Venice, or worse. Thus Casanova, aided by his loyal page Lupo (Omid Djalili), begins his hurried courtship of the virginal beauty Victoria ( Natalie Dormer), who unbeknownst to her, has been secretly beloved for years by Giovanni Bruni (Charlie Cox), who has been admiring her through his window across the canal from her father's pillazo.
Challenged to a duel by the overeager young Bruni, Casanova finds himself the next morning facing an adept masked swordsman whom he shortly discovers to be Giovanni's sister Francesca (Sienna Miller). Casanova soon realizes he has made a terrible mistake; in fact he loves Francesca, whom he had seen earlier, while fleeing the Inquisition. He now begins to woo Francesca, first disguised as a wealthy gentleman merchant, Senior Salvatore and later, by assuming the identity of her promised husband, the wealthy Genoan lard merchant, Paprizzio (Oliver Platt), whom she has never seen.
Francesca and her mother Andrea (Lena Olin) accept Casanova's faked second identity until Inquisitor Pucci (Jeremy Irons) arrives on the scene and concludes that all is not as it seems. Francesca even seems to be falling in love with him.
The confusion that then ensues is sheer delight.
As a fictional film, a romantic comedy, this film succeeds beautifully. If you like period films, and enjoy romantic comedy, this film is a great piece of entertainment.
--Alyssa A. Lappen
Movie Review: Venetian beauty enhanced!
Summary: 5 Stars
Set all in Venice, this movie is beautiful. Many
scene shots that have probably not been used before.
As I do not know Venice well, I cannot appreciate the
beauty in this movie fully, or know which scenes were
for props rather than the actual Venetian environment.
Many antique buildings with beautiful art inside, at
least one ancient room which was never filmed in
before. St. Mark's Square I think it was, was used in
this. And of course some bridges, gondolas, and
water, the veins of Venice.
Shots for Casanova were very difficult as to transport
equipment would naturally be cumbersome as everything
required a gondola or bridges to get around pretty
much.
There was much use of green screens for scenes which
were hard to light, especially if there was water
nearby. Some things were digitally added for the
movie, but they did not overdo it. The air balloon
with strings was digital, the colorful sail that opens
when a ship sails out is put in that way, and when
Casanova is running away from some guards near the
beginning, some enhancements are edited in as well.
Ledger, unsurprisingly, has some great improv skills,
though his choice to insist on wearing glasses in one
scene was bad as it really did not fit in with the
times at all or help fortify the movie's story at all.
The pig in the story was hard to manage as they could
not get a well trained pig for the movie. Some movie
pieces were cut or modified because of the pig's
performance. It would've been interesting to know on
the DVD which parts of the movie were cut because of
the pig.
Natalie Dormer's character, Victoria, has a great
curious look on her face when she hides behind a bird
cage and accidentally bumps the cage revealing her
hiding place.
Charlie Cox, who plays Giovanni Bruni, probably has
one of the best performances for this movie. As "the
boy who looks out the window" he appears to not know
what is going to happen for sure when a sexy woman
approaches his sight from below winking subtly at him
to come to "her" place.
This movie ends up being barely rated R because of its
few sexual scenes, but they are so pertinent to the
movie that to take them out would be a sin unless you
wanted to release a PG-13 version with an R version.
Definitely a movie worth a watch and not "just a
counter action to BBM by Ledger."
Movie Review: What happens when the greatest lover of all time falls for a girl who cant love him?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very good movie. Heath Ledger and Siena Miller are great as Cassanova and Francesca Bruni.
The story is an old Cassanova is writing his autobiography and is telling a story about a love that according to him is not his to tell.
Cassanova is already famous as a lover in Venice, Italy. He is caught with a novice nun (who according to Cassanova is hardly a novice.) THe Dogg is a friend of his and helps him out of his crapes. The Dogg was going to expell Cassanova from Venice, but then tells him to get married before Caravale a couple days later.
Cassanova and a person who works for him look for his future bride and found it in Victoria Donato. There is only one problem. Giovanni Bruni likes Victoria and is prepared to duell with Cassanova who gives his name as Lupo Salvato (the man who works for him.)
The next day Cassanova finds out that instead of dueling with Giovanni he spared with his sister Francesca. He is captivated by her and soon finds himself falling for her, but there are some compliocations.
One complication is that they are both engaged. Francesca is engaged to her fathers cousin Paprizzio (played by Oliver Platt). Also Cassanova thinks that she has a secret lover, but it turns out that she has been writing books and having a man named Bernardo Gurdi say that he wrote them.
Several days later Paprizzio comes to Venice and Cassanova meets him and "helps" him look better so that Cassanova can pretend that he is Paprizzio. Also Bishop Pucci comes to Venice to arrest Cassanova for being a "vile fornacator." Everything comes to a head at Caravale.
Why is it a story that is not the older Cassanova's to tell? What happens to Paprizzio, Cassanova, and Francesca? Watch Cassanova