Quotes
Alfred De Musset:
[
taking a section of manuscript]
Her memoirs? Am I in it?
Editor:
No! It's, it's about her childhood. I expect you come in later, after she chews up her husband, and about a hundred other fellows.
Alfred De Musset:
It's true, she's a cannibal. She would drink the blood of her children from the skull of her lover, and not feel so much as a stomach-ache.
Editor:
Alfred, go home - put it into verse - I'll publish it - and then and only then will you get paid.
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Soundtracks
"Etude Op. 25 In E Minor"
Music by
Frédéric Chopin See more »
I first saw this film courtesy of "Masterpiece Theater", a weekly program presented by PBS -- had it not been for the good taste of one PBS program manager out there, I might never have seen this charming and provocative film.
Yes, it's a period piece. Yes, there are flounces and top hats and castles and duels. But the core of "Impromptu" explores love, jealousy, and the process of artistic creation in ways that keep the film captivating for the most jaded modern viewer.
Judy Davis capably assumes the mantle of convention-bucking authoress George Sand, providing a fiery counterpart to Hugh Grant's self-deprecating (and effective) Chopin. Mandy Patinkin shines as one of Sand's many jilted ex-lovers, and Bernadette Peters is maliciously admirable as Sand's "friend" who wants Chopin for herself. Emma Thompson's hilarious cameo as a dense provincial duchess itself provides almost enough reason to watch the film.
"Impromptu" boasts a great ensemble cast, witty dialogue, balanced humor and pathos, luscious period costumes and scenery, and the music of Chopin playing all the while -- what more could one want? "Impromptu" unfolds like a 19th-century soap opera, with arresting characters and meditations on art saving it from the banality of a typical romance...or a typical period piece.
This one's worth the flounces.