| Impromptu | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 56 reviews)
Sales Rank: 9772
Category: DVD
Actors: Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands
Director: James Lapine
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 108 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
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
Release Date: March 19, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: May 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Still more Victorian country-house shenanigans: novelist George Sand (Judy Davis, affected but pretty darn charming) has eyes for Franz Liszt's young protege Chopin (Hugh Grant, solid as always, but burdened by a silly Polish accent and a script that never lets him stretch out), but various lovers, jealous rivals, and Chopin's own overdeveloped sense of propriety conspire to confound her. Impromptu is witty but overlong--probably 20 minutes of hijinks and repartee, not to mention several completely gratuitous and redundant characters, could have been sliced from the film. Davis plays Sand as an impetuous, overgrown tomboy, outraging her genteel hosts by wearing pants, chomping cigars, and falling off horses; her coterie of artist-friends assure us, in a series of naked plot devices, that she nonetheless has a heart of gold. It's all good silly fun, and about as feminist as your average Def Leppard video--the other two developed female characters are ugly stereotypes: a featherbrained, feckless social climber (Emma Thompson, who once again proves she's up for anything) and a spiteful, back-stabbing shrew (the ever-capable Bernadette Peters). Director James Lapine clearly belongs to the Dr. Quinn school of historical accuracy, so don't expect to learn anything about the period or the artists themselves. Impromptu is far more Melrose Place than Mrs. Dalloway, or perhaps best described as an episode of Entertainment Tonight set in the 19th century. --Miles Bethany
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| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
 Great Romance of a Life Time June 2, 2009
The romantic pursuit for the heart of composer Frederick Chopin by authoress George Sand. His feelings in his music must have spoke to her like her feelings in her novels. She pursued him like a man pursues a woman. It must be true that there is someone for everyone if they are open to the possibilities. I truly enjoyed this movie.
Delightful! May 10, 2009
Impromptu is one of my favourite films because it has an excellent cast, beautiful period costumes, great cinematography, and I can't leave out the exceptionally beautiful soundtrack! Chopin and Liszt music flow throughout the scenes and Hugh Grant pulls off a believable Chopin. If you enjoy period dramas, history, historical fiction and romantic classical music - this is a must-see film!
 Chopin meets George Sand February 3, 2009
A movie that does a good job of encapsulating the characters and fashion of Fredrik Chopin's time in 1800's Paris. The dialog is witty and the pace of the movie is quick. Hugh Grant plays Chopin, the Polish piano phenomenon,who is swept of his feet by the femme fatale novelist, George Sand{Judy Davis). The movie is funny, the costumes lush and the music, of course heavenly.
 "What a brave man she was, and what a good woman." January 17, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Very enjoyable period romance/biotic/dramedy based on the real events, portrays truly famous, and even legendary figures of 19th Century culture such as George Sand, nee Aurora Dupin, Frederick Chopin, Franz Listz, Eugene Delacroix, and Alfred De Musset. The main heroine (or the hero) of the film is George Sand, who is equally known for her Romantic novels and her quite scandalous at the time way of life. For a young woman from the upper-class society, to leave her husband, take two children with her, make a living with her writing, and especially to show up in public wearing men clothing and openly smocking - it was shocking. To act like a man when it comes to love affairs - taking lovers when she felt like it and leaving them when the affair bored her was simply outrageous by the rules of the society. George Sand did not care; she had a strong personality and followed her own rules. Her contemporary, the Russian ex-patriot, famous novelist Ivan Turgenev said about her "What a brave man she was, and what a good woman." That's exactly who Judy Davis is playing in the little known but witty, intelligent, charmingly silly and believe it or not historically accurate movie called "Impromptu". It tells the story of the romance between strong and full of life George Sand and very talented romantic composer, Frederic Chopin whose music made her fall in love with him even before they met in person. It is difficult to imagine together two people more different than a delicate fragile Chopin who died young at the age of 39 from the lung illness and fiercely independent, notorious and unorthodox George/Aurora but their romance which was the union of two lovers, close friends, and eventually more like mother - son relationship is the historical fact. Hugh Grant in one of his earlier roles as young Polish composer and virtuoso piano-player is refined, well-mannered and very attractive. Actually all cast of the movie is delightful, Mandy Patinkin (Alfred de Musset), Jules Sands (Franz Listz), Bernadette Peters (Countess D'Agout, Listz lover, muse, and mother of his children who believed she could be even better muse for Chopin), and fabulous Emma Thompson who brought much appreciated comedy as Duchess D'Antan, rich aristocrat who sees herself as a patron of Art and the friend of the Artists. What the artists think of her is the different story.
Needless to say that the film is filled with the captivating music, charming costumes, and gorgeous locations. It is a hidden treasure and I am glad to have finally discovered it.
4/5
A gem of an indie December 17, 2008
This gem of an indie has been one of my favorites since its original release, and I was pleased to recently pick up a DVD after all these years. A very young Hugh Grant plays an effete and diffident Frederic Chopin, pursued with devouring aggressiveness by the author George Sand (Judy Davis, in a marvelous comic performance). The movie teems with great actors filling out the supporting roles (Emma Thompson, Julian Sands, Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin) and moves along at a jaunty clip, following the lives of a raucous 19th century group of artists, composers and writers. Works as a date movie, but it's really just a good movie in general.
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