Impromptu (1991 film)

Infobox Film
name = Impromptu


caption = Promotional movie poster for the film
director = James Lapine
producer = Stuart Oken
Daniel A. Sherkow
eproducer =
aproducer =
writer = Sarah Kernochan
starring = Judy Davis
Hugh Grant
Mandy Patinkin
Bernadette Peters
Julian Sands
Ralph Brown
Georges Corraface
Anton Rodgers
Emma Thompson
Anna Massey
music = Frédéric Chopin
Franz Liszt
Ludwig van Beethoven
cinematography = Bruno de Keyzer
editing = Michael Ellis
distributor = Sovereign Pictures
released = 12 April 1991
runtime = 91 min
country = UK, France
awards =
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0102103

"Impromptu" is a 1991 movie, based on a screenplay written by Sarah Kernochan, directed by James Lapine, produced by Daniel A. Sherkow and Stuart Oken, and starring Hugh Grant as Chopin and Judy Davis as George Sand. This movie was rated PG-13 by the MPAA. Impromptu won the award as Audience Favorite at the Houston WorldFest Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre (1993). The film was shot entirely on location in France as a British production by an American company.

Plot

Since getting divorced, Baroness Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, previously Baroness Dudevant, the successful and notorious writer of sensational romance novels now living under the pseudonym George Sand, in Paris, has been in the habit of dressing like a man. In her romantic pursuit of the sensitive Chopin, whose music she fell in love with before seeing him in person, George/Aurora is advised that she must act like a man pursuing a woman, and also advised to avoid damaging his health by not pursuing him at all. With this advice Sand is betrayed by a fellow countrywoman who is also smitten with Chopin, the mistress of Franz Liszt, the Countess Marie d'Agoult, who is not able to get a divorce.

Sand meets Chopin in the French countryside at the house of the Duchess d'Antan, a foolish aspiring socialite who invites artists from Paris in order to feel cosmopolitan. Sand invites herself, not knowing that several of her former lovers are also going to arrive. A small play is written by Alfred de Musset satirizing the aristocracy, Chopin protests at his lack of manners, de Musset bellows and an explosion ensues.

Sand wins over Chopin through impressive memorization of her own work and swift publishing ability, trumping d'Agoult's theft of a letter which might have caused Chopin to choose the countess over the former baroness. Sand eventually gets to participate in a duel for Chopin, because he fainted during the face-off with Sand's children's tutor, who has been successively challenging each of Sand's other lovers, and suspected lovers.

When Sand and Chopin get together, they dedicate a volume of music to the countess to give her some satisfaction, although this only suggests that she has had an affair with Chopin, causing a falling-out with her lover Liszt. Sand and Chopin depart for Majorca, relieved to escape the competitive nature of artistic alliances and jealousies in Paris.

Cast

*Judy Davis - "George Sand (Aurora)"
*Hugh Grant - "Frédéric Chopin"
*Mandy Patinkin - "Alfred de Musset"
*Bernadette Peters - "Marie D'Agoult"
*Julian Sands - "Franz Liszt"
*Ralph Brown - "Eugène Delacroix"
*Georges Corraface - "Felicien Mallefille"
*Anton Rodgers - "Duke D'Antan"
*Emma Thompson - "Duchess D'Antan"
*Anna Massey - "George Sand's Mother"

and
*David Birkin - "Maurice"
*Nimer Rashed - "Didier"
*Fiona Vincente - "Solange"
*John Savident - "Buloz"
*Lucy Speed - "Young Aurora"
*Elizabeth Spriggs - "Baroness Laginsky"
*Jezabelle Amato - "Innkeeper's Wife"
*Claude Berthy - "Chopin's Valet"
*André Chaumeau - "Priest"
*Nicholas Hawtrey - "Philosopher"
*Isabelle Guiard - "Princess"
*Fernand Guiot - "Butler"
*Sylvie Herbert - "Sophie"
*Annette Milsom - "Ursule"
*Jean-Michel Dagory - "Innkeeper"
*François Lalande - "Local Doctor"
*Ian Marshall de Garnier - "Editor"
*Dale Scott-Giry - "Woman at Party"
*Stuart Seide - "Clerk"

Soundtrack listing

Chopin:
* Impromptu No. 1 in A-flat major (Op. 29)
* Ballade No. 1 in G minor (Op. 23)
* Polonaise in A major "Military" (Op. 40, No.1)
* Etude in E minor "Wrong Note" (Op. 25, No. 5)
* Prelude in G-sharp minor (Op. 28, No. 12)
* Prelude in D-flat major "Raindrop" (Op. 28, No. 15)
* Etude in G-flat major "Butterfly" (Op. 25, No. 9)
* Nouvelle Etude No. 1 in F minor
* Etude in C-sharp minor (Op. 10, No. 4)
* Waltz in D-flat major "Minute" (Op. 64, No. 1)
* Fantasy-Impromptu in C-sharp minor (Op. 66)
* Nocturne in F major (Op. 15, No. 1)
* Etude in A-flat major "Aeolian Harp" (Op. 25, No. 1)

Liszt:
* "Apres d'une lecture de Dante" (from "Années de Pèlerinage", 2nd year)
* Transcendental Etude No. 4 "Mazeppa"
* "Grand galop chromatique"

Beethoven:
* Symphony No.6 in D major "Pastoral"

Awards and nominations

Independent Spirit Awards
*Best Female Lead--Judy Davis (WINNER)
*Best Supporting Female--Emma Thompson (nominee)

External links

*
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/impromptu/?critic=columns rottentomatoes listing]