Impossible Object

1973 French film

Eric Kahane
Nicholas Mosley

Based onImpossible Object
by Nicholas MosleyProduced byJud KinbergStarring

Alan Bates
Dominique Sanda
Michel Auclair
Evans Evans
Lea Massari

CinematographyClaude RenoirEdited byAlbert JurgensonMusic byMichel Legrand

Production
companies

Franco London Film
Robert Bradford Productions
Euro International Films

Distributed by

Valoria Films (France)
Euro International Films (Italy)

Release date

24 May 1973 (1973-05-24)

Running time

113 minutesCountryFrance
ItalyLanguageEnglish
FrenchBudget$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.

Cast

Credits adapted from the Powerhouse Films Blu-ray booklet.^[4]

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.^[5]

Reception

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]

References

^ So 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.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Story of a Love Story". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
^ Mosher, Jerry (2011). A Little Solitaire: John Frankenheimer and American film. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 204.
^ Cast (booklet). Powerhouse Films. 2024. p. 2. PHILE192.
^ A Little Solitaire: John Frankenheimer and American Film, p. 206, p. 206, at Google Books
^ Blume, Mary (Sep 1, 1974). "Fathering a 'Connection' Offspring". Los Angeles Times. p. m20.
^ "Industry Activities". American Cinematographer. 55 (10): 1224. October 1974.
^ Pratley, Gerald (1998). The Films of Frankenheimer: Forty Years in Film. London: Lehigh University Press. p. 127.