From the opening shots where we meet Don Juan riding through the Spanish countryside, performed by no other but the director himself, I could not stop thinking how utterly narcissistic this film was. For those even partially familiar with the story of Don Juan it is a well known fact that he was worshipped by women for both his lovemaking skills as well as attractive appearance. Yet, what the viewer is offered in this film is an older, visibly overweight, and with a grayish hair Don Juan who anything but appears to be the ultimate lover anyone would rightfully expect to see on the screen. Furthermore, Don Juan often falls in a trance-like state of self-questioning where he utters never ending monologues as pretentious and boring as his obviously lackluster appearance.

It is hard to believe that any woman, let alone a strikingly beautiful Spanish woman, would fall for a Don Juan as dreary looking as Jacques Weber's Don Juan is. Yet, we are forced to believe that the "greatest lover ever" is wanted so desperately that women are willing to risk their lives for him. If anything, judging by the way he carries himself as well as his intimidating appearance I would be willing to accept that women are more likely to pay a substantial amount of money to have Don Juan as far away as possible than have him gracing their bedrooms.

I am unsure what surprised me more in this film, was it the fact that there was an excellent cast which the director managed to bring together or, the fact that they actually managed to finish this wreck of a film. Quite frankly there is nothing that any serious viewer would find redeeming in this production. The dialog, the acting, the lack of chemistry between the leads, and above all the terrible directing all add up to a cinematic disappointment of paramount proportions.

If there is one aspect of Don Juan that partially justifies the time one might invest seeing the film it is the relatively well done period costumes and decors. The elegant dresses, the noblemen's attire, as well as some of the Spanish village sceneries all make up for an otherwise dreadful viewing experience. The fact however that Jacques Weber had at its disposal arguably some of the best looking European actresses, Emanualle Beart, Penelope Cruz, and Ariadna Gil, and failed to muster an attractive as well as convincing story is truly disappointing.

I attempted to view Don Juan as much as I could through the eyes of his main star and director and find some sort of an explanation for this confusing project. I also looked back at the numerous film adaptations the story of Don Juan has spurred from Alan Crosland's version (1926), to John Berry's El Amor de Don Juan (1956), to the more recent Jeremy Leven's Don Juan De Marco (1995) and it seems to me that they all had one thing in common-a good narrative with an excellent cast. While Jacques Weber's production certainly had the latter the quality of the narrative he used, which also relates to the acting, was nowhere close to the above mentioned films.

I suppose someone will find Don Juan to be a worthy experience and claim that it has its redeeming qualities. Film is a medium that certainly allows plenty of interpretation and I am willing to accept that I missed part of the director's message(s). I can not dismiss however the fact that neither the acting nor the story were worthy of a character that through the history of cinema has been approached by so many different directors. More importantly, in one way or another they all have managed to add a bit more to Don Juan's legacy. Jacques Weber's adaptation certainly doesn't.

How Does the DVD Look? Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 Don Juan offers a relatively clean print of the film. While contrast appears rather well handled I noticed some intimidating amount of edge enhancement which is especially distracting throughout Spanish country side scenes. In addition, there is minor ghosting evident indicating that the film was not transferred progressively. In French with optional yellow English subtitles.

How Does the DVD Sound? A good if rather unimpressive French 2.0 audio mix is offered by Koch Lorber. Most of the time I did not notice any particular problems with the sound quality. Both dialog and music score appear well handled.

Extras: The only extra material available on this DVD is a gallery of other releases available through Koch Lorber.

Final Thoughts: I am both stunned and upset by the fact that such a poor film version of Don Juan and his deeds has actually managed to come out of France. With a cast that anything but suggests such a dismal result Jacques Weber's film adaptation is nothing short of a tremendous disappointment. SKIP IT.