Searching for a method of approaching his long-awaited film of Casanova, Fellini charged writer Gianfranco Angelucci with the task of making a documentary before the actual film was made. Using 4 of the principal Italian actors of the time - Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Alberto Sordi and Ugo Tognazzi - as well as French actor Alain Cuny, Fellini effectively auditioned each of them and ended up drawing from certain aspects of each of their characters and their thoughts on what Casanova represents.