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| Casanova | 
 enlarge | Director: Lasse Hallstroem
Actors: Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, Lena Olin
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.99
Buy Used: $4.03
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Avg. Customer Rating:  92 reviews
Sales Rank: 4862
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 111
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.3
MPN: DISD40644D
UPC: 786936288858
EAN: 0786936288858
ASIN: B000EDWKXI
Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 2005
Release Date: April 25, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: ******USED, WE CLEAN AND SHRINKWRAP OUR USED PRODUCTS BEFORE SHIPPING***** ** Over 1.5 million orders shipped worldwide and more than 500 000 items in stock, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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Amazon.com
A light farce dressed up as a lush 18th century costume drama, Casanova gives a fictional spin to the exploits of history's most rakish seducer of women. As played by Heath Ledger, this Casanova bears no resemblance to Donald Sutherland's unrepentant portrayal in Fellini's Casanova, filmed 30 years earlier. Instead, the great ladies' man of Venice is just biding time by bedding women, waiting for true love (and the return his long-absent mother) to settle down into blissful monogamy. He finds true love in Francesca (Sienna Miller), a feminist who initially resists Casanova's affections while director Lasse Hallstroem serves up a variety of lightweight subplots including Casanova's flight from the Vatican's inquisitor (Jeremy Irons); a host of mistaken identities involving, among others, the portly "Lard King of Genoa" (played with scene-stealing perfection by Oliver Platt in a blubbery fat suit); and the romantic negotiations of Francesca's mother (played by Hallstroem's wife, Lena Olin) and a young bumbler named Giovanni with his own promising future as a lover of women. It all adds up to a good-looking and harmless diversion that barely warrants an R-rating, and it makes a fine double-bill with the more enjoyable Dangerous Beauty, another Venetian lover's tale that was also blessed by the presence of Platt, who gives this Casanova the majority of its entertainment value. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Heath ledger stars as the legendary casanova the worlds most notorious seducer a master of disguise and wit. It was said no woman could resist his amorous charms. But casanova has finally met his match in the fiery intelligent beauty francesca. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 01/11/2008 Starring: Heath Ledger Jeremy Irons Run time: 111 minutes Rating: R
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| Customer Reviews: Read 87 more reviews...
Casanova January 19, 2006
29 out of 39 found this review helpful
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.
Carry On Casanova July 11, 2006
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
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, July 10, 2006
 Stunning, Sexy, and Fun! January 8, 2006
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
What a fun romantic flick about the infamous womanizer, Giacomo Casanova. Gorgeous settings, exquisite customs, and lively music bring this wonderfully delightful story to life--not to mention the stellar cast! Heath Ledger stars, of course, with Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, Lena Olin, and I have to include Omid Djalili (a great comedian actor!). I'm not a big Heath Ledger fan, but I really like him in this movie--he definitely portrays the womanizer role very well. I guess "Casanova" is considered to be a 'chick flick,' but guys can get a real kick out of this movie, too. (Believe me. In the movie theater that I went to, the guys were bursting with laughter just as much as the girls were). As stated in the movie poster, this is: "A partially true story about lies told, virtue lost, and love found." I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for some great, light-hearted entertainment. Expect plenty of laughs!! Enjoy!
 Pretty but shallow version of Casanova December 17, 2006
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
Tonight, after reading serious books, and realizing that I needed something frothy, in went this film to the dvd player. And a story about history's most notorious lover and some of his escapades sounded like pretty harmless fun.
The film opens with a little boy watching as his mother (Helen McCrory) leaves him with his grandmother to join a lover in Venice. Tearfully, she promises him that when he needs her, she will join him.
Now we leap forward, to where the little boy has grown up into Giacomo Casanova (Heath Ledger), a fashionable young man without too much money, and who makes a habit of leaping out of bedroom windows. He's also in trouble with the Inquisition for his debauchery, and it's appearing that he's going a bit too far even for his friend, the Doge (Tim McInnerny), the leader of the city. The Doge, who actually likes our seducer, tells him that the best way to evade the Inquisition is to marry some modest young virgin and settle down a bit.
Casanova's servant, Lupo (Omad Djalili) also agrees -- the debts are mounting up, and the creditors hammering at the door. Considering a bit, Casanova settles on courting a very virginal, angelic little blonde, Victoria (Natalie Dormer), and it doesn't hurt either that her father is going to settle a nice, fat dowry on her.
But across the canal, is Giovanni Bruni (Charlie Cox), gazing continually at his heart's desire, Victoria. He's a rather inept, graceless young man, too shy to speak up for her. Besides, his family is penniless, as his mother Andrea (Lena Olin) reminds him continually, and the way out is for the daughter of the house, Francesca (Sienna Miller). Casanova has seen her before, as she's a lively one, eager to reform the lot of Venetian women, but she's also being forced to marry a merchant from Padua.
Casanova just can't be sensible and resist Francesca, who is eager to spurn him, and soon he's in a complicated courtship of both Victoria and Francesca, and it appears that everything is going well, that is until Rome sends a powerful bishop Pucci (Jeremy Irons), and the real betrothed, Paprizzio (Oliver Platt) shows up.
Casanova duels, debates, woos, and generally leaves mayhem in his wake. Will the right girl end up with the right guy, and Casanova escape the hangman's noose? Sadly for the viewer, we already know how things are going to turn out. There are last minute escapes, bawdy content that is more of a tease than anything else, and by the end I was happy to have the film be finished and over.
But there are several small things that kept this film going. For one, the music is from the period, with plenty of Vivaldi, Handel and Corelli, and the more modern stuff written by Alexandre Desplat. The costumes are perfect, and correct for the 1750's, and downright breathtaking at times, along with authentic Venetian masks. But the best part of this film was that it was filmed on location in Venice, something that can't be recreated on a soundstage or in CGI. That's the real star of this film, and the only successful part of the movie.
Along with the charming piglets (credited as Bimba!) and Paprizzio's barge.
It's a very confusing film at times. Lasse Hallstrom's direction is fine, and pretty straightforward, with plenty of gorgeous scenery. But the plot is so confusing and there are so many players to keep track of that there's not really anything that gives any depth. Along with all that, the film falls completely apart at the end, with far too much use of deus ex machina and some truly stupid stunts -- one in particular make me wince, as anyone who actually tried to do that would be singing soprano for the rest of their days. Finally, there is one very glaring anachronism in this, with the balloon rising over the canals of Venice and modern fireworks. The first manned balloon flight wouldn't take place for another twenty or so years, and that at Versailles at the court of Louis XVI.
So if you don't mind a film that comes down heavy on the silly side, but is gorgeous to look at, this should amuse for an hour or so. In fact, I was more intrigued by the additional features on the dvd -- there are featurettes on the locations, costume design, an extended scene that should have been included in the film and not on the cutting room floor, a 'making of', and an audio commentary from the director. Additional languages include Spanish and French alternate audio tracks, subtitling in English, Spanish and French.
Curiously, this film got an R rating for the sexual content, where you actually don't see anything happening, just a prostitute acting coy, several naked legs in a brothel, and one very brief bit at the begining with Casanova in bed with a lover. You'd see more in most PG-13 films nowadays, so parents, use your own judgements.
Somewhat recommended, say three and a half stars. Let's just call it three and leave it at that.
Romping at the Ridotto March 6, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
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.
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