Some plot elements recall William Shakespeare play The Merchant of Venice, especially Francesca Bruni's disguising as a man in order to take part in a legal council. This movie also featured Jeremy Irons who appeared in The Merchant of Venice (2004).
During the short sword fight at the end of the film when they are running away Oliver Platt takes off his cape and fights with it just as Oliver Reed did as Athos in The Three Musketeers (1973). Oliver Platt played Porthos in the 1993 version of The Three Musketeers (1993).
The "university auditorium" where Casanova first sees Francesca Bruni is not a building in Venice, but the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, a town approx. 45 minutes west of Venice.