French filmmaker Benoit Jacquot looks back at the notorious Italian libertine Giacomo Casanova in retirement in this handsome costume drama. Framed as a flashback as the elderly Casanova writes his memoirs, Vincent Lindon stars as the infamous lover who, prompted by a question about true love, recalls his time as a middle-aged aristocrat in exile.
Having fled scandal on the continent, he lives in the shadow of his legacy in London (where he speaks no English) and tries to distract himself in bordellos and gambling houses. He becomes infatuated with the beautiful, brazen young prostitute La Charpillon (Stacy Martin) and courts her publically despite her disreputable standing among the noble classes. She sets the terms of the relationship, stokes his interest, teases, and then pulls back, taking the power away from a man used to being in charge. Jacquot leaves her emotions and motivations an enigma. It's a handsome, measured costume drama and a battle of wills directed as a twilight film of loss and regret, and it's presented with a tone of melancholy rather than erotic charge.
Lindon plays Casanova as cultured and elegant but tired and a little sad, no longer finding satisfaction in his libertine pleasures. He's out of place in London and walls himself behind an emotionless expression, while Jacquot sets him apart as a man looking on but rarely participating in 18th century society. Meanwhile, the film simply but effectively shows a powerful man celebrated for the same sexual appetites and actions that condemn a woman to social disrepute.
Jacquot keeps the characters at a distance, both visually and emotionally, which feeds into the enigma of the relationship but doesn't give audiences much to hold on to when it comes to the characters. It's a film from aging filmmaker (Jacquot was 74 when he directed the film) about an aging womanizer looking back at the regrets and failures and unhappiness of a life usually celebrated as sexy and glamorous. In French with English subtitles, features nudity and sexuality. A strong option purchase.