Casanova

Before Fellini and Comencini ,French director Jean Boyer made his own version of the famous heart-breaker's adventures .The credits read "from his memoirs".wells perhaps so.

The version which was released abroad is a 88 min digest.But actually the movie was released in theaters in two "Epoques" (= eras) :that was the term ,now obsolete,French producers used for "parts":for them it meant doubling receipts for people had to pay twice in the theaters;the two "eras" were generally released after an interval of about six months ;Le Chanois' s "les Miserables" followed the same pattern.

The complete version has a running time of three hours.So it features two "eras" : "the knight's adventures" and "mirages of hell" (sic).Though it is rather pleasant,the first part has a poor script,scenes add and amount to almost nothing.As Casanova is played by an operetta singer ,Georges Guétary , the audience is granted a song every ten minutes,and if Guétary is not exactly your cup of tea,well...As far as I'm concerned ,only "l'Oiseau En Cage" a classical aria (in the second part) is worth a listen.

The second part is more successful,although its title (mirages of hell) is a misnomer!The story is more linear ,and Boyer and Sauvageon effectively give spice to the story : Casanova as a medium is much fun.So is the parrot repeating "Coraline is a whore!" which the aforementioned Coraline has to buy for an arm and a leg (it is reportedly said that Louis the Fourteenth's lover,Madame de Montespan had also one of these gentle pets which knew some dirty words)for fear it might tarnish her reputation.

The movie remains very chaste ;even the kisses are modest.Average-to-good quality of the pictures.

No.Fellini's work is not a remake.