Impossible Object | |
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Directed by | John Frankenheimer |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Impossible Object by Nicholas Mosley |
Produced by | Jud Kinberg |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Claude Renoir |
Edited by | Albert Jurgenson |
Music by | Michel Legrand |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
Country | France Italy |
Language | English French |
Budget | $1.8 million [1] |
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. [2] 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. [3] 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.
Credits adapted from the Powerhouse Films Blu-ray booklet. [4]
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. [5]
The film was a financial failure. Frankenheimer later said it was never properly released because the producers went bankrupt. [6] 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. [7] Frankenheimer said he entered the film with a stolen print. [8]
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Seven Days in May (1964), The Train (1964), Seconds (1966), Grand Prix (1966), French Connection II (1975), Black Sunday (1977), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), and Ronin (1998).
Joseph Walton Losey III was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blacklisted by Hollywood in the 1950s, he moved to Europe where he made the remainder of his films, mostly in the United Kingdom. Among the most critically and commercially successful were the films with screenplays by Harold Pinter: The Servant (1963) and The Go-Between (1971).
Ronin is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by John David Zeik and David Mamet, under the pseudonym Richard Weisz. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce. The film is about a team of former special operatives hired to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties. The film was praised for its realistic car chases in Nice and Paris.
Accident is a 1967 British drama film directed by Joseph Losey. Written by Harold Pinter, it is an adaptation of the 1965 novel Accident by Nicholas Mosley. It is the third of four Losey–Pinter collaborations; the others being The Servant (1963), Modesty Blaise (1966) and The Go-Between (1971). At the 1967 Cannes Film Festival, Accident won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury award. It also won the Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association.
Nicholas Mosley, 3rd Baron Ravensdale,, was a British peer, novelist and biographer, including that of his father, Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists.
Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne professionally known as Dominique Sanda, is a French actress.
Seconds is a 1966 American science fiction psychological horror film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, and Will Geer. The film tells the story of a middle-aged New York banker who, disillusioned with his life, contacts an agency known as "The Company" which specializes in providing "rebirths" under new identities and appearances altered by plastic surgery. The screenplay by Lewis John Carlino was based on the 1963 novel of the same title by David Ely.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is a 1970 Italian historical drama war film directed by Vittorio De Sica. The screenplay by Ugo Pirro and Vittorio Bonicelli adapts Italian Jewish author Giorgio Bassani's 1962 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, about the lives of an upper-class Jewish family in Ferrara during the Fascist era. The film stars Lino Capolicchio, Dominique Sanda, Helmut Berger, Romolo Valli, and Fabio Testi in his breakthrough role.
The Go-Between is a 1971 British historical drama film directed by Joseph Losey. Its screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaptation of the 1953 novel The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley. The film stars Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Margaret Leighton, Michael Redgrave and Dominic Guard. It won the Palme d'Or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.
The Iceman Cometh is a 1973 American drama film directed by John Frankenheimer. The screenplay, written by Thomas Quinn Curtiss, is based on Eugene O'Neill's 1946 play of the same name. The film was produced by Ely Landau for the American Film Theatre, which from 1973 to 1975 presented thirteen film adaptations of noted plays.
First Love is a 1970 film, written, directed, produced and starred in by Austrian director Maximilian Schell. It is an adaptation of Ivan Turgenev's 1860 novella of the same name, starring Schell, Dominique Sanda, and John Moulder-Brown.
Evening Dress is a 1986 French comedy-drama film directed by Bertrand Blier. It was entered into the 1986 Cannes Film Festival where Michel Blanc won the award for Best Actor.
The Conformist is a 1970 political drama film written and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, based on the 1951 novel of the same title by Alberto Moravia. It stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio, Fosco Giachetti, José Quaglio, Dominique Sanda and Pierre Clémenti. Set in 1930s Italy, The Conformist centers on a mid-level Fascist functionary (Trintignant) who is ordered to assassinate his former professor, an anti-Fascist dissident in Paris. His mission is complicated after he begins an affair with the professor's wife (Sanda).
The 26th Cannes Film Festival was held from 10 to 25 May 1973. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to Scarecrow by Jerry Schatzberg and The Hireling by Alan Bridges. At this festival two new non-competitive sections were added: 'Étude et documents' and 'Perspectives du Cinéma Français'.
The 29th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 28 May 1976. The Palme d'Or went to Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese. In 1976, "L'Air du temps", a new section which was non-competitive and focused on contemporary subjects, was introduced. This section, along with sections "Les Yeux fertiles" of the previous year and "Le Passé composé" of the next year, were integrated into Un Certain Regard in 1978.
Lewis John Carlino was an American screenwriter and director. His career spanned five decades and included such works as The Fox, The Brotherhood, The Mechanic, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Resurrection, and The Great Santini. Carlino was nominated for many awards, including the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Le Voyage en douce is a 1980 French drama film directed by Michel Deville. The screenplay is shaped around 15 different sexual anecdotes, penned by 15 writers. The film stars Dominique Sanda and Geraldine Chaplin. It was entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival.
India Song is a 1975 French drama film written and directed by Marguerite Duras. It stars Delphine Seyrig, Michael Lonsdale, Mathieu Carrière, Claude Mann, Vernon Dobtcheff, Didier Flamand and Claude Juan. The film centres on Anne-Marie (Seyrig), the promiscuous wife of the French ambassador in India, and was based on an unproduced play written by Duras. Although set in India, the film was shot mostly on location at the Château Rothschild. It was selected as the French entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 48th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Jacques Fonteray was a French costume designer active in the film industry. Amongst his credits were the costumes for the 1968 film Barbarella.
Impossible Object is a 1968 novel written by Nicholas Mosley. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1969.