[water dripping]
[man speaks Italian]
[shouts]
[girls giggling]
[exhales]
[panting]
[cries out]
[speaking Italian]
[continues]
[speaking Italian]
Man: Casanova! Open the door!
[pounding on door]
[rocks clattering]
Balbi?
It took longer than I thought.
Come.
[grunting]
Now what?
You said you had a failsafe plan
if I got us through the roof.
- Did I? - Yeah.
Oh.
[gasping]
[both chuckling]
Help me out.
Balbi! You know, this is much more comfortable.
Come on!
[bell tolls in distance]
The Inquisition's guards will comb the territories.
We will only find immunity abroad.
What about Strasbourg?
Yeah, you will love Strasbourg.
Me?
We have to split up, Balbi.
- It's safer that way. - But you said...
if I broke us out you'd take me with you.
I know. I'm sorry.
I want to live like Casanova.
There is no Casanova.
Not anymore.
* Take my love *
* Lock it away *
* Your secret *
* Your secret is safe with me *
[woman sighs]
[crowd chattering]
Man: Hold still!
[overlapping chatter]
Woman: How I wish they had sufficient sense
to recognise your excellence
You have much cause for indignation.
And it angers me daily to see that
nothing has been done for you.
[applause]
- Giacomo! - Mrs. Balletti.
The rumours of your escape are true.
- Yes. - You came straight to me.
You have always been like family.
- You look-- - [knocking on door]
- I know. - Man: Madame! Three minutes!
Quick. Get me out of this.
- How long will you stay? - As long as it takes.
I thought this could be a good place to start over.
Well, you know, Paris isn't always very kind to outsiders.
Yeah, I know. I just have to find a way to support myself.
Last time you were here, you were only interested in pleasure.
I come with greater ambitions.
Do you know I speak four languages?
I'm a writer.
I was a student of mathematics.
A duelist.
You're a man of many talents, Giacomo.
I'm a joke.
I have nothing.
This might be my last chance.
What happened to you?
Tell me.
Two years in a dark cell...
eaten alive by fleas...
just because I--
I couldn't stop indulging myself.
Silvia, I hate to ask but...
I need a place to stay.
Just for now.
The wig maker from the theater
has a basement across the alley.
- I'll ask him. - Thank you, Silvia.
Don't thank me.
- [knocking on door] - Man: Places, Madame!
I'm on.
Welcome to Paris.
[door closes]
The King's library is now up to 3,500 volumes.
My hope is that the great artists and thinkers of Europe
will come to Versailles,
like they have flooded to the salons of Paris,
for discussion and debate.
They never seem to recapture the beauty of their first bloom.
Madame! Madame!
It's the King. There's been an attack.
[straining]
- I didn't see him. - Shh, shh, shh.
Look at me. Look at me.
It's all right.
- It's all right. - Mm-hmm.
Get her out of here. The royal family is on its way.
What happened? What happened?
Madame, please.
- Tell me. - It's a three-inch wound.
- It's superficial. - And the assassin?
I'm sure you'll be briefed on all of this.
Please, I need to know now.
A disgruntled servant named Damiane.
I don't know more.
Some people don't love him the way they should.
The people are paying high taxes
to fund an unnecessary war.
Find out if this servant has any accomplices.
I'm sorry.
Do I work for you?
You work for the King, you arrogant prick.
Don't forget how you got there.
[knocking on door]
Monsieur de Bernis.
This came for you.
[gasps]
[overlapping chatter]
There we go, gentlemen.
See you next door. Adieu.
** [piano]
Play on, play on.
- Mmm. - [chuckles]
Love without love,
it's worthless, don't you think?
The average woman pays me no attention.
No is an unacceptable answer.
I can't tell you how many women have initially refused me.
- You must have a secret. - Yes.
I have an abnormally long tongue.
- Oh. - [chuckles]
- [piano stops] - [chuckles]
[stammering]
Truth is...
I make them feel...
I'm falling in love with them.
How?
Because I fall in love with them.
** [piano]
So, where is your pain?
I saw you clenching your teeth and your hands.
At the beginning, I thought it was a tell,
but no, you're in pain.
If you must know, it's the agony of a sciatic nerve.
- It's your back or your legs? - Are you a doctor?
It's the string of amber around your neck.
- You have access to a lab? - Maybe.
Why?
Draw a pentagram on your leg
using a mixture of sodium nitrate,
yellow sulphur, quicksilver.
Just try it.
If it works--
If it works, you'll pay me your winnings from tonight.
Fair and square. Now, if you'll excuse me.
[chattering, giggling]
Well, well, well, you don't waste much time.
- You're late. - It's been a busy day.
There was an attempt on the King's life.
- Was it successful? - No.
No? Pity.
[both chuckle]
Your escape is quickly becoming the talk of Paris.
I haven't even started to embellish it yet.
Let's talk alone.
This note.
You want to work.
You know everyone in Paris full of power, influence.
Just find yourself a wealthy patron to live off.
You're very good at that.
No, I want more.
I need more.
But can you give up your exhaustive list of bad habits.
You did.
They made you minister.
Don't they know how you behaved in Venice?
You were a terrible influence.
How's Marina?
I don't know.
She won't see me. She won't respond to my letters.
She left the abbey, and I fear she's fallen into a depression.
I'm sorry.
If you want to work,
I have something well suited for you.
You've heard of Madame Pompadour?
No.
You will.
She's the King's mistress--
a libertine and a commoner like you,
though she fights like hell to hide it.
The King noticed her during a masquerade and made her his paramour.
She's quickly become a threat to the state.
- A threat? - He'll do anything she says.
Two years into a war with Britain,
and the treasury has been bled dry because of her.
[gasps] After you.
So you were saying, Madame...
- Pompadour. - Uh-huh.
I'd like you to get to know her.
Make her an intimate ally.
Find out what her plans are.
Think of it as a spy mission.
Sounds more like seduction.
Is there a difference?
I cannot do that.
A man should not be defined by one thing his whole life.
[laughs] Suddenly, you're more than your cock?
- Yes. - Interesting.
You're also a peasant
who's lived by his wits his entire life,
a gambler, and a con man,
whose ability to charm women
is the envy of every man.
It's not a curse, it's an asset.
Use it.
If money, power, respect...
is what you want,
all that stands between me and the future of France
is this one woman.
Think of what that could mean.
For you.
For both of us.
I'm going to need new clothes.
Perception is everything in Paris.
** [man, woman vocalising]
[screams]
Oh.
[chuckling]
** [woman humming tune]
- ** [continues] - Good afternoon.
So sorry. I wasn't expecting you.
You don't recognise me.
I am Manon.
Mother sent me to neaten up.
Manon. Oh, my Lord.
- Last time I saw you-- - I was 13.
Yes. [chuckles]
I'm sorry for my--
No, please. Please, let me help you.
You're far above neatening up after a slob like me.
I've heard so many stories from my family about you.
- And your adventures. - Well, don't believe them all.
Oh, sir, I love the stories.
I've been nowhere.
That's why I read so much.
[speaking French]
I'd do anything to see Venice.
It's so wonderfully crowded.
At night, you can hear people dreaming and laughing
and making love.
I've heard it is a city where women are free to be as they wish.
For a hundred years.
Paris is making strides,
but it'll be too late for me.
What do you mean?
I'm to be married in a month.
Congratulations. To whom?
Monsieur Claremont,
My harpsichord teacher.
A good, safe match, mother says.
And are you a good safe girl?
I don't know what I am.
I have felt like that most of my life.
You better go.
I'll walk you out. Come.
Good to see you, Manon. Go home.
Here. So you don't forget about me.
- Oh, thank you. - Woman: Manon.
Go home now.
Stay away from her, Giacomo.
Silvia, I would never do anything--
Please. I know you.
I promise, all right?
This came for you.
[knocking on door]
You're here. Great. Come in.
When I told my aunt about your remarkable cure for sciatica,
she said she had to meet you.
Really?
Well, I'm so glad I could help.
You're not as handsome as they say.
I-- I tend to grow on people.
Wow.
This is an incredible place.
Yes, it is.
- Marquis d'Urfé. - Of course.
So this is what you do all day?
Well, would prefer to play with my salts
than worry about my coiffure.
Or have conversations with vacuous courtiers
who only care about the colour of their rouge.
Do I smell sulphur?
Very good.
It's been on a fire 15 years.
Needs another four or five.
- Until... - Until a powder...
that accelerates the natural progression
of metals into gold.
- The quintessence. - Ah, you know it.
- You know it. - I might.
The highest goal of alchemy.
I knew I knew your name.
Friends in Venice.
Fellow cabalist.
Freemasons.
You're a believer.
I believe in many things.
And that is why I invited you for dinner.
I thought you might fit in.
[overlapping chatter]
All: Ahh!
I've just come from Lorraine.
Spent the day with Voltaire.
Showed him how I can melt diamonds.
You see, from 12 small diamonds,
I can produce one large one
without any loss in weight.
He called me the wonder man.
No, really.
- Bravo, I'accord! - [laughter]
And then showed the stone
to the exquisite Madame Pompadour.
Naturally, she wants one for herself.
Madame Pompadour, the King's mistress.
That's right. Are you a friend of hers?
No. No, no.
Well, I am... of longstanding.
I have a strong connection to the monarchy
Dating back to the baptism of Louis XIII
and his sisters Elisabeth and Christine.
It was at the Corrival.
Sorry, but that was 150 years ago.
Yes.
Well, how old are you?
At least 300 years, but I can't be sure.
[chuckles]
Well, you look great for your age.
Thank you.
What has this most impressive man promised you?
Oh, promised. Um--
The ferrite around your neck,
said to entice a bolt of lightning.
- And elevate ones-- - That's right!
The Tablet of Hermes. Quite right.
Has he promised you eternal life?
My friend, these things are no joke to us.
You are not the friend of anyone here.
Especially not the Marquis.
I'm sorry. I don't fit in at all.
It was very nice meeting you.
Monsieur Casanova, wait.
I know an imposter when I see one.
Suchhostility.
It is one thing to capture a woman's heart.
But you-- you have hijacked her common sense.
How much do you want?
You know the Marquis has a fortune so great,
there's enough for both of us.
You disgust me.
Do not interfere in my friendship with the Marquis.
I know many people across Europe,
and you will find yourself back in chains...
or worse.
[horse sputters]
[wood creaking in distance]
[dog whimpers]
[footsteps approaching]
[speaking Italian]
Bragadin. [chuckles]
- You sent for me, Minister de Bernis? - [chuckles]
Please.
Madame Pompadour will be at her libertine party tonight in the fourth.
My associate, Claude Patu, will make the introduction.
I'll have to check my schedule.
I would not joke, my friend.
She is a formidable woman.
Is it true the King's assassin has been sentenced?
A public execution is being planned.
Good.
Then Madame Pompadour should be in a fine mood.
[chatter]
[chuckle]
[laughing]
- Excuse me. - Hmm?
I'm looking for Claude Patu.
Hmm.
[chatter]
Thank you.
Yes.
Five? In one night?
Throughout the night.
And then once after breakfast.
I call him Count Six Times.
Egg whites are the secret.
Egg white help the man ejaculate forcefully,
five or six times.
Is that right?
[chuckle]
You must be Monsieur Casanova.
If you'll excuse us.
My God.
What has happened to the women of Paris?
The Libertines have denounced all religious convention:
chastity, monogamy.
Paris is becoming an erotic playground.
"The infernal serpent,
"he it was whose guile,
"stirred up with envy and revenge,
"deceived the mother of mankind.
"What time his pride had cast him out from heaven,
"with all his host of rebel angels,
"aspiring to set himself in glory
above his peers."
[applause]
Madame,
may I introduce Giacomo Casanova?
This is the man who escaped the Leads.
Yes, Madame.
You're an Italian.
Venetian.
Ah, Venice.
Venice exhausts me--
the masks, the unspoken smugness.
At least Parisians abide by their own moral code.
- [chuckle] - We know what life is
and make the most of it.
So what is it like?
Sorry?
Freedom.
I assume you are now a free man.
Yes, indeed.
But a man is not at liberty to do everything he pleases.
He becomes a slave the moment
he allows his actions to be ruled by passion.
Are you flirting with me, Monsieur Casanova?
Women across Europe may be drawn
to the dangers of a travelling Venetian like yourself--
a man more gallant,
more sexually adept than his peers.
But if you ever speak to me again in that tone,
I will have you eviscerated.
Wait. Please accept my apologies, Madame.
It's rare that I find myself nervous in the presence of a woman.
But I've been eager to meet you.
Why is that, exactly?
We both come from humble beginnings,
being told what we cannot be our entire lives,
and yet look where we are.
You don't know me.
I'm tired.
Possibly tired of you.
[woman whispers]
[laughter]
Mm. That's lovely.
Unfortunately, I'm taken for the evening.
Monsieur Patu has already paid.
But I know someone else.
[giggling]
Come in. Don't be shy.
Make yourself comfortable.
Helena.
You have a guest.
We awaken you.
Yes, sir.
You call this a bed?
I have no other, sir.
No sheets or anything.
You normally go to bed with that on?
Yes.
Well, not tonight.
I'll pay you a Louis.
Oui?
And I want to see you get undressed.
There's nothing more beautiful than a woman...
when you can actually see her.
[breathing heavily]
Wait.
I cannot submit for less than 25 Louis.
What?
My sister says that's the going rate
for a virgin in Paris.
C-Can you make sure your sister is right?
I'm supposed to let you do all you please, sir,
but not that.
Ohh.
All right.
I understand.
We can't do that.
But I can do this.
[shuddering]
You know,
a woman of your elegance
should not be selling herself for money.
You could be destined for better things.
You're just saying that.
I will prove it to you.
I just need to get some money together.
Yes. Anyway--
Transmigration.
"Transmigration is illegal in a Catholic country."
When I was a boy, I had terrible nosebleeds.
My grandmother took me to Murano
to consult a witch.
And is that where your fascination with magic began?
I believe so, yeah.
And what of your mother, Giacomo?
What about her?
I barely knew her.
I love gladiolas.
Oh, what a shame there are none here.
I lost a husband, a son,
a daughter, and two granddaughters.
That's why I put so much faith
in the existence of other worlds.
Your outburst at dinner was so genuine.
Be that way with me.
My mother didn't die.
She left.
Ah. I'm sorry.
Don't be. She was an actress.
Travelling was her livelihood.
I know what you've been brewing
for the last 15 years in your lab.
Thousands across Europe
are searching for the Philosopher's Stone.
Ah, but I am ahead of them all.
Says whom, Saint Germaine?
I believe the Count
doesn't have your best interest at heart.
He sees you as a lonely and lost woman
in search of an heir.
The Count entertains me.
But let me help you.
You know the Stone can only be possessed by males, right?
I know.
You're planning to regenerate your soul.
You think it's possible?
I do.
But transmigration is illegal
in a Catholic country.
I don't want to end up back in jail.
I could protect you.
I could make it worth your while.
I feel a strong connection with you.
[coins jingle]
[snoring]
[muttering]
Shh. Shh shh shh shh shh.
Are you the artist Gustaf Lundberg?
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
We're going to flaunt your assets
on the amorous stock market of Paris,
improve your standing by finding you a man--
a significant man.
I'm impressed that you could encounter
such youth and beauty in a woman
and seek to improve her.
It shows shocking self-control.
There's beauty in promise.
Rescuing a young woman from an uncertain future
can be just as gratifying.
Isn't the new Casanova above this kind of thing?
It's not for me. It's for the King.
The King?
I met your Madame Pompadour.
She is, as you said, a worthy adversary,
far too intelligent to surrender her secrets,
even to me.
The key is to find her vulnerability.
And as far as I can tell, she only has one.
I'm listening.
Her age.
The King will eventually tire of a woman in her 30s
and start the search for a new mistress.
What if you were to present him with another option--
one that looks this good, and a virgin to boot?
A replacement...
removing Madame Pompadour entirely.
You are a perfect scoundrel.
I knew I could trust you.
Well done, Giacomo. It's a good start.
A viewing party has been arranged
for the execution of Robert Damiens.
Anyone who's anyone will be there.
You'll come.
I wouldn't miss it.
** [harpsichord]
*
Oh.
It's you.
[exhale]
I was just practising a sonata.
Can-- Can I play it for you?
No. I'm sorry. I'm pressed for time.
Actually, I was looking for your mother.
- Oh. - Is she at home?
Uh, I'll get her.
Oh, no, no.
You--
Yes?
I've been invited to this party on Saturday,
with a guest.
I know your mother would never approve.
I have ways of sneaking out.
I cannot condone something like that.
But if you happen to be
in Place de rêve at noon.
[strumming strings]
[plucking strings]
Giacomo.
Silvia.
You look tired.
I have a fever, but I'm fine.
What is it?
I have to ask you for one last favour.
If only that were true.
Can you get me into the opera at Fontainebleau?
** [orchestra]
** [singing in French]
[whispering]
Madame.
You have to admit it.
French music is inferior to Italian.
It's the melody. Hasn't changed in a hundred years.
I was told you have something urgent to tell me.
Urgent? No.
No, not at all.
I just wanted to get you alone.
You have 30 seconds.
First I want to apologise for our last meeting.
I have spent a lifetime trying to cross borders and barriers
with a humble background.
While I take pride in how far I have come,
I should not have made assumptions about you.
I live with a constant barrage of royal courtiers
who deem it a disgrace
that the King compromise himself with someone like me.
It exhausts me.
It's not you.
There are men in this city who fear a woman in power.
One of these men has hatched a plan
to extricate you from the King's embrace.
Who would be so sick?
The new Foreign Minister.
De Bernis?
He asked me to recruit a young girl,
one he could introduce to the King.
And have you found the girl?
De Bernis is in a very good position to help me.
I'm in a far greater position to help you.
I agree.
So I delivered a young prostitute
to de Bernis,
one who will surely be rejected by the court.
She...
can't be compared to you.
De Bernis is your friend.
Why would you betray him for me?
When I was in prison,
I learned that my so-called friend...
had me arrested.
I would have died there if it were up to him.
Was it over a woman?
A nun.
I need you to help me destroy him.
I do love tales of revenge.
I want to watch the rest of the opera,
but I will consider your offer.
[scoff]
Consider?
I don't know you, nor do I trust you.
Yes, I'll consider it.
** [singing continues]
Well, thank you very much, Madame.
Thank you, Monsieur Casanova.
Can I get three?
[both laughing]
Sometimes I just can't stand it.
What, exactly?
How much I want everything.
- ** [fanfare] - Let's look.
[crowd cheering]
Come here.
I've been thinking about your situation.
My...
Your impending marriage.
Oh.
I'm willing to speak with your mother about it.
Help me reason with her.
You have the soul of an adventurer,
the unquenchable thirst for all life has to offer,
good and-- and bad.
Man: The King!
Please excuse me just for a moment.
My old friend, welcome.
I've been waiting for you to arrive.
I had the painting of sweet Helena
delivered to the King's court.
And?
It was rejected.
Good but not great.
I'm sorry to hear that.
[Damiens screaming]
It begins.
[screaming]
Of course, a virgin like Helena
is a valuable commodity,
so I was able to deliver the girl
to a higher standing.
- How do you mean? - Come see.
[screaming]
The court is full of wealthy old man
with sadistic sexual appetites.
[Helena whimpering]
[laughing]
Your plan remains a great one.
We will find a mistress to replace Madame Pompadour,
a better one.
In the meantime,
I'd like to arrange a meeting for you
with the King's Controller of the Treasury.
About what?
Didn't I promise to help you if you helped me?
I'm going to pay my respects to the King.
Would you like to meet him?
No. Not today.
[Helena whimpering]
[screaming]
I know I should feel nothing but friendship towards you,
but I feel uneasy
when a day passes and you don't come by the house.
Well, then I will come by the house more often.
[Damiens screaming]
And we think that compassionate women
can watch such horror with ease.
I've always thought bad people deserve what they get,
and I believe that in my heart.
What about change?
People are capable of change.
We are who we are.
It's undeniable.
[laughing]
** [violin]
** [rock beat]
* Take my heart *
[fingers snapping]
*Let it be *
* Fingers snapping *
*Please don't break it *
[fingers snapping]
* Without me *
[fingers snapping]
* Your secret *
*Your secret is safe with me *
[fingers snapping]
* Your secret *
* Your secret's safe with me *
[echoing] * Me, me, me, me, me... *