I, Don GiovanniVenice, 1763. Handsome young Lorenzo da Ponte leads a rather cavalier life. With an unsuccessful 'stint' in the priesthood behind him, da Ponte's numerous affairs see him exiled from Italy. Supported by his friend and mentor, Giacomo Casanova, in Vienna, da Ponte is introduced to the King's favourite composer, Salieri, and an upstart newcomer named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Sensing an opportunity to undermine his rival's ascension, the scheming Salieri dupes Mozart into hiring the unknown libertine as his librettist. Da Ponte's sentimental proclivities and hedonistic escapades instead conspire to thwart Salieri's ill intentions by inspiring Mozart to compose one of his boldest 'opera buffa', Don Giovanni.
Director Carlos Saura, who adapted Bizet's opera for the screen in his 1983 Flamenco-inflected Carmen, is ably assisted on this occasion by award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (1900, The Last Emperor).
