Casanova

Who cares if the plot adheres to the facts, this is a lighthearted movie not intended to be take seriously! It is a romp around the most beautiful city in the world. The wonderful music carefully selected and very well performed is just a joy, and the actors all camp it up with a wealth of nuance, subtlety and verve. It conveys all the joy of life of this city and this period when noblemen and lesser mortals dressed up and paraded the canal-sides and passages and bridges, masked to preserve identity and equality.

Almost a Moulin Rouge backdrop at times with almost circus-like pranks. Not intended to be taken seriously-get it? A romp, a party, an opera, and wonderful fun.

CASANOVA is a delightful comedy and farce with a tremendous cast of very talented actors. Heath Ledger is a wonderful and witty CASANOVA, Sienna Miller delivers a delicious performance, and Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt and Lena Olin all add to the humorous plot and story. This film is fun to watch and see the romp through Venice as CASANOVA jumps from one roof top to another in a very beautifully photographed film.

Lasse Hallstrom has directed a film which showcases the beauty of Venice in a romantic comedy that has beautiful sets and costumes. The ride in the hot air balloon is a cinematic moment which captures the adventures of CASANOVA and his attempt to woo the woman he really loves.

The dialog, pace of the film and the colorful ending makes CASANOVA a story worth watching and with a cast that is simply out of this world. And Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller provide CASANOVA with just the right amount of romance and adventure. Bravo, CASANOVA.

...why this movie wasn't (a) marketed right in the first place, (b) isn't being re-released right now!?

Trust me, as someone who works in this industry, I'm darn picky about what I like...but I liked this, despite wincing over the many historical inaccuracies and liberties taken with authentic language of the time - 'Casanova' is such a fun, feel-good romp, it charmed me into turning a blind eye and deaf ear and chalking all that up to necessary 'poetic licence'! The cast is fabulous, the late Heath Ledger is at his charismatic best...and BECAUSE he's no longer with us makes re-releasing it 'right' this time around a 'no-brainer', so far as I can see (for example; why it made it's Stateside debut on Christmas day baffles me completely - unless it was intended for Academy Award inclusion?). Clearly, this was/should have been a Summer dating flick...for both the typical dating demographic (= late teens/early twenties) AS WELL AS 'baby-boomers', who will appreciate the fine acting performances from the likes of Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt and Lena Olin, as well as enjoy the witty banter. It needs to be promoted as the 'period romp'/romantic comedy it IS, without being depicted as simply stupid (e.g. without excessive trailer cameos of characters falling off gondolas into the canals and/or slipping on bananas, etc!). The right trailer, the right time of year, the right riding-on-Heath's-sadly-gone-forever-coat-tails PR push, and this movie could be a 'sleeper hit' yet!

"Casanova" is a delightful comic farce that uses a period setting for an amusing cross between "The Princess Bride," "Much Ado About Nothing" and the spirit of "The Marriage of Figaro" (not at all "Don Giovanni" that is based on the same legend).

Director Lasse Hallström gets the romantic romp tone right here, compared to what he did not achieve in "Chocolat." He establishes from the opening that this is just fun opera buffo, with frequent sight gags and commedia dell'arte troupes and Punch and Judy-type puppet shows broadly commenting on the action, though it took four writers to stitch together the broad double entendres and winks at Shakespeare, from, appropriately, "Merchant of Venice", to "The Merry Wives of Windsor" to "Taming of the Shrew."

Heath Ledger has grown up since he first demonstrated he had the light touch for romantic comedy in the teen version of "Shrew," "10 Things I Hate About You," and he's much more confident now. One of the cute conceits of the film is that the women are the aggressors, especially the virgins and novices. As the title character, he modestly claims that his success is solely due to his ability to submit. While he's not particularly leonine in the frequent shots of him lounging on a divan, he is dashing as he runs around Venice taking on several different mistaken identities. If his clinch with Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" wouldn't already qualify him for an MTV Best Kiss this year, the big one with Sienna Miller could earn a nomination.

Miller is a bit young for her role as a Portia-like "transvestite" philosopher defending the rights of women, but her youth makes her brash earnestness seem more charmingly naïve. As her lively mother, Lena Olin provides the older woman ballast, without the usual sex-starved widow stereotypes.

Oliver Platt should be signed immediately to do a major production of "Falstaff," as he deftly and physically plays that character type, here a lard mogul representative of mercantile Genoa, even more deliciously and sympathetically than he has in "Ice Harvest" and "Huff."

Jeremy Irons has fun playing the Inquisitor, representing religious Rome, whose purple robes fit right in at a carnivale masquerade ball.

The look of the film helps enormously, with the best use of Venice as a sensuously unique setting since "Dangerous Beauty," not just for the usual gondolas and canals, but the steps, plazas, architecture, roofs, narrow streets, alleys and the light. The wigs and costumes are wonderfully colorful.

The marvelous stitching together of Baroque music keeps the mood merry, with overtures and dances from eight Jean-Philippe Rameau operas, six Italian composers, including of course Vivaldi, as well as snatches of Handel and Telemann added at appropriate water and fireworks moments.

This movie is a blast. If you're a fan of Shakespearian situational comedy (Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night's Dream, etc) then you're in for a treat. And please note that when I refer to Shakespeare, I'm talking about the original plays, not some stupid Kenneth Brannaugh romp.

The plot weaves a wonderfully tangled web of lies, misunderstandings and mistaken identities. The characters are just plain fun to watch. And director Lasse Hallström pulls off what so few people are able to do: make a comedy that doesn't offend anyone. Well, actually I think some Catholics may be offended at the uncomplimentary portrayal of the 18th century papacy, but from what I know of history, it's well deserved.

But this leads me to another point. Don't expect history, OK? A few reviewers seem to be upset by the poetic license Hallström takes. C'mon people, it's a fantasy. It's no different from the film AMADEUS which trounces all over historical fact but gives us a fantastic dramatic fiction in return. I admire creative writers who can turn history on its ear.

So yes, this isn't the erotic, decadent Casanova you may be expecting. In my opinion, that portrayal is hackneyed anyway. This is a much fresher approach. So put down your history books and enjoy the picture already.