Anecdotes and scandals in the literary and art circles are best used to talk about after a meal. No, yesterday I found an old film "Spring Sonata" that I watched on the Movie Channel when I was a child and was released in 1991.
The film is about a love story between Chopin and Mrs. George Sand. The story is quite humorous. Whether it is true or not is not to be said. However, because the characters who played attentively in the story are well-known in the history of art, the most important ones are There are piano poet Chopin, writer Mrs. George Sand, pianist composer Liszt, poet Musset, painter Delacroix and so on.
When I was a child, I only thought this story was very romantic, but looking at it now, in addition to being romantic, it is also full of blood. The most shocking thing is that their stories in the real world are more complex and exaggerated than the movies.
Time goes back to France in the first half of the 19th century. At this time, Paris was under the rule of the July Dynasty. After the baptism of the French Revolution, the concepts of democracy, freedom and equality were washing the atmosphere of society. Many European artists are concentrated in this city. Funded by fashion-seeking aristocrats, these talented people gathered in salons and parties of various aristocrats.
It is also in this context that Mrs. George Sand, the heroine of the film, met Chopin.
It is said that the first encounter between the two took place in the salon of Countess Marie Dagou. And Marie is also the second female and the most important villain in this film. The film describes that she secretly sabotaged the relationship between George Sand and Chopin out of jealousy, and finally parted ways with her lover Liszt because of this misdemeanor.
Movies are dramatic, what about reality? There is no need for the real Countess Marie-Dagou to be jealous of George Sand, because her own story is enough to write a bunch of them. As the most important woman in Liszt's life, Mary was also of noble birth and possessed a delicate and sensitive literary temperament. She left her reputation and status for love and gave birth to three children for Liszt. Contrary to the characters in the film, she does not pursue glitz and false fame, but dreams of enjoying their art with Liszt in a rural and idyllic atmosphere.
It is a pity that this became the point of difference between her and Liszt, and it eventually irreparably led to the breakup of the two.
After the two broke up, Mary wrote the novel "Nelida," which alluded to the reasons for her breakup with Liszt. Liszt's image in Mary's heart seems to be a heinous upstart, but her hatred is probably also derived from her love for Liszt.
But in the autumn of 1836, that year, Lady Mary and Liszt were glued together. Meanwhile, Mrs. George Sand is about to start a new romance.
Speaking of Mrs. George Sand, it is necessary to mention her place in the history of world literature.
Born into a noble family, she was raised by her grandmother, Madame Dupont, who was once known as the "first beauty in France". She became a baroness at the age of 18, but was not satisfied with that life, and finally sought independence and began a writing career, and became a representative of French romantic writers. She left more than 200 works and a large number of articles in her life, and can be regarded as a very diligent writer. She was called the "Pride of France", "Lady of Liberty" by the great contemporary writer Hugo!
But even more unique was the personality and thought of Mrs. George Sand, who was clearly out of tune with the noble ladies of the time. She loves menswear, smokes cigars, drinks spirits, rides fast horses, and has countless lovers. Flaubert, Balzac, Hugo, Liszt, these heavyweight figures in the history of art, were all her servants and close friends. Her work expresses her inner voice, "I love, therefore I am", which is also used in the film as a confession to a lover.
Before her acquaintance with Chopin, between 1832 and 1835, she had a relationship with the famous poet Musset. But during Musset's injury, it was discovered that he was in love with Musset's doctor. At the beginning of the film, although the reason was not explained, George Sand and Musset were already at odds with each other. In George Sang's view, if love has disappeared, there is no need to make false claims.
Interestingly, the artists in the film are obviously sincere in the concept of love; but their handling of the world is also full of hypocrisy from time to time. For example, the first half of the film shows that the artists are invited by the village nobles to spend two weeks in the manor. While they are being supported by the nobles, they secretly mock and ridicule their vulgarity and ignorance. They ruthlessly ridicule the world with their talents, but they shamelessly absorb the glory bestowed by the world. Contradictory artist!
The love between Musset and George Sand is obviously more focused on the liberation of desire. They are bold and enthusiastic. When Musset was pursuing George Sand, he asked "When can you sleep with me" in the love poem he wrote to her, and George Sand also boldly answered "Tonight" with a hidden poem.
After George Sand met Chopin, the situation seemed to be different. Chopin is sensitive, slender, and with a weak body, he does not have that much energy. It can also be seen from Chopin's love history that the object of his first love was Constance, a female classmate at the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, but he never told Constance his sincerity throughout his life. Then he fell in love with his old friend Maria Uginsky, whom he had known since childhood, but was opposed by the wife's family because of his health. His response to this was just silently lamenting his misfortune.
The film's adaptation of this is quite the essence. It borrows the character of the villain Marie, who says that Chopin is "a woman", feminine and passive, "always ready to abandon himself at any time, just need to push her hard". It was these words that inspired George Sand in the film, so that she simply put down the reserved woman and began to chase after Chopin, and finally captured his heart.
George Sand is a pioneer woman who pursues independence and freedom, but Chopin is moderate and traditional, and his idealism is more dedicated. While adapting the story, the film grasps and expresses the soul characteristics of the historical couple very well.
Chopin and George Sand were together for nine years, and these nine years were also the most glorious time in his artistic career.
In the autumn of 1846, the two had come to an end because of a long-term personality difference, and finally the disagreement over the relationship between George Sand's daughter Solange became the fuse for the two to break up.
After the breakup, Chopin returned to Paris alone and spent the last three years of his life, never having the chance to meet George Sand again.
I have to feel that for these artists whose nature is more delicate and sensitive than ordinary people, there may be no perfect love. Love always fades away with time, some faster, some slower. The same eternal human nature brings them disputes, suspicions, hurts, remorse or all kinds of irreversible regrets. However, perhaps it is because of this that the world has so many immortal works of art, leaving us vulgar people with a glorious artistic image.
View more about Impromptu reviews
