This highly entertaining masterpiece is now available on DVD (region 2). Admirers of writer Dennis Potter's other masterpieces, "The Singing Detective" and "Pennies from Heaven" (the British TV series, not the Hollywood remakes) should not hesitate to buy this long forgotten gem, which goes far beyond all the known clichés of Casanova to create a penetrating and intense portrayal of a man who is at one and the same time a prisoner of his obsessive desire and liberated by them. To achieve this, Potter has Casanova's time in a terrifying Venetian prison cell (just a few pages in his ten volume autobiography) form the center of the action, with flashbacks and flash-forwards to other episodes of his life. This jumping back and forth in time was new and experimental in 1971 and proved too much for audiences then, but it works brilliantly from today's point of view, creating suspense and adding new layers of meaning, just like it does in "The Singing Detective". Frank Finlay, once the Iago to Olivier's Othello, delivers the performance of a lifetime as the haunted hero, backed by a supporting cast of the usual British high caliber. Although it does show occasionally that this is a 1971 video production, as a whole it's quite simply beautiful to watch.
5 Reviews
Why isn't this available on DVD or ?!!!
lauramae23 March 2004
This was shown on KCET (LA's PBS affiliate) in the early Eighties. The production values and acting were excellent. I have part of it on tape. I loved this series on a lot of levels and wish that it was available on DVD or VHS.
Frank Finlay was outstanding in the title role. If you get the chance, watch this miniseries. It explores the sacred and profane, censorship and societal mores. It also follows the exploits of a sensualist scoundrel. Casanova may have been a sexual sociopath, but he had panache!
it was considered risque at the time of its production, but I've viewed my copy recently and it has traveled well. Watch it from "cover to cover" if you get the opportunity.
Frank Finlay was outstanding in the title role. If you get the chance, watch this miniseries. It explores the sacred and profane, censorship and societal mores. It also follows the exploits of a sensualist scoundrel. Casanova may have been a sexual sociopath, but he had panache!
it was considered risque at the time of its production, but I've viewed my copy recently and it has traveled well. Watch it from "cover to cover" if you get the opportunity.
Excellent production, spectacular cinematography, too racy for U.S. television in 1971/72
wmeyer8 February 1999
All the quality we have come to expect of BBC mini-series, and the production values are stunning. Cinematography was excellent, as was the acting. The networks were gunshy in north America, even PBS. I was working for a station in Toronto which bought the rights and ran it in prime time. The full frontal nudity got a fair bit of attention, but was tasteful, and never offensive.
PBS--release this on DVD!!!
lauramae5 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I have most of this miniseries on VHS. The players were all outstanding. It was great then, and it's traveled very well. Finlay's scoundrel is totally engaging. The nudity was scandalous at the time, but fairly tame in retrospect.
Venice in the 18th century was a paradox. The city was a center of commerce and art, a city-state. On the other hand, there was the Inquistion. Giacomo Cassanova pushed the envelope. He read the 'wrong' books, he reviled superstition, and he had an overwhelming, ahem, admiration for erotic liaisons. This series revolves around his walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the Leads and the things he did that brought him there. He survived the awful experience and lived to a ripe old age.
With the upcoming "Casanova Lite" at theaters, perhaps PBS will finally release this gem on DVD. We can only hope...
Venice in the 18th century was a paradox. The city was a center of commerce and art, a city-state. On the other hand, there was the Inquistion. Giacomo Cassanova pushed the envelope. He read the 'wrong' books, he reviled superstition, and he had an overwhelming, ahem, admiration for erotic liaisons. This series revolves around his walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the Leads and the things he did that brought him there. He survived the awful experience and lived to a ripe old age.
With the upcoming "Casanova Lite" at theaters, perhaps PBS will finally release this gem on DVD. We can only hope...
DVD available, need foreign player, U.S. release (hope for)
mchlanda-225 October 2004
To the person who asked if the above mentioned was available in video. It is, from Amazon.com, UK. The only problem is that it's playable only on foreign DVD players, as it's in the PAL format, not NTSC, for North America. Here's hoping one day that they'd make a version for sale in the U.S.. Hope it helps. It was certainly better than the "TV movie" with Richard Chamberlin (I think I might have his name wrong). They never showed it in St. Louis (as I had to see it as a fuzzy copy from a tv station in Illinois and I never got to see it all from the beginning). I would hope that when, and if, it would be released for sale, in the U.S., that they would release it in the full (uncut) version, as many times, they don't (as will feature films).
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