The Story of My Wife (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = The Story of My Wife

| image = The Story of My Wife.jpg

| caption = Promotional poster

| director = Ildikó Enyedi

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Maren Ade
Mónika Mécs
Ernő Mesterházy
Jonas Dornbach
Janine Jackowski
Flaminio Zadra
Pilar Saavedra Perrotta
Stéphane Parthenay
Robin Boespflug-Vonier
András Muhi

}}

| writer = Ildikó Enyedi

| based_on = {{based on|The Story of My Wife|Milán Füst}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Ádám Balázs

| cinematography = Marcell Rév

| editing = Károly Szalai

| production_companies = {{Plainlist|

Inforg-M&M Film
Komplizen Films
Palosanto Films
Pyramide Productions
Rai Cinema
WDR
Arte France Cinéma

}}

| distributor = {{Plainlist|

Mozinet
Alamode Film
Pyramide Distribution

}}

| released = {{Film date|2021|7|14|Cannes|2021|9|23|Hungary|2021|10|14|Germany|2022|1|12|France|df=yes}}

| runtime = 169 minutes

| country = {{Plainlist|

Hungary
Germany
France
Italy

}}

| language = English

| budget = €10 million

| gross =

}}

The Story of My Wife ({{langx|hu|A feleségem története}}) is a 2021 internationally co-produced romantic drama film written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi, based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Milán Füst. It stars Léa Seydoux, Gijs Naber, Louis Garrel, Sergio Rubini and Jasmine Trinca.

The film tells the story of a sea captain (Gijs Naber) who indifferently chooses a wife and becomes obsessed with her after a while.

It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 14 July 2021. It is scheduled to be released in Hungary on 23 September 2021, by Mozinet, and in Germany on 14 October 2021, by Alamode Film, and in France on 12 January 2022, by Pyramide Distribution.

Plot summary

Jakob Störr (Gijs Naber) is a sea captain in charge of freighters. After taking ill at sea his cook advises him to take a wife. Indifferent to the idea, Jakob informs a friend that he intends to marry and that it makes little difference who his wife is. He suggests he will marry the next woman who walks into the café. Seeing the beautiful Lizzy (Léa Seydoux) he proposes that they marry the following day and she suggests they wait a week.

Jakob and Lizzy are married and are initially quite happy with each other. Jakob leaves for months at a time and is satisfied to always have Lizzy at home waiting for him.

Cast

Léa Seydoux as Lizzy
Gijs Naber as Jakob Störr
Louis Garrel as Dedin
Sergio Rubini as Kodor
Jasmine Trinca as Viola
Luna Wedler as Grete
Josef Hader as Herr Lange
Ulrich Matthes as psychiatrist
Udo Samel as private investigator

Production

Milán Füst's novel, The Story of My Wife, was one of Enyedi's favorites when she was a teenager, which led her to adapt it into a film.{{cite web |last=Barraclough |first=Leo |title=First Look: Léa Seydoux in 'The Story of My Wife' From Ildikó Enyedi (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/global/first-look-lea-seydoux-the-story-of-my-wife-ildiko-enyedi-1203208700/ |website=Variety |date=May 8, 2019 |accessdate=February 26, 2020}} In February 2018, it was announced Léa Seydoux had joined the cast of the film, with Ildikó Enyedi directing from a screenplay she wrote. Monika Mécs, Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Flaminio Zadra, Pilar Saavedra Perrotta producing under their Inforg-M&M Film, Komplizen Film and Palosanto Films banners, respectively.{{cite web|last1=Roxborough|first1=Scott|title=Lea Seydoux to Star in New Film From Director Ildiko Enyedi (Exclusive)|website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=14 February 2018|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lea-seydoux-star-new-film-director-ildiko-enyedi-1084662|accessdate=April 10, 2019}} In April 2019, it was announced Gijs Naber, Louis Garrel, Josef Hader, Sergio Rubini and Jasmine Trinca had joined the cast of the film.{{cite web |last=Lemercier |first=Fabien |url=https://www.cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/347751|title=ldikó Enyedi shooting The Story of My Wife|website=Cineuropa|date=April 9, 2019|accessdate=April 9, 2019}} The dialogue is primarily in English because in the 1920s English was the primary language in the shipping industry.

Filming began on April 8 and in Hamburg, Budapest, and Malta.

Release

In February 2020, it was announced Rai Cinema, Mozinet, Pyramide Distribution and Almonde would distribute the film in Italy, Hungary, France, and Germany, respectively.{{cite web |last=Macnab |first=Geoffrey |title=Films Boutique inks deals on Ildikó Enyedi's 'Story Of My Wife' (exclusive) |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/films-boutique-inks-deals-on-ildiko-enyedis-story-of-my-wife-exclusive/5147543.article |website=Screen Daily |date=February 24, 2020 |accessdate=February 26, 2020}}

The Story of My Wife had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 14 July 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/the-films-of-the-official-selection-2021|title=The Films of the Official Selection 2021|website=Cannes Film Festival|date=June 3, 2021|access-date=June 3, 2021}} It is scheduled to be released in Hungary on 23 September 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1eScD9M7Eo|title=A feleségem története (12E) Enyedi Ildikó új filmje szeptember 23-tól a mozikban!|website=YouTube|date=June 30, 2021|access-date=July 17, 2021}} and in Germany on 14 October 2021.{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.ndr.de/kultur/film/festivals/Filmfest-Hamburg-2021-Die-Geschichte-meiner-Frau-im-Programm,filmfesthamburg334.html&prev=search&pto=aue|title=Filmfest Hamburg 2021: "The story of my wife" in the program|website=NDR|date=June 30, 2021|access-date=July 17, 2021}} and in France on 12 January 2022, by Pyramide Distribution.{{cite web|url= http://distrib.pyramidefilms.com/pyramide-distribution-prochainement/l-histoire-de-ma-femme.html|title=The Story of My Wife|website=Pyramide Distribution|access-date=15 July 2021}} The film will have its North American Premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.{{Cite web|last=Rubin|first=Rebecca|date=2021-07-20|title=Toronto Film Festival Lineup Adds 'Dear Evan Hansen,' 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' and 'Clifford the Big Red Dog'|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/toronto-film-festival-dear-evan-hansen-1235023598/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Variety|language=en-US}}

Reception

The Story of My Wife holds a 21% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 19 reviews, with a weighted average of 4.60/10.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_story_of_my_wife|title=The Story of My Wife (2021)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=August 14, 2022}} On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 40 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-story-of-my-wife|title=The Story of My Wife|website=Metacritic|access-date=July 17, 2021}}