Casanova [Blu-ray]: Amazon.ca: Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, Lena Olin, Omid Djalili, Stephen Greif, Ken Stott, Helen McCrory, Leigh Lawson, Tim McInnerny, Charlie Cox, Lasse Hallstr�m, Adam Merims, Betsy Beers, Gary Levinsohn, Guido Cerasuolo, Jeffrey Hatcher, Kimberly Simi, Michael Cristofer: DVD

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5 Reviews

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4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love, lard, and a merchant in Venice..., Mar 8 2006

By

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME)

This review is from: Casanova (Widescreen) (DVD)

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.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Carry On Casanova, July 13 2006

By

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Casanova (Widescreen) (DVD)

If you're old enough to have seen the "Carry On" movies the first time around, or have watched them on DVD on "oldies night", (don't worry, we're not going to ask your age) you'll see the resemblance to this funny take on the world's greatest lover. Slapstick, double entendres and misunderstandings abound, as Heath Ledger tries to fill the trousers of the legendary lothario without getting a broken back in the process.

It takes place in 1753 in Venice, a time when no woman is safe from the charms of Casanova, not even those confined to the convent. Luckily for him he has friends in the right places and escapes being strung up for debauchery (a big word which in the movie means that he shakes a lot of bedsprings without the benefit of a marriage license)

After going one conquest too far, his friend the Doge insists that Casanova get married ASAP, or face exile from Venice. Exile is not a possibility, as we learn early in the movie that he has a very good reason for sticking around, so marriage it is, and the lady to whom he pledges his troth is not only a virgin, but extremely willing to be wed. In a classic case of bad timing, he then meets the one woman worthy of his affection, and she turns out to be a cross-dressing (but only when necessary to prove a point) feminist writer who hates every bone in his body. She unfortunately is betrothed to a corpulent but very wealthy lard merchant (Oliver Platt) whom she has never set eyes on before, the union having being arranged by her late father as an insurance policy for the family fortune.

If you're still with me after all that, things get even more complicated when Jeremy Irons shows up as Inquisitor Pucci, out for the bewigged head of Casanova as a gift for the hangman's noose.

The important thing is not to attempt to take this movie seriously as a period piece, or as a factual account of the life of Casanova. It is a historically set spoof of the life and especially the times of Casanova and should be taken with a pinch of salt - or was that lard?

Amanda Richards

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The music is one of the actors, Jun 29 2006

By

bernie "webviator" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Casanova (Widescreen) (DVD)

As the movie opens we approach Casanova from behind as he is about to reveal a story that is not his to tell. Based loosely on the known history of Casanova this play takes place and is filmed in Venice. It is one of those farces of mistaken identity and opportunity.

Everyone did an excellent portray of the characters and the time. However I must say I was very much taken by Victoria (Natalie Dormer) the Genoa virgin. I wonder how she makes her nostrils flair like that. And that was a cute scene when she broke the wooden bridge that was made just for that scene.

Aside from the great music, much of it original, there are some beautiful panoramas and sunsets. And for those that like adventure or S and M you will not be disappointed. There is even a scene with a real swinger.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The music is one of the actors
As the movie opens we approach Casanova from behind as he is about to reveal a story that is not his to tell. Read more

Published on Nov 23 2006 by bernie

4.0 out of 5 stars A filmed farce about Casanova that owes more to Bob Hope than history
There is something to be said for a movie about a real person that is not a bio-pic. The tagline for this 2005 film is that "Casanova" is "A partially true story about lies told,... Read more

Published on Jun 17 2006 by Lawrance M. Bernabo