Heath Ledger
is the famous lover, trying to escape the law while wooing a feminist (Sienna
Miller) in Venice. With snappy dialogue and a revisionist plot making use of a
mistaken-identity premise, it may remind you of a lesser Shakespeare in Love.
In an odd coincidence, Heath Ledger will be playing both a
gay cowboy and a famous lothario, possibly in the same multiplex. Casanova’s
introduced here stealing away from a nunnery, having apparently seduced most of
the occupants. Only a hastily arranged marriage can save him from some rather
draconian morality laws that they seem to have had in Venice back in the day
(the 1700s), even though hardly anyone in town pays them any mind. And only
winning over his true love (Sienna Miller) can save him from the hastily arranged
marriage.
Casanova appeals to the belief—fantasy, some would say— that
the promiscuous man is only wanting for a woman who is his equal before
settling down. Ideally, the woman should be so smart and industrious that she
herself appears virginal. So it is with Miller’s character, who has been
writing feminist treatises under a pseudonym. She has no time for a notorious
floozy like Casanova, so he too pretends to be somebody else. A certain
amount of comedy ensues, aided by Oliver Platt (wearing a fat suit) as a
visiting businessman being conned by both of them. Like director Lasse
Hallström’s previous Chocolat, it’s a period film whose heroine has a
rather modern sensibility that gets her in trouble. And like that film, it’s a
big fluffy fairy tale more than a historical drama (though the filming was on
location). It reminded me of Shakespeare in Love in feel, perhaps in
part because an uncredited Tom Stoppard, that film’s writer, supposedly
polished up some of the dialogue. Overall, I found it a bit familiar, but it’s
worth a look if you find the premise amusing.
circulated via email 12/22/05 and posted online 9/20/13
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