This is a sexy comedy that Mastroianni literally hits the ball out of the ballpark with his performance. A true Casanova with a libido problem… And Mario Monicelli does a great job of building the storyline with efficacy thanks to the beautiful women and the comedy presented throughout the film.
©1966 Surf Film SRL. All rights reserved.
DVD TITLE: Casanova ’70
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 1965
DURATION: 115 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color (1:85:1), 16×9, Italian with English Subtitles
COMPANY: Lorber Films/Kino Lorber
RATED: NOT RATED
RELEASE DATE: 2011
Directed by Mario Monicelli
Story and Screenplay by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Mario Monicelli, Tonino Guerra, Giorgio Salvioni, Suso Cecchi d’Amico
Produced by Carlo Ponti
Associate Producer: Armando Trovajoli
Cinematography by Aldo Tonti
Edited by Ruggero Mastroianni
Production Design by Mario Garbuglia
Costume Design by Maria De Matteis
Starring:
Marcello Mastroianni as Andrea Rossi-Colombotti
Virna Lisi as Gigliola
Marisa Mell as Thelma
Michele Mercier as Noelle
Enrico Maria Salerno as Lo psicanalista
Liana Orfei as La dominatrice de leoni
Guido Alberti as Il Monsignore
Beba Loncar as La Ragazza del museo
Moira Orfei as Santina
Margaret Lee as Lolly
Rosemary as La Cameriera
Jolanda Modio as L’addolorata
Marco Ferreri as Il Conte
Nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Screenplay, Casanova ’70 is a raucously funny sex romp starring Marcello Mastroianni at his charismatic peak.
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.
Packed with bed-hopping hijinks, a parade of gorgeous actresses, and Mastroianni’s hilariously dry wit, Casanova ’70 is a colorfully ribald gem from the Golden Age of Italian comedy.
When there is discussion of the oeuvre of an Italian filmmaker, it is easy to mention the names of Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti and Mario Monicelli.
And what great way to pay tribute to these filmmakers by giving audiences a bit of a taste of their filmmaking through Kino Lorber’s “Great Italian Directors Collection” which features Antonioni’s “Story of a Love Affair”, the uncut version of “Boccaccio ’70” featuring a compilation of short films by De Sica, Fellini, Monicelli and Visconti and “Casanova ’70” featuring a film directed by Mario Monicelli.
Mario Monicelli is known in Italy as one of the masters of Commedia all’Italiana (Comedy Italian style) and received Oscar nominations for his screenwriting for “The Organizer” (1963) and “Casanova ’70” (1965). As well as a Grand Prize of the Festival nomination at the Cannes Film Festival (“Guardie e ladri”, 1951) and Palme d’Or nominations for “For Love and Gold” (1966), “Vogliamo i colonnelli” (1973), “An Average Little Man” (1977) and “Le due vite di Mattia Pascal” (1985).
In his lifetime, he won 27 awards worldwide and won an Honorable Mention at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival and a Golden Lion for Career at the 1991 Venice Film Festival. His final film was in 2006 in which the filmmaker directed “The Roses of the Desert” at the age of 91.
A man full who lived life to the fullest, unfortunately his final years with prostate cancer would become too much of a burden on the filmmaker that he committed suicide in 2010 at the age of 95.
But for many fans of Monicelli’s work, it’s the comedies that he reigned supreme. From creating “I soliti ignoti” (Big Deal on Madonna Street) which was nominated for for “Best Foreign Language Film” at the 31st Academy Awards, he followed it up with another nomination for the same category for “La Grande Guerra (The Great War).
But “Big Deal on Madonna Street” is where he would find the young actor Marcello Mastroianni (who would win International recognition through Federico Fellini’s “La dolce Vita” and “8 1/2” and known for his films with actress Sophia Loren for “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” and “Marriage Italian Style”), who would be cast for “Casanova ’70”.
The Italian sex comedy would star Marcelo Mastroianni as NATO Officer Andrea Rossi-Colombotti.
Andrea is a suave ladies man but with a big problem. He can only be sexually active when his life is in danger. If he is with a woman and is unable to feel danger, he is unable to perform.
We watch as Andrea does all he can to make things dangerous for himself before meeting a beautiful woman for sex. He tries to break into one girlfriend’s room by using stilts to climb up her window and when she thinks its a robber, she shoots at him, enhancing his passion. With an Asian air stewardess, he tries to make up a story which backfires on him.
Unfortunately, Andrea’s gallivanting is taking its tool and now, Andrea needs to get counseling and the best advice that his psychiatrist can give him is to not pursue any women and try to live a natural life. To connect with women more emotionally.
So, Andrea goes to Switzerland and meets the beautiful Gigliola (played by Virna Lisi). Gigliola is absolutely beautiful and he tries to connect with her emotionally and because she is spiritual and lives with her strict family, it is enough to stop him from his dangerous habit and she becomes his fiance.
But one day, as he goes to the circus with the family, a beautiful lion tamer asks the males in the audience if anyone is brave to come inside a cage full of lions and if so, they can get a kiss from her. No one volunteers, but the invitation of danger peaks Andrea’s curiosity and he forgets about his fiance and her family and goes into the cage where he kisses her passionately.
Unfortunately, this ends his relationship with Gigliola.
And once again, Andrea’s habit is re-ignited and this time, he goes after the gorgeous wife of a NATO Captain.  Unfortunately, he is caught and he is transferred to Italy. This is where he encounters the beautiful countess, Thelma (played by Marisa Mel), a woman who married to the wealthy Il Conte (played by Marco Ferreri).
Andrea tries to seduce her after giving her a ride back home but she tells him that her husband is constantly watching her and will kill him if he sees him. Needless to say, the danger of being with a woman like her intrigues him.
Meanwhile, there are many other women that Andrea’s passion is ignited due to the danger involved, meanwhile, the woman who truly loves him, Gigliola awaits his return.
Will Andrea find a way to cure himself of his dangerous libido or will his constant searching for women that will put him in danger, end up hurting him?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Casanova ’70” is presented in 1:85:1 and the picture quality is very good on DVD. For a 1965 film, the print is in good condition and discovered no major defects or warping, colors are also vibrant and not faded. And the audio , presented in monaural 1.0 is clear and understandable.
It’s important to note that if you want the best picture and audio quality of “Casanova ’70”, a Blu-ray version release of the film is available.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Casanova ’70” comes with the following special features:
- Original Theatrical Trailer – (2:17) Theatrical trailer for “Casanova ’70”.
- Stills Gallery – Featuring stills from the film and photos of the cast of the film.
- Trailers – Featuring trailers for Lorber Films: “Boccaccio ’70”, “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”, “Sunflower” and “Marriage Italian Style”.
EXTRA:
“Casanova ’70” comes with two other DVD’s that fit into a slipcase.
It’s one thing to watch a sexual comedy but it’s even better when you have something that is unlike the banality of sex-com films of today. Especially one with international flair!
Mario Monicelli is the King of Italian comedies and what he brings to the audience is the charm of Marcello Mastroiani but the hotness of a Bond film with style (the costume design for this film by Maria De Matteis is elegant and sophisticated!) and beauty as each women featured in the film screams of hotness.
Actress Verna Lisi (known for starring with Jack Lemmon in “How to Murder Your Wife”) plays the innocent Gigliola, Austrian model/actress Marisa Mel (“Danger: Diabolik”, “One on Top of the Other”) plays Thelma, and these are just two of the several beautiful women shown throughout the film.
But unlike today’s sex-com films that usually are connected to alcohol or losing one’s virginity, Mastroianni’s Andrea Rossi-Colombotti is the character that men can only hope to be in his shoes, that is until you learn what drives his libido and that is “danger”.
I know these individuals exist and some enjoy the risk of lovemaking, but this is not about the lovemaking but more of what it takes Andrea to get started in order to engage in lovemaking.  He is suave, can easily charm women and get them into bed but he has to rely on danger to get him going and that is a major problem because he can’t perform when he has a beautiful woman waiting for him in bed. He must come up with some lie or anything that would make him challenge fear head on before the fornicating and who would imagine such a story?
You have to give Mario Monicelli’s credit for creating a hilarious, fun and titillating film that does become farfetched but because we know that this kind of urge that Andrea has can land him in big trouble, we wonder if the suave playboy will make it to the end.
This is a sexy comedy that Mastroianni literally hits the ball out of the ballpark with his performance. A true Casanova with a libido problem… And Mario Monicelli does a great job of building the storyline with efficacy thanks to the beautiful women and the comedy presented throughout the film.
If you are looking for a film that showcases Italian sexual comedy, you can’t go wrong with “Casanova ’70”! And while Mario Monicelli is known for many great films in his oeuvre, “Casanova ’70” is a worthy addition to Kino Lorber’s “Great Italian Director’s Collection” DVD Box Set, especially as it is totally opposite compared to the more darker and deeper Michelangelo Antonioni film “Story of a Love Affair” included in the set. But whether you buy this film as part of the DVD box set or on its own via Blu-ray, it’s a film that is definitely worth watching!
“Casanova ’70” is a sensuous Italian comedy film from the King of Italian comedies worth recommending!
NOTE: The following review is for the DVD and not the entire DVD Box set.
