Casanova wider Willen: Buster Keaton, But Not Quite

Is this thing worth your time?

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys tracking down every stray piece of film history, sure. If you’re looking for the peak of physical comedy or a tight, logical script, you’re gonna be let down hard.

This is really for the folks who get a kick out of seeing Buster Keaton just existing in a frame, even when he’s not doing any of his signature gravity-defying stunts. Everyone else? You might find it a bit of a slog.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Casanova wider Willen (1931) through its definitive frames.

The whole premise is classic sitcom-tier nonsense. Jonny needs to get Anna hitched so he can have his own happy ending, which feels incredibly outdated, but that’s just how these old comedies roll. Watching him try to set up a total stranger like Reggie with the sister is essentially the entire engine of the movie.

The Keaton Factor

Look, seeing Keaton on screen is always a treat, but this isn't exactly The Cyclone. He’s got that same deadpan look, but the movie doesn't always give him the room to be *funny* in the way he usually is. It feels a bit like he was dropped into a movie that wasn't quite built for his specific brand of genius.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Casanova wider Willen (1931) through its definitive frames.

There’s this one moment where he’s trying to navigate a social gathering and just looks so profoundly bored by the whole affair. It made me laugh more than the actual scripted gags. Maybe he was bored. Maybe he was just acting. Who knows? 🤷‍♂️

• The pacing is all over the place.
• Some of the dialogue feels like it was written on a napkin five minutes before shooting.
• The chemistry between the leads is... well, it's definitely there, technically.

It’s nowhere near as polished as something like Rain, but it has this loose, hanging-on-by-a-thread energy that I kind of dug. It doesn’t take itself seriously, which is the only reason it works at all. If it tried to be a serious romantic drama, it would have collapsed under its own weight in ten minutes.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s barely even a coherent story. But it’s got a weird, dusty charm that kept me watching until the credits rolled. Sometimes a movie just needs to be watchable, and for me, this hit that mark just barely.

Also, the clothes. Why was everyone wearing those hats? I couldn't stop looking at them. Distracting, but in a good way. 🎩