In the middle of Venice's many channels and alleys, sits Lasse Hallström and screams "action" and "cut".
At this very moment, he's directing the costume-movie "Casanova" with Heath Ledger in the main role.
Two weeks of work is completed, sixteen is left.

"This is really fun", says Hallström and shines like the sun. One of the reasons to this hapiness is that this is a movie that really is shot on location. Everything is shot in real surroundings.

"It is just at the end that we go into the studio for a couple of short scenes. Otherwise everyting is done on location."

Since this is Venice and the end of August, there are tourists all over the place. Everywhere there are people standing, trying to get a gleam of what is goin on, and the real venice inhabitants are cursing over all the foreigners that are stopping them from getting to and from work. It's very "tight", but Hallström just laughs.

"If you think this is tight, you should have seen the alley we shot in the other day. That you can call tight. And if you think this is hot, you should have felt how it was last week. This is nothing". It is obvious the actors and the team are having fun. They are laughing a great deal between takes.

It's a romantic comedy right, Lasse Hallström says. The director has his wife Lena Olin and their daughter Tora with him here in Venice. But in just one week they are going back to New York. It is time for Tora to start school. At the same time Hallström's old friend Tommy Körberg is on his way to Venice.

"He will play a gondolier and stand in a gondola singing, says Hallström.