With his "La Dolce Vita" and "Amarcord", Federico Fellini is probably one of Italy's best known directors. But that the man has made a lot more movies than only these two, isn't something that everybody seems to know. And even though not all his movies were famous masterpieces, they almost always have something to offer that makes it interesting to give his movies a try. That's why I watched "Il Casanova di Federico Fellini", based on the autobiography of Giacomo Casanova.
Telling what the story in this movie is about isn't exactly difficult, although it's not easy to bring it well either. If you want to keep it simple than you could say that this movie is about nothing more than Casanova's sexual escapades. In his quest for fame and fortune, he travels through Europe, visiting all the royal courts, seducing as many women as possible. But the entire movie seems to be one big hallucinatory circus as well. I truly believe that's the best way to describe it, because you don't know if you should take it very serious or not. You can see it as something very disturbing, but the irony and completely over-the-top make-up and costumes almost seem to forbid you to take it all very serious. Even the sex-scenes seem like one big farce. And the acting only makes that feeling stronger, although I must say that I appreciated Donald Sutherland in his role as Giacomo Casanova.
In the end I believe that this movie will make it very difficult for the average audience to judge it. Either you love it, either you absolutely hate it, as there almost seems no way in between. Personally I don't really know what to think of this movie. I liked it, but not to such an extend that I would recommend it to my friends. Not that they would understand what I like about it (most of them prefer a lot easier movies), but even if they preferred the not so average movies, I wouldn't be able to explain them very well why this is a definite must-see. I guess this is the kind of movie that you should only give a try when you are already familiar with movies other than the average American blockbuster. I am one of those people and I quite liked it, but it wasn't the best example of 'weird' cinema that I've seen so far. I give it a 6.5/10.
Telling what the story in this movie is about isn't exactly difficult, although it's not easy to bring it well either. If you want to keep it simple than you could say that this movie is about nothing more than Casanova's sexual escapades. In his quest for fame and fortune, he travels through Europe, visiting all the royal courts, seducing as many women as possible. But the entire movie seems to be one big hallucinatory circus as well. I truly believe that's the best way to describe it, because you don't know if you should take it very serious or not. You can see it as something very disturbing, but the irony and completely over-the-top make-up and costumes almost seem to forbid you to take it all very serious. Even the sex-scenes seem like one big farce. And the acting only makes that feeling stronger, although I must say that I appreciated Donald Sutherland in his role as Giacomo Casanova.
In the end I believe that this movie will make it very difficult for the average audience to judge it. Either you love it, either you absolutely hate it, as there almost seems no way in between. Personally I don't really know what to think of this movie. I liked it, but not to such an extend that I would recommend it to my friends. Not that they would understand what I like about it (most of them prefer a lot easier movies), but even if they preferred the not so average movies, I wouldn't be able to explain them very well why this is a definite must-see. I guess this is the kind of movie that you should only give a try when you are already familiar with movies other than the average American blockbuster. I am one of those people and I quite liked it, but it wasn't the best example of 'weird' cinema that I've seen so far. I give it a 6.5/10.