John Frankenheimer's impossibly cryptic love story is the very definition of noble failure. Alan Bates is a writer living in the French countryside with wife Evans Evans and their three children. He meets the enigmatic Dominique Sanda in a Paris museum & they embark on a torrid love affair. What's real & what's fantasy is never clear and the film suffers for it. While the acting is all first rate, the blurry story-lines become tedious. Bates is great, blustery and full of life, well teamed with the morose Sanda (she hates her husband and wants out, or does she?). Nicholas Mosley's script has flights of fancy interspersed with scenes grounded very much in reality. A lot of it comes off as silly rather than fantastic. Still, Frankenheimer gets points for making a very different type of film. There is exceptional cinematography by Claude Renior and fine, unobtrusive music score by Michel Legrand.
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JasparLamarCrabb19 September 2013
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philosopherjack23 January 2018It's oddly appropriate that John Frankenheimer's Story of a Love Story was never properly released, and is very hard to see now - the title suggests a distancing (if not plain redundancy), whereas the alternative title Impossible Object threatens to disappear altogether. The love story, if such it is, is between an English writer (Alan Bates, in provocative, improvisatory-feeling form) living in France with an American wife and a houseful of kids, and the French wife (Dominique Sanda, one of the most beguilingly watchful of actresses ) of an older French husband, mother of a single daughter. The film moves around within their timeline of their relationship, further destabilizing itself through the insertion of fantasy sequences from Bates' imagination, or from another imagination altogether - at various times the movie (which, if nothing else, never seems to be merely coasting) seems to explicitly evoke Fellini (as in a nudity-strewn dream sequence) and Antonioni (the title also evokes his Cronaca di un amore, and Lea Massari from L'Avventura enters with Bates into a vaguely Don't Look Now-ish tumble of sexual positions) and a generalized on-the-fly kind of New Wave-ish ness. It's hard to know what the (at least to that point) usually tougher-contoured Frankenheimer wanted out of such a project, if not to disappear within it, perhaps to renew himself through an exercise in evasiveness (although with his wife Evans Evans hovering in the role of Bates' wife and providing a vague tether). Complaints about the film's inconsequentiality hardly seem fair in this context - it seems designed to perpetually recede (as love usually does, I suppose), shifting for a while into exotic dreaminess and then into sustained, piercing tragedy, before veering away again into quizzical possibilities. The film's pretty visuals and ingratiating aspects perhaps made it too easy to dismiss (certainly something did) but it's genuinely, surprisingly rewarding.
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ofumalow27 February 2012It's hard to believe a movie this such illustrious collaborators could be without interest, but "Story of a Love Story" is pretty hard to watch, testing patience even as an object of curiosity. No wonder it was barely released.
Bates and Sanda play people married--more or less happily--to others, though naturally their strong attraction (and on/off involvement) with each other creates marital problems. That's about it for plot, such as there is any. These characters are well-off, and they travel hotspots from Paris to Morocco just to wander about and pose against scenic backdrops. Bates is a writer; some of what we see is apparently from his writerly imagination rather than the real world, though like everything else here those divisions come off muddled and pointless.
Why the two lead figures are so into each other is baffling, particularly since the performers have zero chemistry. Sanda, who could act for the right director (Bertolucci etc.), is in her waxy ex-model mode here, beautiful as a Grecian statue and about as animated. The usually wonderful Bates is working so hard to be antic and likable here--perhaps to compensate for there being hardly any character to play--that he's actually rather grating. Director Frankenheimer's wife Evans Evans plays Bates' wife and Michel Auclair (twice Sanda's age and then some) plays the other husband. Both are dullish, but then they're not given much to work with.
"Story of a Love Story" has a lot of nudity (none male) without being erotic in the slightest; it has vaguely Fellini-esque fantasy sequences that Frankenheimer shows absolutely no flair for; both leads narrate at times, which adds to the sense that this movie is grasping at straws structurally. It's written by Nicholas Mosely, and the intentions (as well as their failure) are better understood if you know that it's based on one of his highly intellectual, idea-focused, challenging literary novels, which even their admirers often confess being unable to "follow" completely. (He also wrote "Accident," which works much better in Joseph Losey's film version. That movie suggests the kind of chilly meta-narrative gamesmanship that "Story" simply flails at--and even if it did a better job, would find those sharp edges curled by Michel Legrand's sugary score.)
In any case, whatever was being attempted here, it utterly fails, coming off as a murky international co-production soap opera with half-realized arty pretensions. Maybe Frankenheimer was just too literal-minded a director for this material (though it's hard to imagine anybody making some of the clumsy dialogue work). The movie might sound offbeat and interesting in description, but it's a thoroughly tedious failure in execution. (Too bad he and Bates only crossed paths twice, the other occasion being "The Fixer," which in its very different way is nearly as bad a literary adaptation.) Even a scene (SPOILER) in which a baby is accidentally drowned has no tension or drama, with Sanda actually seeming more bored than distraught.
Anyway, this is one of those "lost" films, difficult to see even originally and still very hard to find, that can seem like a Holy Grail until you've seen it--but then all you can do is shrug it off. The best (maybe the only good) thing about experiencing it is that you'll never have to, or want to, again. -
mackjay24 November 2006According to some sources, STORY OF A LOVE STORY (awkward title, THE IMPOSSIBLE OBJECT is not much better), was never really released theatrically. It apparently has a short run in Spain, in France and was shown only very briefly at a US festival. Problematic though this film is, it deserves to be seen by Frankenheimer enthusiasts and fans of Alan Bates. Many far less successful films are readily available, while this 'interesting failure' remains difficult to track down.
Drawing on influences from French Nouvelle Vague and Fellini to Joseph Losey, Frankenheimer has constructed a movie that frustrates mainly in its resolution. At the end, we are simply not certain exactly what has happened. This could very well be intentional, and it definitely does not spoil the good qualities the film does possess. Claude Renoir gives the film an artistically unified look and many shots are memorably beautiful, in particular the Morocco locations. Michel Legrand, however, lets the film down with an arch-70s theme that sounds too much like an updated "Gigi". But it must be said that Legrand rises nicely to a tragic occasion when necessary. The screenplay by Nicholas Mosely, based on his novel "The Impossible Object" has humor and pathos. It's largely successful and almost makes us care what happens to these people. The film adopts a Felliniesque method of mixing reality with fantasy and dream sequences. One dream in particular, with Alan Bates in a grove of trees that have doors he can open and look into another reality, seems influenced by 8 1/2. The jump cuts and rapid juxtapositions (sometimes too obvious) are clearly derived from the New Wave school. Joseph Losey's shadow can be seen in the opening birthday party sequence and in the oddly elliptical way the relationships are presented. Most of this adds up to a very interesting film that pulls the viewer in. Yet somehow, it's all too detached (Losey again?) in a way that does not seem intentional. Frankenheimer clearly wants us to be care about these people. So why don't we? A look at casting may answer the question. On the plus side there is Alan Bates. Handsome and charismatic as he has ever been, Bates seems comfortable in this material. His acting style nicely expresses the frustrations of the character: a man who can never have "everything" he thinks he wants. Bates is at his absolute best here, and admirers of the actor should find a way to see him in it. Also very effective is Michel Auclair as the cuckolded husband, a solidly effective actor with an enviable voice. Auclair commands every scene he is given, creating strong interest in his character. Unfortunately, the female side of the quartet tends to let the film down. Dominique Sanda, while effective if a few key scenes, seems too passive, too much like a model who wishes to be an actress. She was perhaps unclear on the character's motivations, or uncomfortable with English (or poorly dubbed). As Bates's wife, Evans Evans (Mrs Frankenheimer at the time) is just miscast. It's impossible to believe she and Bates could ever have known each other, let alone been married. Frankenheimer's direction seems mostly secure in this film. Very likely, editing later removed material that could give the film more weight. The fantasy/dream sequences contain much interior information about the characters (along with numerous voice-overs that tend not to work very well). These sequences tend to fascinate (the country house garden party with its nudity and ornate costuming also recalls Fellini). At this party, we meet Lea Massari (who played 'Anna', the famously disappeared character in Antonioni's L'AVVENTURA). In the film's most memorable sequence, Frankenheimer is at his best. Bates and Sanda bring along their small baby on boating trip with Bates's three young sons. The director stirs up some high, realistic drama here. STORY OF A LOVE STORY is not some lost masterpiece, but it should not languish in obscurity any longer. -
Johnmarques32 March 2019Such a weird movie but if you pay attention it's a John frankenheimer masterpiece!
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fordraff23 November 2006This film is the nadir of Frankenheimer's and Bates's careers, to say nothing of others involved here: Dominique Sanda, Claude Renoir (director of photography), and Michel Legrand (the score). It came as no surprise to learn that the film never received a theatrical release in the United States or Britain, and was but briefly seen in France and Spain.
There is not a moment of conviction in the film regarding the plot or the characters. The dialogue is absurd and sophomoric. "That makes me feel like God." I can't count the times Harry said something was "like God." Much of the dialogue is made up of non-sequiturs. And the actors fail abysmally at delivering it, but my sympathy was with them. I imagine they were confused by the lines they were asked to deliver and by the plot.
It is impossible to follow the plot. To me, it was a story of Harry, an English novelist, vacationing with his wife Elizabeth, and their four children in Italy--and I can't be sure of that. Maybe it was the south of France. Harry is working on a novel, and his publisher needs the last two chapters soon as the publication of the novel has already been announced in the firm's fall catalogue.
The bulk of what follows in the film may be nothing more than scenes from the novel that Harry is writing. Or it could be a mixture of reality and his fiction. Here it is: Harry is having an affair with Natalie, who is married to an older businessman, Georges. He knows of the affair, and Natalie has lied to him several times, telling him she's ended the affair. Harry's wife also learns of the affair, I think.
At one point, we see Natalie stab Georges to death, after which the police arrive to question Harry about Natalie. But this murder sequence later proves to be entirely fictional.
Eventually, Natalie becomes pregnant with Harry's child, each divorces his spouse, and they go--to the south of France? to some seacoast area of Italy? Who knows? And there Natalie gives birth to the child. Harry's sons visit, and the group go out in a small boat. A storm comes, the boat is capsized, all are thrown overboard, and the baby is lost.
Then we come to a scene in Venice (I believe) where we see Harry walking across the famous square. Natalie's husband and daughter walk past Harry; then he sees her sitting at a nearby table. He sits down across from her and they talk.
Based on the events here, I'd say Harry is a dreadful novelist. If this "Love Story" is indeed Harry's novel, it meanders everywhere and has no unity or makes little sense. In his dialogue, Harry is usually pontificating, saying clichés, other self-evident things, and a lot of nonsense. Scenes here are melodramatic or soap-opera-ish. And certainly, if his work has no more narrative logic than this film, it must not sell well at all.
The film says nothing meaningful about reality/illusion; it uses the dichotomy as a trick. As another poster has written, the film is derivative of Joseph Losey (English garden scenes), Fellini (fantastic dream sequences), and other New Wave films, all made ten to fifteen years earlier than this one. Was Frankenheimer so lost he knew of nothing else to do than imitate others? Natalie narrates a long section at the end in voice-over. I wondered if Frankenheimer gave up imitation and decided to have someone tell the story rather than to invent dialogue and episodes to reveal by action the characters and plot.
In Fellini-like dream sequences, there are plenty of naked women but no naked men. Some people may have heard that Alan Bates does a nude scene here, but if they are looking to see bare Bates, they will be disappointed. In the few seconds in which Bates is naked, he is carefully posed to show no more than would be seen if Bates were wearing boxing shorts. If it's nude Bates you want, then "Women in Love" is the film to look for.
The real drama here would be to discover the story of how Frankenheimer, Bates, and everyone else became caught up in this mess. Then, what went wrong.
I can say nothing favorable about the acting of anyone here, except that they all bravely soldiered forward and crossed the field--even if they met disaster. They deserved some thanks for doing that.