A jewel in the PFA Collection is the Cinémathèque Française restoration of this lavish, lighthearted, and witty superproduction, with locations in Venice, sets (from maquette plastique miniatures) and costumes comparable to a Diaghilev ballet, stunning color-tinting in the climactic sequences, and a remarkable use of avant-garde effects to create the subjective experience of the protagonist. “The decadence of Venice and the political intrigues at Catherine the Great's court in St. Petersburg...are merely the magnificent backdrops for a breathless choreography of color and movement. In it are stylishly blended high comedy and farce, grandiose spectacle and intimate trysts, picaresque pursuits and nostalgic dallyings” (Variety). Casanova stars the exuberant Russian-emigré French actor Ivan Mosjoukine (star also of Volkoff's La Maison du mystère) in a role seemingly made for him-another hedonist whose high spirits and sexual magnetism were legend-and the whole film is a spectacular showcase for the talents of his fellow Russian-emigré artists, who called themselves Films Albatros.