Casanova

Directed by Mark Cullingham, John Glenister
Writer: Dennis Potter

1971

"Frank Finlay's brilliant and fearless performance.

Finlay achieves and sustains a series of remarkable contrasts: between Casanova's ardent anticipation of seduction and post-coital cafard; between his arrogance and his self-reproach; between his angry, funny sang-froid in deriding antagonists and the exposed vulnerability of his look when he's alone in captivity. He speaks his lines not only with great verve, suppleness and wit but with a vocal musicality that makes him sound Italian, even though he never resorts to aiming for this effect by doing-an-accent. His voice, in conjunction with his unusual, compelling facial features, creates a convincing exotic. You're very conscious of the shape of Finlay's head, especially his jawline: his sophisticated, superbly accomplished libertine has a bestial quality and this Casanova, even bewigged and with cologne on his cheeks, gives off a stink of mortality. Finlay suggests an almost prehistoric skull beneath the skin. Potter and the directors set their leading man a huge task in the later prison scenes: he has to work hard to keep them dynamic but you never stop admiring his inventiveness."

Old Yorker (17th July 2015) BFI Screening.