Casanova

Casanova (2005) is Lasse Hallström's frothy costume comedy, free to watch online on iFILM. Set in 18th-century Venice under the eye of the Inquisition, it hands Heath Ledger the role of Europe's most infamous lover — a man who has finally met a woman immune to him.

Francesca, played by Sienna Miller, writes radical pamphlets under a man's name and despises everything Casanova stands for. To win her, he stacks lie upon lie: borrowed identities, fake betrothals, a wedding nobody actually wants. Meanwhile a grim church inquisitor (Jeremy Irons) closes in, and a blustering lard merchant played by Oliver Platt tangles the whole scheme further.

This is less a portrait of the real adventurer than a sunlit farce of mistaken identity, where everyone is in love with the wrong person. The canals, the carnival masks and the quick romantic banter make it easy, good-natured fun for fans of period rom-coms. Stream Casanova (2005) online on iFILM.