The novella 'Casanova's Homecoming' is considered a minor work of Arthur Schnitzler but is no less effective for that. It is a gripping piece that depicts a fictitious episode in the life of adventurer, occultist and chronicler Giacomo Casanova, now "an old fellow in reduced circumstances" who lives in hopes of being pardoned and allowed to return to his beloved Venice. He is shown hospitality by an old friend Olivio whose wife Amalia has been one of Casanova's many conquests. He no longer finds her physically appealing but proceeds to seduce her thirteen year old daughter, having previously slept with the girl's grandmother! His attempts to seduce Olivio's lovely and intelligent niece Marcolina are repulsed but he is determined to find a way into her bed..........
When adapting this torrid tale for the screen Jean-Claude Carriere has been obliged to clean it up and tone it down. The teenage seduction is merely hinted at and in the final duel between Casanova and Lieutenant Lorenzi both men are clothed and not naked as Schnitzler envisaged them. The dialogue has also been simplified so as not to tax the patience of the average cinema-goer. An interesting addition of Carriere's is that the character of Amalia prefers to pray whilst kneeling on broken glass. Carriere's former colleague Luis Bunuel would have approved I'm sure! Bunuel would also have appreciated the scene where the priest urinates on the hedgehog. Carriere has also introduced a servant named Camille who fulfils pretty much the same function as Leporello does to Don Giovanni in Mozart's opera. This is basically a pretext for a rather silly sub-plot involving a chambermaid which doesn't really contribute much to the film.
Alain Delon plays the title role and is roughly the same age as the character. Delon is as physically miscast in this as he was as Baron de Charlus in 'Swann in Love'. He is wearing well here and is in far better shape than Casanova would have been. It is hard to believe that Marcolina rejects him because he is 'too old'. The Casanova of the novella is a dissipated, seedy, cynical, thoroughly unprincipled and morally repugnant sociopath but the compromises of this film require him to be more sympathetic. In this regard at least, Monsieur Delon is perfect casting and he conveys wonderfully the anguish of a man 'whose day is done'. His performance reminds one of the advice given by Laurence Olivier to Charlton Heston regarding Mark Antony: "Play him like an ageing film star."
Marcolina is beautifully played by Elsa Lunghini who made her debut in 'Garde a Vue' at the age of seven and later proved to be a fine musician. We are of course treated to the obligatory shot of her walking across her boudoir in all her natural glory. Wadeck Stancjak as her lover Lorenzi also impresses and although some might detect in this a hint of homo-eroticism, what is certain is than when Casanova looks at him he sees his own lost youth.
The performance that lingers longest is that of eighty-three year old Alain Cuny as the Marquis. His is the most well rounded character of all and in this, his final film, Monsieur Cuny effortlessly steals all of his scenes.
There are some very effective scenes here notably the fateful card game and the fatal duel. The film looks wonderful and director Edouard Niermans has done a pretty good job. No one does costume drama better than the French but one is left with the feeling that the makers have played it safe here and missed a chance to give us a film of more substance.
Casanova's animosity in the novella towards Voltaire is also absent here but there is a line of Voltaire's which suits Casanova's predicament very well and is certain to strike a chord with us all: "We die not once but twice, and the insufferable death is when our time for loving ends."
