Charlie Casanova

I heard about this film simply because Emmett J Scanlan is my favorite actor, and as an actor myself I like to watch every type of film I can possibly find. It was just a bonus really that I found one with him in it. I waited a year and a half to see this film because of where it was being shown before it was released on DVD, and it was well worth my wait. I think that some people are focusing too much on the budget details. The story line was interesting and intense, the script was amazing and the performance from Emmett was just flawless. I would recommend this film to everyone and anyone. Charlie Casanova has an intense feel to it all the way through it, and you don't know how it's going to pan out. So, if you're the type who like predictable, not very well thought out films, don't watch it. If you like original story lines, intelligent and performances like no other, then get this film! There is no other film like this and I think it was harshly judged by some. Whether you love it or hate it, you have to admit, the story is like no other. Absolute perfection for me.

Hands down the best and most interesting Irish film I've ever seen,I never thought that something so completely original could be created from the emerald isle. Right from the start i was floored,i thought it was going to wain due to my preconceptions but it only got better. Charlie is the depiction of unchecked ego,something most of the planet knows by now.A deleterious sham of a human who believes that words matter more than action,that perception can be fueled to the point of plausibility no matter what the circumstance. His world comes undone but no consequence follows which seems appropriate considering how the elite need only circumvent,using language and our expectations,the question of responsibility and reflection to continue their grip on position and control. I'll refrain from waxing lyrical on this most amazing work,Watch it!!!

Ignore all other reviews,If you are interested in an original voice no matter what the medium,this is for you.

Up to the point of me getting along to the Irish Film and Television Academy premiere of Charlie Casanova, the hype had been immense, much to the credit of Writer, Director and Producer, Terry McMahon, who kept pushing forward with his challenging, and yes, abrasive exploration of morality. Not just talking the talk of controversy for the sake if it, he has created a piece of independent, Irish cinema that we have not seen before, and will, I certainly believe, elevate to cult status for future generations to dissect, critique and quote from. And it seems, Terry's incredible gift as a writer, as well as his tenacity, is paying off. To the right of him, there is the camp of fans that love the film with such enthusiasm, that collectively, they have become a major marketing tool in spreading the word. And to the left of him, the ones who hate the film; don't get it, walk out on it, fear it, or simply can't understand what the hell this character is on about. Whatever their feelings, they are still managing to generate just as much hype!

Terry describes his film as being a fractured narrative about a fractured man with a fractured mind. His description is very appropriate, and it got me wondering as to how many of his audience would go home with fractured thoughts of their own! As a film-goer, my quest, for ninety minutes or so, is to empathize, to live vicariously through another life, to walk in their shoes as I re-imagine through the writings of another. Why then, as I settled in to watch this movie, could I not shake an annoying discomfort? I did not like Charlie from the get go, but he's a sociopath, so that's a no-brainer! And kudos to Emmet J Scanlon for his skill of transformation; from a well-heeled, over-educated, arrogant, yet strangely charismatic man, to a dangerous, viscerally ugly psychopath, and with such unrelenting realism that I truly believed the madness that was unfolding behind his eyes.

Leaving Charlie aside however, I could feel no empathy for any of the other characters. I did not like his wife, her responses to Charlie irritated me. Same for his friends, couples themselves in different forms of crisis. Why were they all so trusting of Charlie, so easily led by him? It irked me, a lot! So what the hell was I still sitting there for, in a cold, half-filled cinema, as the director said himself, for an hour and half of my life that I'll never get back? What kept me hooked? Yes, I got it, the subtext and metaphor that Terry has spoken of many times, his reflection on society, and how, as a nation, we have allowed previous governments, without accountability, to kick the shite out of us, the immorality, and amorality of the continued criminalization of the poor, the very fabric of 'family' constantly under attack, and how we, as a society, continue to allow it, with no consequences and very few raised voices. So, in the thematic knowing of the piece, why was I feeling a tad troubled, yet compelled enough to stay on for the final gut-wrenching scene? (Even if it does end with the hauntingly beautiful and pure lament of Damien Dempsey!)

The answer? FEAR…the recognition of the trait that ironically, was the reason I so disliked the characters in Charlie's life. So here's my tuppence worth of fractured thought, brought to the fore by the menace to society that is Charlie Casanova. Terry made reference to the fact that the characters in the film needed to be in their thirties, because to be older, they would have experienced the Ireland of the eighties, and therefore, they would have known too much. Through the decades of the boom, a large proportion of the current middle classes (now the hidden poor, in many cases) have come from the working classes of that decade, as indeed, did Charlie's people, so for me, the nail on the head has been truly hammered, and perhaps is where my own discomfort came from. In knowing too much from our past experiences, we can hardly bear to see it happening again. Even though it is happening. And if we cannot bear it, then we cannot face it, and so we bury the unease and carry on, minding our own and protecting what we have left with a societal and political lethargy that keeps that hammer raining down on us. And of our future, and that of our children, we blindly trust the universe, and get up each morning to salvage what hope we have left. Yes, we are fractured, as is our nation, but even in fear, it is the man and woman who get back up every day, get the kids to school and get on with their crappy paid and taxed-to-the-hilt jobs, who will keep that hope alive; but in the doing of the active citizen, the fear of change, and of fear itself, will also continue to thrive…

Footnote: I was recently at a writer's event, where Terry, in his unique delivery, and I paraphrase here, stated that some people would like his film and some wouldn't, and if they didn't, F***k them! I have to admit, the comment riled me up. If I didn't like it, then it would be right back at him.

I DID like the film, very much, so f**k you anyway, Terry!

http://carolinefarrell.wordpress.com/2011/11/

I've been a bit vocal in my urging for people to go and watch this film, purely as I feel that someone with the balls to make a movie for under a grand deserves to have their film noticed. Still, though, after finally getting to see it, I think that it could have been much more. Instead, could someone please explain to me how something so recent can feel like it has aged so terribly?

It felt dated like a late 80's TV play that may once have had something, but the years have worn away at its impact. A real shame, as with a little more care and attention, there could have been so much more power. Whilst I have nothing but admiration for McMahon's punk rock take on the "let's do the show right here" ethos, I just wish that the final result had been as powerful as his post-festival-screening campaign to divide the viewers and rile the critics.

The script had some wonderful moments, admittedly, but for my tastes came over a little stagy in places. However, despite this, Emmett Scanlan's delivery and performance were very deserving of all the accolades that have since come his way. Terry McMahon definitely has a way with actors, and gets the best out of his cast. Unfortunately his direction appears to be more towards what the cast do, and less to what we actually see in the frame. In the hands of another director, there may have been a different outcome - dialogue-heavy scripts are not always stagy, and can often provide an electric energy when combined with intense visuals (just look at the early films of Andrzej Zulawski for great examples of this). Perhaps it was due to budgetary constraints after all, but then again wasn't that one of 'Charlie Casanova's big selling points? Did adopting the punk ethic unwittingly sap it of all its punk energy?.

Maybe if the funding had come Terry's way before shooting, then this film might have delivered tenfold, with a little more time and a little more care. I've no doubt whatsoever that Terry McMahon is a great writer, and has a gift for directing actors. I'm sure that one day he will also be able to add great filmmaker to that list, and will one day make a film that delivers on all its promises. It's just a shame that this wasn't it. It could have been, and I really wish it had been...

The only true reaction one can have after watching Charlie Casanova is a neutral reaction. You won't love it or hate it. A couple of moments will stick in your head. One moment in the picture is hilarious. You will however feel duped. You will feel duped because the film is talking to your head and not to your head, heart,gut and lets just say some other places.

Charlie Casanova - The Emotional Experience (Take Two) Charlie Casanova must and I mean must be seen for a second time. Once you watch it again the female and male characters make more emotional sense and their own personal situations are heartbreaking and gut wrenching. Of course your heart won't break but the dams of your eyes will.

Like all great films; "Charlie" is a sensual experience - it uses the senses well. The use of sound and silence is used quite well in the film. The attention to detail of male/female behaviours is well brought out.

People will highlight certain scenes to champion "Charlie" but as always like "Midnight Cowboy" the scene after the famous scene will be the most memorable. Moments of female anquish and male chameleon contorsions will be bypassed as secondary on first viewing "Charlie" but like cream, will rise to the top on the second viewing and will emotionally stun you. This puppy was stunned by the male chameleon contorsions first time round and was emotionally floored by the female anquish scene the second time round. I had to pause the screen.

Charlie is the joker in a joker society and we love the joker. The joker has replaced the royalty but the joker is taking royalty payments.

We desire the joker and want to be the joker and that is cool but we need to infuse the joker with wisdom, charisma and intelligence in that order to free us from the sexual insanity that is trashing our bodies and our minds.