Casanova (2005 film) Casanova (2005 film) Casanova is a 2005 American romance film directed by Lasse Hallström starring Heath Ledger and loosely based on the life of Giacomo Casanova. A young woman (Helen McCrory) tearfully leaves her son (Eugene Simon) to live with his grandmother and promises to return for him someday. Several years later, in 1753, in Venice, Casanova (Heath Ledger), is notorious for his promiscuity with women, his adventures being represented in puppet theatres around the city. The Doge, (Tim McInnerny) the ruler of the city, is a friend to Casanova, but cannot be too lenient on him as he wishes
Giacomo Casanova returned to Paris for several months in 1767 and hit the gambling salons, only to be expelled from France by order of Louis XV himself, primarily for Casanova's scam involving the Marquise d'Urfé. Now known across Europe for his reckless behavior, Casanova would have difficulty overcoming his notoriety and gaining any fortune, so he headed for Spain, where he was not as well known. He tried his usual approach, leaning on well-placed contacts (often Freemasons), wining and dining with nobles of influence, and finally arranging an audience with the local monarch, in this case Charles III. When no doors opened