Carlo Goldoni: Venice Grand Theatre of the World

By the mid-18th century, when Venice had peaked in its artistic output and was poised for a massive decline, Carlo Goldoni foresaw the focal point of European creative expression shifting. He felt that the new heart and soul of the arts in Europe lay in France, where the French Revolution was in the process of single-handedly revitalizing the nature and content of European theater at the time. Gone were the masks and the costumes that had the adverse effect of obscuring emotions; in their place stood an incredibly revealing level of behavioral expression. This documentary examines that environment and the role that Goldoni played in it.