The Italian adventurer and libertine Giovanni Jacopo Casanova lived from 1725 to 1798, but in this six-part series Dennis Potter attempted to find a contemporary relevance through his central themes of sex and religion. He commented that Casanova "was concerned with religious and sexual freedom, and these are the things we have to address ourselves to now." Casanova was imprisoned in Venice in 1755, and Potter used that event as a central device, constantly inter-cutting to contrast Casanova's a find out more...

Bresson's subtle adaption of a Tolstoy story, 'The Forged Coupon', is a masterpiece of directorial understatement. The passing of a forged 500F note by two boys leads, unbeknownst to them, to the decline and fall of an innocent man. His descent into madness is as bleak a portrayal of moral conflict as you will see. find out more...