Casanova ’70 – Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1965
Director: Mario Monicelli
Writers: Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Mario Monicelli, Tonino Guerra, Giorgio Salvioni, Suso Cecchi D’Amico
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Virna Lisi, Marisa Mell, Michèle Mercier, Enrico Maria Salerno, Liana Orfei, Guido Alberti, Beba Loncar, Moira Orfei, Margaret Lee, Rosemary Dexter, Jolanda Modio, Seyna Seyn, Luciana Paoli, Marco Ferreri

Release Date: October 11th, 2011
Approximate running time: 115 Minutes 21 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"Directed by Italian comedy legend Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), it finds army officer Andrea (Mastroianni) dealing with a particularly strange case of impotence: his libido only gets aroused in the middle of near-death experiences. So while candle-lit dinners leave him cold, a female lion tamer or a General's wife expand his lust to dangerous proportions. After a visit to a psychoanalyst, he fears his vice will lead to an early grave, so he attempts to live as a celibate with the virginal beauty Gigliola (Virna Lisi), but he is only delaying his inevitable descent back into sin." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.5/5

Casanova ’70 comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 18.8 GB

Feature: 16.3 GB

No information is provided about the source; any source debris is minor. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are very good, the image generally looks crisp, black levels fare well, and any compression issues are minor.

Audio: 3.75/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, this track is satisfactory.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a stills gallery and a theatrical trailer for Casanova ’70 (2 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with English text).

Other extras are trailers for Boccaccio ’70, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Sunflower, and Marriage Italian Style.

Summary:

Directed by Mario Monicelli, whose other notable films include The Great War, Big Deal on Madonna Street, and For Love and Gold.

The narrator is an impotent womanizer who can only get aroused when in danger, so he goes to great extremes to overcome his most unusual case of impotency. The narrative is primarily told via flashbacks, in which the protagonist recounts his various romantic mishaps with a psychiatrist. Also, these flashbacks do a superb job with everyone’s backstories.

A few standout moments include a scene in which the protagonist character is at a restaurant in Sicily and is waiting to be served. He overhears that the restaurant owner's daughter’s fiancée refuses to marry her because she is impure. Somehow he convinces them that he is a doctor, and shortly thereafter he sleeps with her while everyone awaits his verdict in the other room. After he has done the deed, he opens the door disheveled-looking and proclaims, ‘She’s pure'. Unfortunately for him, the real doctor has arrived, and he is then relentlessly pursued by the young woman’s family. Another standout moment involves a cursed prostitute that the locals are afraid to sleep with. Fortunately for the protagonist, he needs a sense of danger to be aroused.

Who better to portray the ‘Latin lover’ persona than Marcello Mastroianni (8 1/2), who made a career out of playing such characters? And to this film's credit, they have him portraying a character that is in direct contrast to the aforementioned type of character that he was most known for. And while he most certainly fits the role of the ‘Casanova’ from a psychical standpoint, the greatest strength of his performances lies less in his attractiveness and more in his pitch-perfect comedic timing.

Casanova ’70 is about a man who is having trouble getting aroused. It should not come as a surprise that there is an ample amount of eye candy on display throughout. Some of the more notable female cast members include Margaret Lee (Venus in Furs), Rosemary Dexter (Marquis de Sade: Justine), Michèle Mercier (Black Sabbath: ‘The Telephone’ segment), Marisa Mell (Danger: Diabolik), and Virna Lisi (How to Murder Your Wife). Another performance of note is by Enrico Maria Salerno (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage) in the role of the protagonist's psychiatrist.

Sometimes less is more, and that is most definitely the case with Casanova ’70, a film built around a simple premise: its lead character’s inability to get aroused. And while such a simplistic premise could have worn itself out very quickly, it actually becomes more humorous as the story progresses and the more tormented the protagonists become.

Kino Lorber gives Casanova ’70 a good audio/video presentation.

Written by Michael Den Boer