Review: Fellini's 'Casanova' Looks Fantastic in a Blu-ray Restoration From Kino Lorber

2020 commemorated legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini's 100th birthday (he died in 1993 at age 73). Criterion released Essential Fellini in November, a lavish box set of 14 of the master's films, including his most famous, "La Strada," "La Dolce Vita" and "8 �."

Not included in the collection is his divisive 1976 film, "Fellini's Casanova," which Kino Lorber has restored and released, after years of only imports and bootlegs being available.

Fellini takes the figure of the infamous 18th century lothario Casanova and dissects and destroys it by painting a portrait that scathingly pokes fun at his vanity and potency via an often-grotesque cinematic presentation that is filled with cartoonish artifice and a debauched, circus-like pomp (Fellini-esque perved up a few notches and satirically bastardized).

The episodic, non-linear plot, freely adapted from Casanova's actual autobiography, journeys into the Venetian's erotic adventures while also briefly touching on his arrest and confinement on religious and decency (or lack thereof) grounds. (He escaped). Most of the rest of the film features his sexual escapades with various women, with the love/sex scenes filmed in a deliberately mechanical and borderline silly manner, absent any sexiness or sensuality.

From a randy nun to the tallest woman in the world to a mechanical doll, Casanova fucks them all with a forceful, borderline indifferent defiance–as if he's competing in the Olympics.

Fellini's star here is Donald Sutherland, a curious choice until you realize just how subversive the auteur is being. Sutherland manages to imbue this particular Casanova with all of the necessary ego, minus any real sense of adoration or desire for the women he beds.

Sutherland doesn't get enough credit for his risk-taking body of work and, oddly, has never been nominated for an Oscar. His output in the 1970s is of particular note, with eclectic turns in films as diverse as "M*A*S*H," "Klute," "Don't Look Now," and "The Day of the Locust." Here, he is captivating, if a bit at odds with his surroundings.

Incidentally, Fellini seems to have a fascination with Sutherland's profile, which is accentuated – and not in a flattering way – by a prosthetic nose and chin. It's quite stunning in its own hideous way.

I do appreciate what Fellini is ambitiously doing here; alas, the film is not all that much fun to watch. It's fascinating to a point, since the visuals and costumes are magnificent, but at a running time of 155 minutes, the film grates on one's nerves – something I haven't found in most of the auteur's other work.

The opening sequence features a huge, crowned woman's head being raised in a canal near the Rialto Bridge in Venice during a Festival. (Fellini dreamt about it and then made it part of his film.) The bust is partially raised and then sinks, which upsets the crowd since it's seen as a bad omen. The moment is a metaphor for the life of Casanova, but may also be seen as a warning about the film itself.

A word on the audio: For many decades it was customary for foreign films to be dubbed into English when they played in the U.S. Italian filmmakers were particularly notorious for not caring about lip sync or consistency of language. They would often hire actors from different countries and have them speak in their native tongues, and then use different actors to dub the voices in post, which could prove most jarring. For "Casanova," Fellini decided the film would be in English and most of the actors speak English, with some off-putting disconcerting dubbing exceptions, making it all the stranger since our protagonist is, after all, Italian! (an Italian track is also offered, with English subtitles, if you want to hear Sutherland not sound like Sutherland.)

The film, with locations that span Europe, looks fantastic on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray restoration release with the Oscar-winning costumes particularly popping. The DTS-HD audio mishmash of post-dubbed voices (noted above) is somewhat confounding, but the score by the great Nino Rota sounds terrific.

Strangely, "Casanova" was also nominated for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Fellini and Bernardino Zapponi). You have to wonder what acid the writing body of the Academy dropped to single the meandering script out.

A full-length audio commentary is provided by Nick Pinkerton, who gives us a nice lesson in the history of the real Casanova and some terrific anecdotes. It's a truly worthy track.

The trailer is also featured.

While I'm glad I finally experienced, "Fellini's Casanova" and I recommend it for Fellini fans and cinephiles, I won't be rushing to rewatch it anytime soon.

"Fellini's Casanova" is now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber