Juan is a musical where the music is great, the cast is talented, the directing is bold but the scenario has issues.
The concept of the abusive womanizer is captured very well in either Mozart's opera (Cesare's 1955 version being my favorite) or in Jude Law's Alfie. Both works follow the protagonist in his adventures with women, his heartless abuse of their trust and both works ultimately punish him in the own ways: supernaturally the former, sentimentally the latter.
Juan tries to combine the concepts.
But the story fails almost immediately for he is a serial murderer. He does it at the intro of the film -- without the possibility of an equivalent to a "fair sword duel" as it existed in the age of Mozart where victory didn't count as murder. And he does it again at the finale.
His guilt therefore, can no longer be attributed to breaking women's hearts for fun, but for murder instead. Which would be fine in a movie but it doesn't justify neither the origin of the music nor the volumes of sex.
Both Alfie and Don Giovanni explore the issue of trust betrayal in multiple relationships much better than Juan.
The concept of the abusive womanizer is captured very well in either Mozart's opera (Cesare's 1955 version being my favorite) or in Jude Law's Alfie. Both works follow the protagonist in his adventures with women, his heartless abuse of their trust and both works ultimately punish him in the own ways: supernaturally the former, sentimentally the latter.
Juan tries to combine the concepts.
But the story fails almost immediately for he is a serial murderer. He does it at the intro of the film -- without the possibility of an equivalent to a "fair sword duel" as it existed in the age of Mozart where victory didn't count as murder. And he does it again at the finale.
His guilt therefore, can no longer be attributed to breaking women's hearts for fun, but for murder instead. Which would be fine in a movie but it doesn't justify neither the origin of the music nor the volumes of sex.
Both Alfie and Don Giovanni explore the issue of trust betrayal in multiple relationships much better than Juan.