Impossible Object
{{About|the 1973 movie|the optical illusion|Impossible object}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Impossible Object
| image = Impossible Object Movie Poster.jpg
| caption = Belgian film poster
| director = John Frankenheimer
| producer = Jud Kinberg
| screenplay = {{plainlist|
- Eric Kahane
- Nicholas Mosley
}}
| based_on = {{Based on|Impossible Object|Nicholas Mosley}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
}}
| narrator =
| music = Michel Legrand
| cinematography = Claude Renoir
| editing = Albert Jurgenson
| studio = {{plainlist|
- Franco London Film
- Robert Bradford Productions
- Euro International Films
}}
| distributor = {{plainlist|
- Valoria Films {{small|(France)}}
- Euro International Films {{small|(Italy)}}
}}
| released = {{Film date|1973|05|24|df=yes}}
| runtime = 113 minutes
| country = France
Italy
| language = English
French
| budget =$1.8 millionSo You Make a Movie-Will the Public Ever See It?: Movies So You Make a Movie -- Will the Public See It?
By STEPHEN! FARBER. New York Times 24 Feb 1974: 105.
}}
Impossible Object (French: L'Impossible Objet), also known as Story of a Love Story, is a 1973 romantic drama film starring Alan Bates and Dominique Sanda. It was directed by John Frankenheimer with a screenplay by Nicholas Mosley based on his own novel. It was screened at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition.{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2323/year/1973.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Story of a Love Story |access-date=2009-04-20|work=festival-cannes.com}} Mosley wrote the screenplay at the behest of director Joseph Losey, whose film Accident was based on an earlier Mosley novel. Dirk Bogarde and Catherine Deneuve had been attached to the film.{{Cite book|title=A Little Solitaire: John Frankenheimer and American film|last=Mosher|first=Jerry|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2011|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey|pages=204}} However, Losey had difficulty financing the film and later fell out with Mosley over The Assassination of Trotsky. Frankenheimer, looking to make an independent film, took over the project.
Cast
Credits adapted from the Powerhouse Films Blu-ray booklet.{{Cite AV media notes
| title =Cast
| year =2024
| page = 2
| type =booklet
| publisher = Powerhouse Films
| id = PHILE192
}}
- Alan Bates as Harry
- Dominique Sanda as Natalie
- Michel Auclair as Georges
- Evans Evans as Elizabeth
- Paul Crauchet as the Plumber
- Lea Massari as Hippolyta
- Sean Bury as Adam
- Henri Czarniak as Private Investigator
- Vernon Dobtcheff as Private Investigator
- Mark Dightam as James
- Isabelle Giraud-Carrier as Danielle
- Michael McVey as Richard
- Laurence de Monaghan as Cleo
- André Rouille as Gendarme
Production
Principal photography for this movie was delayed until Dominique Sanda gave birth to her son (in April 1972). John Frankenheimer shot footage of a pregnant and naked Sanda, which was used in the movie when her character Nathalie, Harry's mistress, is pregnant with his child.{{Google books|WIKP-d-xcYsC|A Little Solitaire: John Frankenheimer and American Film, p. 206|page=206}}
Reception
The film was a financial failure. Frankenheimer later said it was never properly released because the producers went bankrupt.{{Cite news|title=Fathering a 'Connection' Offspring|author=Blume, Mary|date=Sep 1, 1974|work=Los Angeles Times|page=m20}} However, the film saw some success at the 1974 Atlanta Film Festival, where it won the Grand Award Gold Phoenix for best film. Mosley also won for best screenplay and composer Michel Legrand for his film score.{{cite journal|title=Industry Activities|journal=American Cinematographer|date=October 1974|volume=55|issue=10|page=1224}} Frankenheimer said he entered the film with a stolen print.{{cite book|last1=Pratley|first1=Gerald|author-link=Gerald Pratley|title=The Films of Frankenheimer: Forty Years in Film|url=https://archive.org/details/filmsoffrankenhe0000prat|url-access=registration|date=1998|publisher=Lehigh University Press|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/filmsoffrankenhe0000prat/page/127 127]}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0070739}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|story_of_a_love_story}}
- [http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/l-impossible-objet L'impossible objet] at Festival de Cannes
{{John Frankenheimer}}
Category:1970s English-language films
Category:Films directed by John Frankenheimer
Category:English-language French films
Category:English-language Italian films
{{1970s-drama-film-stub}}