Casanova
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Movie Reviews of Casanova
Movie Review: Casanova
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm predisposed to like period pieces, and I like Casanova. It has a fine cast, and I believe that he should have received a wider release than it did.
Heath Ledger plays Casanova, and he is very good in the semi swashbuckling role. The role of Francesca is played by Sienna Miller, who does a fine job in her role as an early feminist. The role of the Pope's inquisitor Bishop Pucci is played by Jeremy Irons, who does a solid job. The scene stealer of the film is Natalie Dormer as Victoria, Casanova's fiance. Think a younger version of Uma Thurman, and hopefully she will have that type of career.
The director says that he believes that the film got and R rating because of one scene at carnival where Casanova is trying to juggle his two love interests Francesca, and Victoria. There is a scene where Victoria crawls under the table. I personally believe that the film got a R rating from the scene in the nunnery. It gives a whole new meaning to the old saying, "Get thee to a nunnery."
The film is visually stunning, but that is mostly because the movie was filmed in Venice, and you are seeing things that you haven't seen before, because they haven't been put on film in 80 years. If you are like me you who feel like you were watching a little piece of history, or walking through a good museum, because the city itself becomes a character in the movie.
The soundtrack is reminiscent of Vivaldi, but surprisingly, it's not. I would call this music baroque, but I am not sure it's that either.
To sum up, I found this movie, a highly enjoyable drama/comedy for adults. Casanova would make a good double feature with Dangerous Beauty or Dangerous Liaisons, both of which are available at Amazon.com and all of which I can highly recommend. So, sit back and enjoy an evening with these DVD's, and don't forget the popcorn.
Movie Review: Romping at the Ridotto
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the first of Hallstrom's films that I've seen, and I gather it's by no means typical of his recent work. However, I found it immensely entertaining. It bears little reference to the Chevalier de Seingalt's life, but once you've got over that (ideally before you see it) it is highly enjoyable. The imaginative and brilliant photography of a Venice peopled with the colourful characters and costumes of the ridotto in the city's heyday makes the film worth seeing for that alone. Venice should always look this good; its inhabitants should always wear the costume of this period.
Then the acting is good and plausible. I spent some time trying to work out who it was that Heath Ledger reminded me of, and eventually realised that it was Russell Crowe, not so much in looks as something about his manner. Jeremy Irons is hilarious and others well up to par. The film was well-paced, building to a comic finale.
I think the great point is to grasp that the whole thing was clearly conceived as a sort of Commedia dell'Arte, knockabout farce with very little sex but plenty of misunderstandings, mistaken identities and laugh-out-loud moments. And, of course, love. I thought it was made in very much the manner that operas like The Marriage of Figaro or The Barber of Seville would have been conceived and performed in when they first came out - in fact it shed new light on those for me.
Not a great film - it's a bit too slight for that - but a good, well-made, highly enjoyable romp.
Movie Review: Delightful Romp
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is simply rich and sumptuous to look at. To these days, I can never comprehend why movies of substance are always spoken in English theatre accent particularly when this particular movie is set in Venice. That aside, Heath Ledger seems to be enjoying himself playing the title role after Brokeback Mountain, and what contrasting movies they are. Sienna Miller is simply brilliant as the head-strong, independent feminist whose character despises and abhors towards the reputation of Casanova but who in the end, would succumb to his sincerity and charm, and the one woman who would tie Casanova down to a monogamous relationships. Oliver Platt is hillarious as the fiance of Siena's character but who in the end would fall in love with her mother instead; need we say anymore about Jeremy Irons and Lena Olin who are also tremendous in their portrayal of the Vaticans authority that is to bring Casanova to "justice" and Sienna's character's mother who wish for her daughter's marriage to the prince of Genoa to offset the family's mounting debt; and then, there are also Casanova's loyal sidekick, Sienna's character's younger brother who is infatuated with his neighbour's daughter and who, on the other hand is totally obsessed with Casanova. The whole cat and mouse chase and of Casanova needing to be ahead of everyone else before he gets caught is what made this movie so pleasurable and funny to watch. I thoroughly enjoy this movie and would recommend all matured viewers to share the experience.Movie Review: Funny Valentine of a French Farce
Summary: 4 Stars
-Casanova- is a lovely valentine to Venice, w/a mix of [deliberately] mistaken identities, nomes de plume, duels, horse-drawn carriages, & a hot-air balloon ride into the star-spangled skies. Heath Ledger, succesfully throwing aside his -Brokeback Maintain- gay identity, sparkles as the wry witty woman-loving rake w/a heart of gold. & Sienna Miller shines as Francesca, his brainy equal, a woman who thinks as sharply as she fences.
Betrothed to the Lard King of Genoa [Oliver Platt, hilarious in a 'fat suit' he barely needs], Francesca encounters & falls in love w/Casanova, who pretends 1st to be his servant, then the Lard king himself. Casanova, meanwhile, is engaged to the chaste Victoria [played as a lascivious layabout by Natalie Dormer], w/whom he was infatuated pre-Francesca. Francesca's brother Donato [Stephen Greif, sparkling in a callow way] is in love w/Victoria, her mother Andrea [a sweetly lovesick Lena Olin] wants Francesca to marry a'substantial man, like your father'. & then there's the Inquisition, led w/snarling perfection by Jeremy Irons...
W/all the 'I'm him, no I'm *him*'confusion, the heady excitement of Carnivale [as Casanova tries to be 3 people at the same time], that moonswept balloon ride which reverses several storylines & starts new 1s, the hilarity of the scenery-gnashing Inquisition, & the *many* jokes about Lord Paprizzio's girth & heft, this is a comic fantasy for most ages...
Movie Review: Casanova
Summary: 4 Stars
Casanova (Ledger) is searching for a wife. It seems that, if he cannot show he is living a more respectable life, he will be kicked out of Venice. You see, Casanova is a womanizer with many conquests, and his actions have upset the Church. He is quickly engaged to Victoria (Dormer), a woman with a pure reputation. Of course, as soon as that is arranged, he meets Francesca (Miller), a feminist who hates all he stands for. He pretends to be someone else to get into her good graces, and soon finds out she is engaged to Papprizzio (Platt), a man whom she has never met. Meanwhile, arriving in Venice to find Casanova, is Pucci (Irons), one of the Vatican's most known and feared inquisitors.
"Casanova" is more entertaining than the average romantic comedy, if that is what you would call this movie. Part comedy, part historical piece, "Casanova" has an odd tone that somehow earns is an undeserved R rating. This movie is PG-13 at worst, and the MPAA rating handed down is stupifying. Ledger and Miller are adequate as the leads, getting the job done, but not amazing. The scene stealer in this film is Oliver Platt as the rotund Papprizzio. He is funny every time he is on screen. The story is entertaining, and will be tolerable for men as well as the women who drag them to see it.