Casanova mini-review

Some of the denizens here stayed up verrrry late Monday night to watch a bootleg copy of BBC's new three-hour production of Casanova. Peter O' Toole is the elder Giacomo Casanova, David Tennant plays the young Casanova, and it was written by the very capable Russell T Davies, the same person responsible for the most excellent new Dr. Who production. It was just so very good, that I could forgive the quite blatant anachronisms, especially since many of them were clearly inserted to be purely silly, and they were in fact more fun than intrusive. Witty, well-paced, and ultimately, emotionally moving. The elder sacred-fool Casanova and the servant girl (Rose Byrne) to whom he tells his stories, and who ultimately plays a key role in his life, are both clearly, despite having radically different lives, hopeless romantics living in a world which is largely devoid of color and spark -- each, in their own way, devoted to love. Delicious, wicked, and well-worth a watch, whenever we can get it over here on the west side of the pond.