Impromptu | | Cast : | Judy Davis, Hugh Grant | | Director : | James Lapine | | Studio : | MGM/UA Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | May , 1991 | | DVD Released Date : | September 07, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | March 08, 2005 | | Summary | I take exception to the editorial review! | Content
 | I did not watch this movie in order to get educated (books are better for that), but in order to be entertained. I tend to expect historical accuracy more in novels, such as Gore Vidal's or Mary Renault's, than films, which are constrained by time and the need to please a diverse audience. I accept that a filmmaker will take considerable liberties in order to get his story across in less than two hours. There are history books available that cover the story of Sand and Chopin. And anyway, the liberties taken with facts and characters are trivial.
As far as entertainment value goes, I award five stars, meaning that in my opinion, there are few if any movies that are better. Maybe it is romantic foolishness, but the scene where Sand confronts Chopin is very moving no matter how many times I watch it. Judy Davis is amazing, while Hugh Grant performs competently. Besides passion, there is abundant wit and humor. This movie richly deserves being owned. I have watched it seven times, and it only improves with time.
I take strong exception with the first and foremost Editorial review of Impromptu, which appears to me of a jaded and cynical spirit. I think the movie was not given mature consideration, but judged solely on how it appealed to the author's pet political causes and infatuation with Hugh Grant.
Our Amazonian author may suppose the cause of feminism must be trumpeted by every movie. If this were the case, I should stop watching movies, as would most men and women. She takes Emma Thompson, who delivered a superb performance, to task. This is a comedy, and the buffoonery is distributed irregardless of gender. The author, had she bothered to count the numerous male buffoons in the film, might by a simple calculation have drawn the opposite conclusion, and accused the film of misandrogyny.
Sand, the heroine, is depicted quite favorably by Impromptu, with pluck and daring. Judy Davis is not in the slightest degree affected in her performance, though the prose of Sand herself, used in the script, was often affected and rather too flowery, but here the film is indulging in that virtue which our critic thinks it lacks, historical accuracy; as to which, there is no disputing the alliance between Chopin and Sand, which lasted many years. The details are invention, but the movie gets the character of the major players exactly right. Whether Chopin actually attended such a dinner party at such-and-such a date, and whether a certain play was performed with disasterous consequences, we may not know, but let us allow the artist some liberty to compress what could have been a very long story into less than two hours.
Every moment of this film was enjoyable; the quality is uniform and never lags. To slice even five seconds (let alone twenty minutes) from the movie would be an unforgivable travesty; and in all events the movie could only be considered too short, if anything. The author disparages the wit of the movie, considering it unnecessary, but this is one of its charms. Every apparently unnecessary diversion or digression is in fact relevant to the plot and to the characters, if you bother to pay close attention to the movie. There is not a single redundant character, and every character introduced entertains and instructs in their own way, despite being caricatures or buffoons.
Watching "Impromptu" for the eighth time tonight, I was reminded that, here, Sand falls in love not with Chopin the man, but his music, which I too love, as who could not? This is a truly Romantic version of love which transcends the physical, much like Chopin himself, whose body was feeble (he was to die of tuberculosis in his thirties). How often do we see this portrayed in movies? (Ever?) Listening to the dialogue once again confirms in my mind how well the movie captures the spirit of Romanticism, which Chopin and Sand both embodied in their own ways.
The central mistake the Amazonian reviewer made was to approach this movie with expectations about Hugh Grant, Hollywood's favorite, a good-looking dullard. Numerous actors could have improved upon Grant's performance, but no one could improve upon Judy Davis as George Sand. If you can find your way to appreciating her genius, then the movie's magnificence becomes crystal clear.
The quality of writing in this film is not equalled by any movie among the thousands that I have seen. It is the best movie ever made to my knowledge.
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| Rating | | | Date | December 28, 2004 | | Summary | Wonderful, simply loved it, but.................... | Content
| i wish this movie was MORE about Chopin and LESS about Sand.
seems to me like this movie was meant to show us the genius of Chopin, and instead it managed to show us what George Sand was about. Hugh Grant really did not do or say much in this movie, which was very dissapointing to me. his accent was OK, not great like Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, but fine. Liszt's hungarian accent wasn't accurate as well, but nobody seems to care about that..........
also, this movie covers a very short period of time, like possibly couple of years, in the life of George Sand, from the time she meets Chopin and hears his music to the time they travel to Majorca together with her children. it ends so abrubtly it makes you want to cry.
but, still i loved this movie. however, i will keep my ears and eyes open for that great movie about the great one and only--Chopin, who in my mind deserves so much more. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 02, 2004 | | Summary | Judy Davis Shines | Content
| Judy Davis Shines in her role. The best part of this film I think. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 05, 2004 | | Summary | PRETENTIOUS AND BORING | Content
| What happened here? You have a great cast, admirable production and producer/directors of note. Why was this one such a stinker? Something just didn't work here, as if this film was very impressed with itself so it didn't have to "work" at it. Sadly, it fails to deliver on all accounts. I saw it in a theatre and literally couldn't WAIT for it to end.
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| Rating | | | Date | October 26, 2004 | | Summary | Funny, elegant and historically correct | Content
| This Masterpiece Theater production of the love story between novelist George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin is funny, well-written and historically correct. It is played out in this film mostly for fun.
Judy Davis does a good job as Sand, the bawdy author that is thrown over by the handsome composer. Hugh Grant is exceptional as the sickly, understated, prissy and overdressed Chopin. His retrenchment at Sand's initial overtures is done tastefully and with powerful historic accuracy. Perhaps the weak point of the film is the lateness of their connection, occuring not so far in advance of Chopin's real life death at age 39 from tuberculosis.
The supporting cast is wonderful in this film. Julian Sands not only looks like Franz Lizst, he plays the vacuous visionary well. Bernadette Peters is in fine form as mother to Lizst's children with her own agenda on Chopin. Mandy Patinkin steals scenes regularly in his portrayl as Sands' lover and father of her children, while Ralph Brown does good work as Chopin's real life friend, the French revolutionary artist Eugene Delacroix. Emma Thompson also plays a very funny role in the cast.
Movies about classical musicians are never based in humor and are rarely as successful as this one. While "Amadeus" scored with fans and critics alike, it was made on a budget perhaps 100 time greater than that of "Impromptu". Compared to the cinematic abomination of Beethoven's life, "Distant Beloved", and the tawdry Ken Russell fantasy about Tchaikovsky, "The Music Lovers", this movie indeed sits atop an elevated pedestal.
People that love classical music and/or 19th century period reenactments, and people that enjoy subtle humor, will all get a kick from this movie. If that's you, purchase this with haste and get on with the enjoyment today. |
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