Casanova

It's something that aired in England in 2005, only 3 episodes, so it makes for a movie instead of a TV show...

My one sentence review would be: David Tennant minus clothes plus a lot of sex equals a dream come true (almost)!

Unfortunately, that's not all it is, so I thought I'd give a more proper review, Unit style....


Through flash-backs, a world-weary Casanova retells the story of his life at the behest of a young star-struck scullery maid called Edith.

We see snippets of Casanova's life as a shy (and apparently mute) boy, neglected by a mother who abandons him to seek her own fame and fortune. Young Casanova's first sexual experience, with a slightly older cleaning girl, is the first time we hear him speak, with shouts of excitement.

Then we move forward to the life of Casanova as a young adult. Having seen something of the world, he tries to join the world of the Venetian nobility, only to be shunned as the peasant and impostor he plainly is. At this point he meets Henriette, a coquette who tells Casanova how to succeed in the aristocratic world. She tells him to trust no one, and then proves her point by stealing his purse containing all his money.

Taking her advice, Casanova strives to endear himself to high society by learning whatever he can on virtually every subject, becoming a doctor, lawyer, astrologer, musician, etc., to appear to be a man-of-the-world. To help in the illusion, he hires Rocco, who is seen escaping from an angry husband after a tryst with the man's wife. At the least, this makes him an equal in Casanova's eyes, and he hires him as a servant. Through his studies, Casanova is convincing enough to fool the nobility, and he earns a place among them. Then, through a threesome with two sisters who have, ironically, seduced him, the young Casanova learns what women want in a relationship with men.

Henriette gets engaged to a ruthless but rich, nobleman called Grimani. Casanova, meanwhile, is smitten by a singer, Bellino, said to be a castrato, but who he is sure is a woman, although he/she denies it. Henriette encourages Casanova to find love wherever he can, even if it's with a man, so he runs into the arms of Bellino, only to find that 'he' has, in fact, been a woman all along! The two spend the night together, Casanova proposes marriage, and she accepts. After Henriette agrees to marry Grimani, Casanova and Bellino throw a grand ball with the last of Casanova's hard-earned or ill-gotten gains. Henriette and Grimani are among the guests, and Bellino catches Henriette and Casanova exchanging signals across the ballroom, clearly enjoying these not-so-secretive moments. Realizing that Casanova's heart truly belongs to Henriette, Bellino tells Casanova that he is not meant to be married and sends Casanova back into Henriette's arms by changing partners during a dance. Henriette and Casanova run outside, where she tells him of her impoverished background and her determination never to return to poverty, even if it meant marrying a man she didn't love.

Penniless, without either of the women in his life, and feeling his world crashing down around him, Casanova seeks to purge himself by confessing his sins, only to give his priest confessor a near-fatal heart attack from the tales of his bawdy escapades. When the doctors are called to tend to the dying priest, they prescribe leeches, blood letting, tongue removal, and other horrors. Casanova chases away the quacks at gunpoint and personally attends to the priest, nursing him back to full health. The grateful (and aristocratic) priest adopts Casanova, giving him both a title and an inheritance, and Casanova rushes to Henriette, removes Grimani's engagement ring from her finger, replacing it with his own. Without even looking at the ring, she accepts, and they are married by the priest. Unhappily, they will never consummate their love, as the insanely jealous Grimani barges in with a gang of constables, having arranged for Casanova to be arrested on a long list of trumped-up charges, including adultery, larceny, and espionage (earlier, Casanova had toyed with Grimani by pretending to be a spy). The judge sentences Casanova to an escape-proof, Venetian prison. There, his faithful servant Rocco visits Casanova and informs him that Grimani has cowed the now-disgraced Henriette into marrying him. Later that evening, imagining the two being wedded in a chapel, an enraged Casanova breaks one of the cell's wooden beams and hurls it at the wall and the ceiling, where it breaks through the thin roof of the prison. He climbs out and vows to make things right, though he is now, once again, penniless and without even the priest's entitlement.

presently, back at Castle Dux, where the older Casanova is told by Edith the scullery maid (who claims to be of noble birth herself) that Henriette may still be alive.

The aged Casanova is exhausted after spending the day recounting events of his youth to the young, star struck, scullery maid, Edith, but, at her repeated behests, he continues his story.

Escaping from the Venetian prison from which he had been imprisoned on various trumped-up charges by Count Grimani, the young Casanova flees Venice, a fugitive, along with Rocco, his servant and friend.

The priest, whose life Casanova had saved and who then made Casanova an heir to his fortune, is unable to help with more than just a little money, because the bank had frozen his assets. The Priest, believing that paternity may make Casanova a better person, introduces Casanova to the 10 year old son he didn't know existed. Much like Casanova at his age, the boy does not speak, but we can see pain underneath the boy's stoic surface.

Together, Casanova, Rocco, and the boy, who Casanova names "Jack" after his own first name, Giaccomo, leave for Paris.

Calling himself the "Chevalier de Saint-Gault", he tries to speak to the Venetian ambassador to France in order to get a pardon. During a whirlwind gala, he meets with Bellino, the woman he fell in love with in her previous guise as a castrato singer. We see her with a young girl who turns out to be her daughter by Casanova, but she doesn't inform Casanova of the girl. The French discover Casanova's true identity, and throw him out of the party.

Desperate for funds, Casanova convinces a French government official to start a Lottery with Casanova getting a ten percent royalty on all tickets sold. The lottery proves to be wildly popular among the masses, and very soon, Casanova finds himself very rich.

He learns that his beloved Henriette has had a child by her husband, the Count Grimani, and he realizes that she would never risk the children's welfare by leaving Grimani for him.

In his new palatial mansion, Casanova tries, in vain, to impress Jack with stories of his conquests and accomplishments. But he never engages with the boy, nor does he try to get the boy to speak about himself. Meeting with minor aristocrats in his gardens, they witness the grisly torture and execution of a prisoner (it is never explained why the prisoner was brought to Casanova's manor). While the guests watch the off-screen spectacle with a mixture of awe and excitement, Casanova is repulsed by it. To his dismay, he sees that his son, Jack, smiles for the very first time while watching the horrifying display.

When French Revolutionists kill all his aristocratic friends, Casanova sees the writing on the wall, and, as a plot to avoid execution, forces himself to lose his entire fortune and mansion to gambling. Once again penniless, he is forced to flee France with Rocco and his now-teenage son.

They travel to Britain, where, upon disembarking at a British dock, Casanova sees a familiar woman and runs after her, shouting, "Henriette". Sure enough, it turns out to be his beloved, who is on a France-bound ship.

Beside her are two children, a boy and a girl. Through hand gestures, they express their mutual love. Casanova wonders why she was in Britain, and why she is leaving without any sign of her husband, Count Grimani.

Just as he did in France, he goes to the Venetian Ambassador to Britain, under a false British name and title, to seek a pardon. At a party, he discovers that the Ambassador is none other than Count Grimani, who threatens to extradite Casanova, but England has no extradition treaty with the Venetian Republic, so they sit and talk, sniping at each other.

With the little money they could get, Casanova rents a stately two-bedroom home and advertises for a female roommate (a prostitute by trade), in an attempt to start a scandal, playing to the gossip-loving British, and gain notoriety. Sure enough, he becomes the center of British attention; everyone wants to be near him to hear of his latest exploits, including the King of England, who Casanova meets at a very important affair, much to the dismay of Count Grimani. Casanova rebuilds his wealth, and flaunts it in the face of Grimani by taunting and emasculating him.

Grimani slaps Casanova, challenging him to a duel. The following morning, Casanova can't figure out why Grimani would take such an extreme measure.

After they take their twenty paces on the field of honor, Casanova realizes that Grimani truly loves Henriette, knowing she will never return that love while Casanova is alive. Distraught and in tears, Grimani points the gun to his own head. A sympathetic Casanova tells Grimani that he can help win Henriette's love, and fires in the air as a goodwill gesture. Grimani then shoots Casanova in the hand, telling him that he purposely arranged the duel to be on the King's land, thus making it a capital offense. Bleeding and in agony, Casanova is forced to leave London with Rocco and Jack. They meet a gruff, commanding nurse who brings the now in-shock Casanova to a seemingly abandoned manor. It belongs to a vacationing baron who is a friend of the nurse, but he is not her employer.

We're not told the name of the friend nor the name of her employer, who, apparently, has purposely arranged for Casanova to be tended. Jack, left alone to wander the manor, maliciously knocks over a vase. When he wanders into Casanova's room, Jack takes sadistic pleasure in squeezing Casanova's bandaged, still tender, hand, even as Casanova screams in pain. We never see anyone come to Casanova's aid. Later, as the nurse leaves, we learn that she was in Henriette's employ, and though we see both women in the carriage; the scene may be designed to convey that Casanova may be in a post-injury hallucination, but we are not told one way or the other for certain.

Returning to the "present", the maid, Edith, professes that she wants to lose her virginity to the old Casanova, who rails at her for wanting the legend rather than the man. She discovers that Casanova is in failing health. At the same time, a letter bearing a wax seal with the letter 'G', for "Grimani", embossed into it arrives at their mutual employer's home.

Edith secretly reads it. She brings Casanova medicine, but does not tell him about the letter, even though Casanova was sure that he heard the postal carriage. She changes the subject by demanding that Casanova finish the story, where we find that Casanova has healed, but Rocco has died of a cold in Casanova's arms.

Over the years of financial gains and losses, Casanova and his now young adult son wind-up in Naples, seeking the hotel room he had arranged for some time ago, only to find that the city is mostly abandoned due to the threat of the nearby Vesuvius volcano, whose clouds of sulfuric gas enshroud the city. A well-dressed young woman on a horse beckons him and Jack to follow her to an apparently wealthy home, where a decadent party is being held. It turns out to be owned by Bellino. Jack and the girl make their way through the crowd, apparently heading for a tryst. Bellino takes Casanova to a private room where, taking snuff (cocaine), she says that she married a wealthy man who later died, and, she finally reveals that the girl who brought them is actually Casanova's twenty year old daughter. Realizing that the girl and his son are about to commit incest, he runs off to stop them. Finding them in a bedroom, surrounded by unemotional onlookers, Jack takes off most of the woman's clothes while staring at Casanova in defiance. Even after Casanova tells them of their relationship, neither seems to care to the point that Jack asks Casanova to join them. Casanova leaves them, in despair.

Back to the present, the old Casanova says he has no idea where his son is. In a sudden fit of remorse, he threatens to burn his years of writings in the fireplace, but he has a seizure. Edith pulls him away from the edge of the fire, but only after she has rescued the few pages that landed in the fire. She puts him into his bed and tends to him. She then burns the letter she had earlier read. It turns out to be from Henriette's adult son, telling Casanova that she has died of old age, and, even though the son didn't know about their relationship, he knew that Casanova was important to her. Delirious, the dying Casanova wonders where Henriette is. Edith exhorts him to get better, so that he can be well when Henriette "arrives". He is calmed by the thought of seeing Henriette, and as he slips off to a peaceful death, with a broad, happy smile on his face, Edith tearfully says, "She is here."

And it ends with a fanciful scene of a young Casanova and Henriette dancing on a deserted, gas-lit street to the strains of an unseen music box.

I must say... I fully enjoyed it! No complaints at all! In fact I can actually say I've learned from it... Excellent writing, awesome direction, beyond excellent actors, great overall story....

It can actually be seen on youtube! In 18 parts, sure, but totally worth it! I shall hand over part #1!