|
| Impromptu | 
 enlarge | Director: James Lapine
Actors: Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $7.16
You Save: $7.82 (52%)
New (32) Used (16) from $6.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 7643
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 107
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: D1002967D
ISBN: 0792851870
UPC: 027616871541
EAN: 9780792851875
ASIN: B00005UJYA
Theatrical Release Date: May 1991
Release Date: March 19, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Good movie November 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a fan of the music of Frederic Chopin and I have seen other movies that tell his story. Although this is not a true story it is a fun movie to watch. I enjoy the music that is played throughout. The casting for Franz Listz (Julian Sands) was the best. I would recommend this movie for any music devotee.
My Favorite September 16, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Impromptu is my favorite all time movie. It well written, well acted by a flock of fine performers and it's funny plus being historically accurate
and filled with beautiful music. George Sand (Judy Davis)pursues Chopin (Hugh Grant)and at the end they go off to Majorca. Impromptu is intentionally funny. A Song to Remember is almost as funny but not on purpose. George Sand (Merle Operon) carts Chopin (Cornel Wild)off to Majorca and they have problems. Together they make a great pair of movies for a weekend.
Helen
One of my favorite films July 28, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This has to be one of my all time favorites. It is a wonderful, funny, romantic look at the beginning of the relationship between Chopin and Georges Sand. Judy Davis is a marvel as Sand, conniving, volatile, loving. Hugh Grant at the beginning of his career invests Chopin with an otherworldly charm that is unforgettable. The whole cast is marvelous. You cannot help but laugh out loud at the antics this group of artists (Liszt, Delacroix, Sand) get up to. Do yourself a favor and watch this wonderful film. It will take you to another world for a few hours. You'll enjoy the journey.
Thre is no double standard for George Sand September 4, 2006
24 out of 26 found this review helpful
James Lapine is best known as a playwright and director. He is most famous for his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim including Sunday in the Park with George, Passion and Into the Woods. He brings this talent to the big screen.
George Sand was a great French writer. Since society thought that women should be subservient housewives, George wanted to fly in the face of society. She wrote under a man's name and dressed like a man. She treated men as playthings. Therefore, she was the scandal and titillation of Paris.
That is until she is introduced to the shy Polish composer Frederic Chopin. When she hears his music, she becomes enchanted with him. But Frederic wants nothing to do with such a notorious woman. So George decides to give Frederic a woman that he wants.
This is a brilliant romantic comedy with a cast of up and coming actors. Judy Davis has always chosen interesting role from her early Australian films to her television roles. This is another great meaty role for Judy and she eats it up. Hugh Grant was a relative unknown when this film was made but this film would be the first of the quintessential Hugh Grant characters. In supporting roles are Lapine regulars Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin. Also in the film are early roles by Emma Thompson and Julian Sands.
If you are looking for something witty and intelligent, Impromptu is definitely the film to watch.
DVD EXTRAS: NONE
Excellent, Entertaining Satire August 28, 2006
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I would unreservedly rate Impromptu five out of five after two viewings, the reason being it's the most successful period drama I've watched that combines history and farce in a most effectively entertaining manner.
Each of the main characters (practically everyone has a distinct voice) are imbued with nothing short of humour and definitive caricature - a steadfast George Sand, a neurotic Chopin, an irreverant Musset, a virile Delacroix, a hyperbolic, quietly intellectual and mild Liszt, a haughty, spiteful and duplicitous Marie D'Agoult and a hysterical Countess who has been so effectively parodied as the patron of minor talents but huge inheritance.
As with countless of historical dramas, Impromptu has not been spared a degree of measurement with regards to historical accuracy. I feel that a certain dispense from the facts is acceptable, so far as they remain relevant, and conducive to the development of the story and in this case, the humour.
Emma Thompson has proven time and again, her mastery of period drama and her multi-faceted talents.
Judy Davis and Bernadette Peters are truly brilliant and entertaining in their convincing and riveting portrayals of Sand (whom you love to emphatize with) and D'Agoult (whom you love to hate), eventually placed at loggerheads.
The DVD also comes with a French voice-over not found in many films of French background filmed in English. The dialogue is much more hilarious than the original in English! (especially with George Sand and Marie D'Agoult's parts)... A boon for viewers who wish to improve on their non-native language.
The soundtracks are strung together in a most admirable fashion, beginning most lightheartedly with Chopin's fleeting-paced but good-natured Impromptu in A flat, the theme of Sand's "romantic calling" in Chopin's first Ballade and the Fantasie-Impromptu near to the end of the film, which should be familiar to almost any viewer.
Lush orchestrations have been "mixed" in certain parts with the original solo piano excerpts to enhance the dramatic flow. Musical purists need not be overly concerned with this mild cosmetic effect.
Overall, it is a film I would recommend without hesitation to lovers of classical music, historical drama and comedy.
|
|
|
 Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
