Impromptu (1991)

Director:

James Lapine

Writer:

Sarah Kernochan (writer)

Release Date:

May 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Music

Plot:

In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.

Plot Keywords:

1830s | Composer | Duel | Female To Male Footsie Playing | Frank Liszt

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Judy Davis	...	George Sand / Aurora
Hugh Grant	...	Frederic Chopin
Mandy Patinkin	...	Alfred De Musset
Bernadette Peters	...	Marie D'Agoult
Julian Sands	...	Franz Liszt
Ralph Brown	...	Eugene Delacroix
Georges Corraface	...	Felicien Mallefille
Anton Rodgers	...	Duke D'Antan
Emma Thompson	...	Duchess D'Antan
Anna Massey	...	George Sand's Mother
David Birkin	...	Maurice
Nimer Rashed	...	Didier
Fiona Vincente	...	Solange
John Savident	...	Buloz
Lucy Speed	...	Young Aurora

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:6 | Australia:M | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Château des Briottières, Champigné, Maine-et-Loire, France

Company:

C.L.G. Films

Quotes:

[after Chopin's coughing fit]
Eugene Delacroix: He has trouble with his lungs. It's the misery of his life.
Duchess D'Antan: Well, he should be bled. We have an excellent physician. He's developed a very special variety of leeches - quite painless, and they leave very little mark.
Franz Liszt: Better yet, send in George to Monsieur Chopin: she leaves no mark at all.

Movie Connections:

Version of Les enfants du siècle (1999)

probably the best film ever made on Chopin and Sand

This excellently written, splendidly acted, marvellously sound-tracked and beautifully filmed picture is most probably the best film ever made on Chopin and Sand, that subject most difficult to approach without crashing into drab sentimentality. The film is a comedy solidly anchored in historical and biographical data and impregnated with a deep love for Chopin's music as well as an understanding of the complex relationship between him and Sand. Through its apparently light touch, the film manages to convey deep sorrow, longing, extatic joy and true sensuality (the scene where the relationship between Chopin and Sand becomes physical is a master example of how such scenes should be made: Sand's naked shoulder speaks more than hours and hours of steamy make-believe, because it is the spectator who fills in the experience in his mind). Anybody who has made music will recognise the excitement and satisfaction in the scene where Chopin and Liszt play à quatre mains and manage to find JUST the right note at JUST the right second. Witty, almost farcical comedy alternates with most delicate, expressive, sober dialogue - witness Judy Davis' face when Sand tells Chopin what the reality behind her free love propaganda is. Hugh Grant shows himself once again to be the good actor that he is when working with a good director - compare this film with "Maurice", "The Remains of the Day", "An Awfully Big Adventure". It is as if this film were an enchanted one, not a single element being amiss. And last but not least, it makes you fall in love with Chopin's music, in case for some reason it hadn't happened to you before.