Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Fellini's Casanova Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 21, 2015

Federico Fellini's "Casanova" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Mr. Bongo Films. There are no supplemental features on this release. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the Italian track. Region-Free.

The great seducer

Federico Fellini's Casanova is a dark, at times notably disturbing film. It chronicles the deeds of the famous Italian seducer after he is captured and thrown in prison on accusations of heresy and witchcraft. In 1977, the film won Oscar Award for Best Costume Design (Danilo Donati) as well as David Award for Best Music (Nino Rota) at the David di Donatello Awards (the Italian Academy Awards).

The film opens up with Giacomo Casanova's (Donald Sutherland) arrest -- he has been sentenced by the almighty Inquisition. A confident, borderline arrogant man is escorted to a gloomy cell. He is slowly stripped of his clothes and locked up. As the prison guard walks away, Casanova begs to be freed but his plea is rejected.

Eventually, Casanova manages to escape the prison. He begins wandering Europe's most exciting cities where he encounters a number of fascinating characters. He seduces Angelina the Giantess (played by Sandra Elaine Allen, once the world's tallest woman), Rosalba the Mechanical doll (Leda Lojodice), the famous Dr. Moebius's (Mario Cencelli) daughters (Olimpia Carlisi and Silvana Fusacchia), and the old but lustful Marquise d'Urfe (Cicely Browne). Casanova even beds a nun when he secretly visits the great city of Venice. At one point, he also crosses paths with the legendary Don Juan. The film ends on a deceivingly upbeat note with a very interesting message.

Fellini's Casanova is a film critics love to argue about. Some have claimed that it is a despicably exploitative work in which excess and human degradation are used for no other reason but to scandalize; others have defended it as an impressive dark satire on the fallacies of human nature.

What Fellini attempted to accomplish with Casanova, however, is perhaps a bit of both. As expected, his imagination runs wild and, occasionally, the film entertains themes that are simply impossible to fully rationalize. But do they have to be? After all, Fellini’s films aestheticized perversity and art by merging them together and promoting them as a form of culture that does not need to be defined by conventional logic.

What makes the film so fascinating to behold is precisely the fact that it is impossible to decode its message. Fellini constantly plays with one’s expectations and in the process carefully blurs the fine line that separates the logical from the illogical. So the sooner one realizes it, the easier it becomes to appreciate his vision. (The basic idea behind Fellini Satyricon is the same, though everything, from the narrative to the visuals, is moved to an entirely different level).

The cast is fantastic. Sutherland delivers a career-defining performance as Casanova. The numerous unprofessional actors are also impressive. The little known at the time Lojodice, for example, who plays the lusty mechanical doll, is incredible.

Fellini and Giuseppe Rotunno shot the entire film inside Cinecitta studios in Rome. More than 200 technicians assisted multiple Oscar-winning production and designer Danilo Donati (Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom, Caligula).

Fellini's Casanova Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Casanova arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Mr. Bongo Films.

The release appears to have been sourced from the same master which French label Carlotta Films worked with back in 2008 when they prepared their first release of Casanova. The age of the master now clearly shows, but I think that it is still a pretty good one. Obviously, a new 2K or 4K master (such as the one Criterion used for Satyricon) will produce much better results, but the current presentation is vastly superior to any previous DVD releases of the film. Generally speaking, well-lit close-ups tend to look quite nice. Clarity, in particular, can be very pleasing. Depth, however, is slightly inconsistent. During the darker footage it is easy to see that shadow definition can be a lot more convincing. Colors stability is good, but there is should be a wider range of healthier color nuances. Grain is visible throughout the entire film, but it is as well distributed and defined as it should be. Obviously, this is one of the most obvious limitations of the current master, but the encoding could have been optimized better. In fact, it is why it appears that on this release small portions of the film actually look slightly softer than they do on the old French release. Overall image stability is good. There are a few tiny specks that pop up here and there, but there are no large damage marks, cuts, stains, or torn frames. All in all, while there is obviously room for improvement, the current master is unquestionably the best one on the market. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. However, please be patient after you insert the disc in your player because it loads rather slowly).

Fellini's Casanova Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided only for the Italian track. (You could use them for the English track, but the phrasing isn't identical).

I viewed the film with the English track. Depth and clarity are very good. Some extremely small sync issues remain, but they are part of the film's original sound design. There is also some dynamic unevenness, but it is also inherited. (These 'issues' were introduced during the post-production overdubbing). If the audio is one day fully remastered, I assume that there will be some stabilizations and other minor improvements, but I am happy with the current presentation.

Fellini's Casanova Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.

Fellini's Casanova Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This recent Blu-ray release of Federico Fellini's Casanova from Mr. Bongo Films is good alternative for folks who could not take advantage of Carlotta Films' initial release, which is now out of print. It is sourced from the same master Carlotta Films worked with and it is Region-Free. Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features on it. If you can find it on sale, consider adding it to your collections. RECOMMENDED.