Casanova

The legendary libertine comes to life in this mammoth, late silent French production, resurrected by the Cinemathéque François and restored to its original brilliance, complete with hand tinted costumes and fireworks in the climactic festival scenes. The panoramic location photography and lavish re-creation of decadent 18th century Venice make the film a visually spectacular, picaresque epic, following the title character through various chases, rescues, romantic liaisons, and hairbreadth escapes, spanning the continent from Italy to Russia and back again. With his athletic build and hypnotic gaze (the better to make women swoon) the celebrated lover is made to resemble, at least physically, an odd cross between Buster Keaton and Bela Lugosi's Dracula, but by the end of the film he is transformed from an indulgent ne'er-do-well into a charming and, at times, heroic scoundrel. Variations of the same story have been told many times since, but never with such energy or style.

Ivan Mosjoukine is an odd specimen of early movie stardom. He can be handsome or grotesque, quirky or intense. Another reviewer described him as a combination of Buster Keaton and Bela Lugosi, and it's hard to come up with a better descriptor. Regardless, he was a major talent of the 1920s and his films are always worth seeking out.

CASANOVA might not be the most high brow of his oeuvre. It's a spectacle first and foremost, tossing its ne'er do-well hero from one amorous escapade to the next. Clocking at almost three hours, one might be tempted to think this souffle of a film overstays its welcome, but the action keeps moving so quickly and the visuals are so sumptuous that the time flies. Mosjoukine acquits himself well as the mischievous lady killer, coming off as both opportunistic and weirdly guileless in the elegant but dangerous world of 18th century Europe.

Flicker Alley recently put this one out on blu-ray and DVD, so if you're a silent film buff, I would definitely grab a copy while you can!

'Casanova' shows Mosjoukine at his most light-hearted - like the great artist he was, he makes everything seem easy. This movie is episodic in structure, almost like a collection of short stories. Casanova bounces from one adventure to another, going from Venice to Austria to Russia and finally back to Venice again, and always in the service of women, as he puts it in a letter to a man he's good-naturedly robbed. In the end, all his romancing catches up with him, and he's forced to choose between two women - the scene where they both confront him reminds me a little of Moliere's Dom Juan, though Mosjoukine's Casanova is far more innocent. He delights in tricking and robbing men, especially the pompous and undeserving, but the moment he realizes that he has hurt a woman, his heart is crushed, and he surrenders to his enemies. Mosjoukine always demonstrates great sensitivity to women and I think this is at the root of his only unconvincing moment in the film. When he meets a young girl who is disguised as a boy, he's just too aware of her as a woman to be able to play the role of someone who's fooled into thinking that he's dealing with another man. But apart from this, Mosjoukine's performance is flawless. Rudolf Klein-Rogge, as the half-mad Czar Peter, is also brilliantly funny, marching around barking orders for his soldiers to recover from typhoid, and complaining that the business of state keeps distracting him from his fat, plain mistress. He also accomplishes the rare feat of upstaging Mosjoukine in their one scene together, when Casanova gives the Czar a manicure, and where they play off each other like a seasoned comedy team. Their by-play is so natural, and almost under the radar (the scene is mostly filmed in a kind of medium long shot, not at all focusing on them), it makes me think that they might have been ad-libbing. Klein-Rogge is obviously very comfortable playing comedy, and it would have been nice to see him do more in this vein. The music by Georges Delerue for the restoration of 'Casanova' is perfectly suited to the light-hearted freedom of the piece, and makes the whole experience a joy.

"Casanova" (1927) is absolutely from start to finish a complete romp and a hoot. Starring Ivan Mosshukhin in the titular rôle, along with a huge cast of ladies, including Suzanne Bianchetti, Diana Karenne, Jenny Jugo, Rina De Liguoro, and many others, plus great extra character actors such as Rudolf Klein-Rogge, this is the supposed biography (read "fantasy") of the 18th century rake Giacomo Casanova. Some will find Mosshukhin's rendition somewhat too old for the actor, or his gaze a little perturbing, but overall he acquits himself very well. The star, even the story, are all secondary to the immense sets, the gorgeous scenery, the pomp, the circumstance, some of which is the finest I've ever seen in any film, silent or sound! The scene where Queen Catherine of Russia is led into her hall at a ball for her inauguration as Czaress, and those with her behind are carrying her robe train is incredible!! Her train must be thirty or thirty five feet long, and it's wide, a huge and heavy train. It's a marvelous and beautifully filmed episode.

This is the fairly recently restored version, now available through Flicker Alley. The IMDb says the film is 132 minutes long. This version is 159 minutes, and I guarantee that it seems it. Not to quibble, but I had to divide my viewing over two nights.

Certainly recommended for those who wish to be enthralled in a silent film that has so much to offer. It's light-heartedness completely charms, though the length sometimes makes one wonder if it will ever end. Go for it!

CASANOVA is yet another one of those European silent films I had heard and read about but never had had the opportunity to watch until now. Until 21st century digital techniques came along, it would have been impossible to see the movie outside of La Cinematique Francaise and even then it wouldn't have looked as it does in this incredible restoration. Especially dazzling are the Venice Carnival sequences at the end of the movie which features the original hand stenciled colors which were preserved and enhanced. In addition, a brand new orchestral score has been commissioned for this release, composed by Gunther A. Buchwald, which admirably suits the action and contains traces of Monteverdi and Vivaldi.

The settings are sumptuous and the costumes are lavish so it's quite evident no expense was spared by the filmmakers in turning this story of the famous lover into a major epic. The scenes set in Saint Petersburg at the ascension of Catherine the Great are especially noteworthy and then there's the one and only Rudolf Klein-Rogge (METROPOLIS, DR MABUSE) as Catherine's husband, the mad Czar Peter III. Unfortunately in trying to create an epic CASANOVA, director Alexandre Volkoff allows certain scenes to go on for too long which caused my interest to lag from time to time. At 240 minutes this epic easily could have been a half-an-hour shorter.

Lead actor Ivan Mosjoukine, a Russian emigre' from the Russian Revolution like director Volkoff, had already made his mark in French cinema during the mid-1920s, having been the star of several films for their company Films Albatros. Several of those films can be found in an earlier Flicker Alley release from 2013 entitled FRENCH MASTERWORKS: RUSSIAN EMIGRES IN PARIS 1924-1929, a set that I can highly recommend. I also highly recommend CASANOVA for the sets, the costumes and the performances although, as mentioned earlier, the movie runs a bit long. Still it's a remarkable experience for fans of silent movies and deserves to be seen...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.