Impossible Object — Impossible Object (Blu Ray)
Impossible Object is a late 70’s romantic drama, where fact and fantasy shift ‘n’ slide. The film is artily edged, with a decidedly darting structure- though there is charm, flair and passion here- both in the filmmaking and the acting. From Powerhouse here’s a Blu-Ray reissue taking two versions of the film, a new commentary track, and both new & archive extras.
Impossible Object( aka Story of a Love Story) is from the year 1973. It’s a French, Italian, and US production- with the dialogue in both French & English. It was directed by New York-born director/ producer John Frankenheimer- who was both a respected and versatile filmmaker, whose work went from social-political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Skydiving drama The Gypsy Moth (1969), terrorist in charge of an Airship disaster movie Black Sunday (1977), environmental horror Prophecy (1979), and early 80’s brutal Ninja action film The Challenge (1982).
The film is centred around English writer living-in-France Harry (Alan Bates). He’s married to American Elizabeth(Evans Evans)- with three sons- one in his early teens, and the other two around ten and six.
The film opens with Harry walking through a stature art gallery- where he makes eye contact with late twenties Frenchwoman Natalie(Dominique Sanda). She is married to middle-aged TV executive Georges (Michel Auclair)- and as the film unfolds it’s clear she feels the marriage is rather on autopilot.
After the pair's eyes meet the attraction is seemingly instant & an affair begins- with the pair getting to know each other over a few drinks & food. Harry spends time in a city apartment, away from his wife & children at their large vine-tanged rural France set house- supposable writing his new novel, but in reality using it as a base to progress the affair from talk to flesh.
The film very much shifts back and forth in time & place- moving between rural & urban France, and several warm/ beach-set locations. The film's structure drifts between real and unreal- as we get pulled along with the affairs real unfold, Harry’s fictionized re-telling of it. And an all-out fantasy world- where semi-nude characters sit around a swimming pool with surreal to Greek mythos-inspired items, and lines on doorways leading to memories standing in woodland.
Bates is perfect as our lead-slipping well between being a charming father, onto a man possessed by passion & obsession, though to been fearful & broken. Sanda is fairly subdued & mysterious as Natalie. Both Evans and Auclair work well as the been cheated on- the former tries to keep things together for their boys, while the latter shifts from being embittered to angered.
Impossible Object is a rather engaging and rewarding puzzle of a film- certainly shaking up the normal romantic drama in an interesting & creative manner. One would think with the shift structure it may be a film that’s difficult to follow- but I found it just fine. yes, there are fantasy & arty elements- but these never become too overbearing- with the story still important/ meaningful within the film's structure.
Moving onto this new release it’s a region A & B disc. It features two versions of the film- Impossible Object, the original French theatrical cut (113 mins); and Story of a Love Story, the alternative international cut (104 mins). Both of these get a 4k scan, and really look wonderfully in their depth & clarity- bringing both the real-life & fantasy to glorious life. I fully watched the longer cut for my review.
On the new extras side, we get a commentary from film expert Tim Lucas- and as always it’s a very well-researched, detailed, and observed track from Mr Lucas- who truly is one of the best in the commentary game. He moves from talking about how the idea of the film was seeded by the Nicholas Mosley novel of the same name from 1968, going on to how book & film differ. He talks about how the lead character Harry has a child-like quality, and what this means to the films story. We find out that actress Evans Evans was the wife of director Frankenheimer, and apparently, he had many extra-marital affairs, though the pair stayed together until he died in 2021. Later on, he quotes from interviews with the director about the film from the time of release. He comments/ breaks down certain scenes, and points out memorable dialogue. And of course much, much more- it’s easily a track I could play multiple times, as Lacus packs in so many interesting facts & observations.
Otherwise, on the new side we get These Obscure Subjects of Desire: Objectified Women in the Lost Films of Frankenheimer and Lumet( 13.20) which is a visual essay by filmmaker and film historian Daniel Kremer- as he looks at the the thematic and historical interconnections between Impossible Object and Sidney Lumet’s 1969 feature The Appointment. And Stories of a Love Story(9.27) which is a video comparison analysing the differences between the two versions of the film. Both of these are most interesting too.
Lastly, on the archive side, we have Interview with John Frankenheimer (4.14) from 1973 an extract from the French television programme Le Cinéma à..., featuring the director discussing the film before and after an early public screening. We have Story of a Love Story script gallery: surviving pages of the dialogue continuity records, and an Image gallery: publicity/promotional material.
The finished release is topped off with a forty-four-page booklet with a new essay by Adam Scovell, a new appreciation by experimental artist and record producer Russell Haswell, a look at the work of Nicholas Mosley and the themes of the source novel, excerpts from John Frankenheimer interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.
Impossible Object certainly is a highly original and distinctive take on the romantic drama form- been both creative and thought-provoking. As we’ve come to expect from Powerhouse we get a lovely new print of the film, and a selection of most interesting extras.