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IN “CASANOVA” 1/9 © 2002. Okihei Enterprise, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Tribute to Richard Chamberlain |
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Simon Langton Writing credits
Cast:
Produced
Original music by
Cinematography
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| Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) - in full Giacomo
Girolamo Casanova - byname JEAN-JACQUES CHEVALIER DE SEINGALT
Soldier, spy, diplomat, writer, adventurer,
chiefly remembered from his autobiography, which has established his reputation
as the most famous erotic hero. Casanova's memoirs are an unreliable account
of his adventures with 122 women - according to his own counts - but they
also provide an intimate portrait of the manners and life in the 18th century.
His countless projects, employments, and initiatives
took him through the courts of Europe - in Paris he was employed to do
some espionage work by Louis XV and from London he tried to sell the secret
of a cotton red dye to his own country.
Giacomo Casanova was born in Venice. His father, Gaetano Casanova was an actor, who also directed some plays. He had married in 1724 Giovanna Maria (Zanetta) Farussi, an actress, and a perfect beauty. In his childhood Casanova suffered from nose bleeds, and his parents thought that he would not live long. Strong women dominated his life: his mother and a witch who helped him to stop the bleeding. Later in his life he occasionally dressed himself as a woman. Casanova's parents left him in the care of his maternal grandmother, Marzia Farussi, and went off to London. Zanetta and Gaetano returned to Venice in 1728. Casanova's father died in 1733 but Zanetta turned down all her suitors and decided to support her children on her own. However, she soon left Venice and ended in Dresden, where she was a member of the Comici Italiani ensemble. In 1734 Casanova was sent to live with Doctor
Gozzi in Padua.
Casanova met in 1749 his great love, the young
and mysterious Frenchwoman, Henriette, in Cesena. "People who believe that
a woman is not enough to make a man equally happy all the twenty-four hours
of a day have never known an Henriette." Henriette left him, returned to
his family, and Casanova remembers it in his autobiography as one of the
saddest moments in his life. "What is love?" he asked, and compared love
to an incurable illness and divine monster. He went to Lyons, where he
was received as a Freemason. By 1750 he had worked as a clergyman, secretary,
soldier, and violinist in several countries.
Casanova's freedom ended in 1755 for a year. He was arrested, his manuscripts, books, works on magic, and Arentino's book on sexual positions were seized. Casanova was denounced as a magician and sentenced for five years in lead chambers under the roof of the Doge's Palace. The dungeos is extremely hot. He managed to escape with his friend, Father Balbi. "I then turned and looked at the entire length of the beautiful canal, and, seeing not a single boat, admired the most beautiful day one could hope for, the first rays of a magnificent sun rising above the horizon..." Casanova made his way to Paris, where his escape made him a celebrity. Like Dostoevsky later, Casanova was a gambler and in 1757 he introduced the lottery. This invention made him a millionaire. He also established a workshop for manufacturing printed silk, hiring twenty young girls to do the work. From the marquise D'Urfé he cheated huge sums of money. During his years in exile Casanova came in
contact with such luminaries as Louis XV, Rousseau, and Mme. Pompadour.
In 1760 he fled from his creditors and traveled across Europe. Casanova
continues his adventures in Naples, England, Germany, and Spain. He translated
Voltaire's comedy L'Ecossaise for Pietro Rossi's troupe of actors in Genoa.
In 1772 he wrote, in Italian, the well-documented History of Unrest in
Poland. Between 1774 and 1782 he worked as a spy for the Venetian inquisitors
of state. His literary efforts did not meet success. In 1787 Casanova met
Mozart in Prague, and attended the first performance of the opera Don Giovanni.
The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte, but Casanova had earlier
told the composer some episodes of his life. In one text Casanova sees
that women are responsible for Don Giovanni's evil deeds: "The blame lies
entirely with the female sex for bewitching his mind and enslaving his
heart. Oh, seducing sex! Source of pain! Let a poor innocent person go
in peace." (from Casanova or the Art of Happiness by Lydia Flem, 1997)
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"Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for it lies in mere fantasy." |