Casanova

Today is a quick film review, which I’m usually not moved to do, but anything to keep from heading to the field any earlier than I have to. (I’m a bad farmer.)

“Casanova” with the late Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller has been out since 2005, but I finally watched it yesterday, along with the special features, and wow. It’s a romp through Venice, shot entirely on location, and an interesting take on the Casanova myth. It seems to do a fair job of showing the two images of Venetian women, the closeted wilting flowers, and the bold. Venetian women, I believe, were among the most educated women of the period, but were cloistered away in the house, waiting for a man to rap on the door and make her father an offer of marriage to his daughter based on her wealth and purported beauty. (Of course, the rumors say that most rich women are gorgeous, so the wallet can do the thinking as well as anatomy lower down.)

The movie itself has quite a bit of CG that gets distracting on occasion, but the acting and comedic timing is great, so it’s historical fiction with a flair for the comedic, both physical comedy and comedy of manners and mistaken identity. It’s sort of like Shakespeare’s “A Comedy of Errors” meets eighteenth century, including the cross-dressing. Overall, I’d recommend it to those that enjoy period movies and British comedy, but it’s easy enough to understand (none of that complicated Dickens and co. language) that those who like sumptuous movie sets and romantic comedy will enjoy it as well.

Oh, and don’t miss the scene with the pig.

Psyching up to spend the next 2-3 days raking and baling. Ugh.