Don Giovanni
Directed by	Joseph Losey
Produced by	Robert Nador Michel Seydoux
Written by	Lorenzo da Ponte (libretto) Raul Lieberman Joseph Losey Paricia Losey Renzo Rossellini Frantz Salieri
Starring	Ruggero Raimondi John Macurdy Edda Moser Kiri Te Kanawa Kenneth Riegel José van Dam Teresa Berganza Malcolm King Eric Adjani
Music by	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Cinematography	Angelo Filippini Gerry Fisher
Editing by	Reginald Beck Emma Menenti
Distributed by	Artificial Eye (UK) New Yorker Films (US)Gaumont (France)
Release date(s)	1979
Running time	185 min. (France)
Country	France/Italy/UK/Germany
Language	Italian
Budget	7,000,000 US dollars (estimated)
IMDb profile

Don Giovanni is a 1979 film adaptation of Mozart's classic opera Don Giovanni. Based on the Don Juan legend of a seducer destroyed by his excesses, the film has generally been praised as one of the finer adaptations of opera to the big screen. The movie is currently available on DVD. Joseph Losey (January 14, 1909 - June 22, 1984) was an American theater and film director. ... Lorenzo da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (March 10, 1749–August 17, 1838) was an Italian librettist born in Ceneda (now Vittorio Veneto). ... Joseph Losey (January 14, 1909 - June 22, 1984) was an American theater and film director. ... Ruggero Raimondi, born October 3, 1941, is an Italian Bass-baritone opera singer and sometime screen actor. ... The German soprano Edda Moser was born on October 27, 1938. ... Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa IPA: ONZ, AC, DBE (born March 6, 1944), is an internationally famous New Zealand opera singer. ... Baron José van Dam (August 25, 1940) is one of the most prominent and sought-after interpreters of the baritone-bass repertoire. ... Teresa Berganza The Spanish opera singer Teresa Berganza (born 16 March 1935) is a well-known mezzo-soprano most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and highly influential composer of Classical music. ... United States may refer to: Places: United States of America SS United States, the fastest ocean liner ever built. ... Gaumont Pictures were founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont (1864-1946). ... // Events March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... // Events March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan. ... Don Giovanni (K.527) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ... Don Juan is a legendary fictional libertine, whose story has been told many times by different authors. ... DVD (Digital Versatile Disc, often incorrectly explained as Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ...

Plot summary

This film version sets the action in Venice. After an unsuccessful attempt to seduce Donna Anna (soprano Edda Moser) Don Giovanni (bass Ruggero Raimondi) kills her father Il Commandante. The next morning, Giovanni meets Donna Elvira (soprano Kiri Te Kanawa), a woman he previously seduced and abandoned. Later, Giovanni happens upon the preparations for a peasant wedding and tries to seduce the bride-to-be Zerlina (mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza), but his ambition is frustrated by Donna Elvira. Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venexia) is the capital of the region of Veneto and the province of the same name in Italy. ... Look up soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The German soprano Edda Moser was born on October 27, 1938. ... A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. ... Ruggero Raimondi, born October 3, 1941, is an Italian Bass-baritone opera singer and sometime screen actor. ... Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa IPA: ONZ, AC, DBE (born March 6, 1944), is an internationally famous New Zealand opera singer. ... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... Teresa Berganza The Spanish opera singer Teresa Berganza (born 16 March 1935) is a well-known mezzo-soprano most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. ...

Donna Anna soon realizes that Giovanni killed her father, and she pursues the seducer along with her fiance Don Ottavio (tenor Kenneth Riegel). Ever ready to attempt a seduction, Giovanni woos Elvira's maid. As part of his plans, he switches clothes with his servant Leporello (baritone José Van Dam), who rapidly finds himself in trouble with people who mistake him for his master. Leporello flees and eventually meets Giovanni at the cemetery where Il Commandante is buried. They jokingly invite the statue at his grave to dinner. While they are dining, the supernaturally revivified statue arrives, and the horrified Giovanni is drawn into an open-pit fire. In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high vocal range. ... Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... Baron José van Dam (August 25, 1940) is one of the most prominent and sought-after interpreters of the baritone-bass repertoire. ...

Criticism and evaluation

The movie has been praised for its lush cinematography, with many scenes set in visually appealing locations, such as classically furnished villas or gondolas gliding through the canals of Venice. Notable set pieces of the opera, including the Catalogue Aria and the duet of Giovanni and Zerlina, are also handled well. The film has been criticized for the operatic scale of acting by some of the performers, which does not always translate convincingly to the movie screen. Cinematography, English render of the French cimématographie, is the discipline of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. ... A Venetian gondola A railroad gondola A gondola is a small long, narrow boat with a high prow and stern, best known for its use in the canals of Venice. ... Link title:For legal meaning of acting, see Acting (law). ...

External links

• Review of Don Giovanni at About.com
• Gaumont DVD
• Don Giovanni 2006