| Judy Davis, Hugh Grant , Mandy Patinkin
, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands , Emma Thompson
Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin, better known in the literary world
as George Sand, not only took a man's name, but trotted around wearing
pants and smoking cigars in public. No great shakes today, but in
the 1800s she was perhaps the most famous (or infamous) woman in
the world. One of the first original celebrities, aside from her
garb and literary output, she was known to inspire many duels and
broken hearts among other famous hedonist artists. One character
describes her in Impromptu, as "that graveyard." The film
engages in a sexual roundelay among Sand's (Judy Davis) many friends
-- Eugene Delacroix (Ralph Brown), Alfred DeMusset (Mandy Patinkin),
Franz Liszt (Julian Sands), and Frederick Chopin (Hugh Grant). The
entire crew heads off to the summer estate of the Duke and Duchess
d'Antan (Anton Rodgers and Emma Thompson), invited there by the
culture-vulture hosts. Sand takes a bead on the sickly Chopin and
spends her time throwing herself at him. Also on hand is Liszt's
mistress Marie d'Agoult (Bernadette Peters) and Felicien Mallefille
(Georges Corraface), Sand's recently jilted lover. Mallefille is
jealous of any of the other guests who glance in Sand's direction
and continually challenges them to duels. Marie, on the other hand,
is enlisted by Sand to deliver a note to Chopin. But Marie, jealous
of Sand, delivers the note substituting her name for Sand's. And
as the weekend continues, the sexual merry-go-round continues at
full tilt. |