Chopin: Desire For Love

A very compelling, very professional all-Polish cast production in English (not dubbed). The acting & production was superb, and this Film portrayal felt much more authentic than the American version "Impromptu" with Hugh Grant (Poor casting for Chopin) which was more theatrical & superficial. The music in Desire For Love was also superb and magnificent. The many scenes from the European salons where Chopin performed were portrayed with great detail and authenticity. One of the most impressive things in the film was the actor who played Chopin who was an excellent choice to play the part. A much more passionate and romantic, artistic portrayal of Chopin than Hugh Grant. Desire for Love focuses more on Chopin's relationship with George Sand and their tempestuous romance and how it impacted them both and her two children. There is also more emotional intensity to this film, which reveals the pathos and struggles of life and love during an era that most Americans don't know about or understand. This movie portrays the hardships of a genius who was literally forced out of Poland when the Communist Russian regime pillaged and destroyed so much culture, including his piano at home. I give this film 5 stars. A most important film for its artistic beauty, depth, and historic significance.

I own most of the major videos celebrating major pianists - from the 1940's Katherine Hepburn portrayal of Clara Schumann to this 2002 Polish production. There are two that I frequently rewatch (at least my favorite scenes/music) and they are Amadeus and Chopin: Desire for Love. I lent this Chopin movie to my piano teacher from the Peabody Institute (America's oldest world-class music conservatory), a concert pianist on three continents. She was a major student of Laires who studied under Philip who studied under Mathias who was Chopin's most famous student. She missed the credits then asked me, "Who played the music for that movie? Those were excellent performances played the way I was taught Chopin wanted them played." Most of the piano music is played by a prize winner of the great Warsaw International Chopin Competition and other instruments are played by world class artists including cellist Yo Yo Ma. There is a lot of Chopin music in the film, sometimes as background music or sometimes as the focus of a scene. There are several interspective moments where two or three minutes of beautiful music play continuously - including a scene where Franz Liszt plays Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude". The Chopin: Desire for Love storyline has weak moments but flows well and is relatively historically accurate (I read Chopin biographies/letters extensively and play Chopin on the piano) and the acting is excellent. The characters are refreshingly believable and not simply the lineup of gorgeous models Hollywood seems to believe are required for leading roles these days. The costumes and scenery are top notch.

I love these movies about the great composers. It adds sooo much to the enjoyment of their music by portraying the life and times of these famous people who so rudely died before our time. But their music will go on forever as tribute to the love we all feel for each other. So often great performers and composers are seen as "unstable", "deranged" or "plain crazy", but are they. Perhaps we are the odd ones seeking stability and harmony with a moment of calm afforded by the timeless beauty of music. Though we enjoy the music from these great minds from long ago, we have amazing composers with us today. I am not sure I am aware of all of the current Masters, but many stand in today's music as did Chopin, Mozart and Bach. Let's include Willy,Waylon and Williams in the group of "modern" composers; yes, both Hank and John Williams.

This movie was not terrible, but it was not unwatchable. I found the interpretations of Chopin's music to be very accurate as well as entertaining. The characters within the film, however, were not all too accurate. The real Chopin had dark hair and the real Liszt was blonde to light brown in terms of his hair. The character playing CHopin was blonde and the character playing Liszt had brown hair. This was a very slight inaccuracy, but it kinda bugged me when watching the film. Furthermore, the portrayal of Chopin presented an open character who said what was on his mind and was not shy about shouting out his emotions. Additionally, the Chopin portrayed in the film seemed to be a hedonistic character constantly seeking sexual gratification from Georges Sand when in actuality the situation was vice versa. From what I have read about Chopin, he was incredibly shy and instead of shouting out his emotions he used his music as the outlet for emotional release. There is a scene where Chopin plays part of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 in a very animated fashion playing out to the crowd in a charismatic fashion. This did not seem to mirror what I have read about the real Chopin. The Liszt character, although a minor character in the film, was too much of a wallflower in the film. The real Franz Liszt would have been the center of attention at any appearance and would make his presence clearly known to all in attendance. I have to admit that the George Sand character was VERY similar to what I have read about the real George Sand. She was rugged yet feminine, and she was the only character in the film who possessed a physical resemblance to the actual person. Keep in mind that I did not loathe this movie, but I wouldn't encourage it either based on historical accuracy. Instead, I would encourage it as a movie to enjoy for mere entertainment.

Brand new, good price!

A little too focused on Chopin's relationship with Georges Sand but revealing of their characters. I felt sorry for her.

I thought that this movie is very well done and I would recommend it to anyone who likes or is interested in classical music and the composers who wrote the music.

L'histoire est exagérée, il faut prendre ce film comme il est. Ceci dit, c'est distrayant, et les décors sont très bien.

The images are nice and the scenes are beautifully made. So from an aesthetic point of view it is very satisfying. But this motion picture is not put together very well. We never know where we are because there is no continuity between one scene and the next one. To cut a movie is a work of art. But I am afraid there is little artistry here. The cutting process was obviously a mechanical affair, with little feeling put into it. And because there is also very little atmosphere throughout, I would say this movie has no soul that we can resonate with. The actors are not bad, but they certainly lacked direction, like the movie itself. And occasionally the lips of the actors do not follow the words. I was unable to find much authenticity in this story. I was never drawn in. I had a similar feeling with the Beethoven movie Immortal Beloved. The reference for musician movies is of course Amedeus. But the absolute best of the genre is The Music Lovers, Ken Russel's biographical masterpiece of Tchaikovsky.