The Story of My Wife (film)

The Story of My Wife (Hungarian: A feleségem története) is a 2021 internationally co-produced romantic drama film written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi, based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Milán Füst. It stars Léa Seydoux, Gijs Naber, Louis Garrel, Sergio Rubini and Jasmine Trinca.

The Story of My Wife
Promotional poster
Directed by	Ildikó Enyedi
Written by	Ildikó Enyedi
Based on	The Story of My Wife by Milán Füst
Produced by	Maren Ade Mónika Mécs Ernő Mesterházy Jonas Dornbach Janine Jackowski Flaminio Zadra Pilar Saavedra Perrotta Stéphane Parthenay Robin Boespflug-Vonier András Muhi
Starring	Léa Seydoux Gijs Naber Louis Garrel Sergio Rubini Jasmine Trinca
Cinematography	Marcell Rév
Edited by	Károly Szalai
Music by	Ádám Balázs
Production companies	Inforg-M&M Film Komplizen Films Palosanto Films Pyramide Productions Rai Cinema WDR Arte France Cinéma
Distributed by	Mozinet Alamode Film Pyramide Distribution
Release dates	14 July 2021 (2021-07-14) (Cannes) 23 September 2021 (2021-09-23) (Hungary) 14 October 2021 (2021-10-14) (Germany) 12 January 2022 (2022-01-12) (France)
Running time	169 minutes
Countries	Hungary Germany France Italy
Language	English
Budget	€10 million[1]

The film tells the story of a sea captain (Gijs Naber) who indifferently chooses a wife and becomes obsessed with her after a while.

It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 14 July 2021. It is scheduled to be released in Hungary on 23 September 2021, by Mozinet, and in Germany on 14 October 2021, by Alamode Film, and in France on 12 January 2022, by Pyramide Distribution.

Plot summary

Jakob Störr (Gijs Naber) is a sea captain in charge of freighters. After taking ill at sea his cook advises him to take a wife. Indifferent to the idea, Jakob informs a friend that he intends to marry and that it makes little difference who his wife is. He suggests he will marry the next woman who walks into the café. Seeing the beautiful Lizzy (Léa Seydoux) he proposes that they marry the following day and she suggests they wait a week.

Jakob and Lizzy are married and are initially quite happy with each other. Jakob leaves for months at a time and is satisfied to always have Lizzy at home waiting for him.

Cast

• Léa Seydoux as Lizzy
• Gijs Naber as Jakob Störr
• Louis Garrel as Dedin
• Sergio Rubini as Kodor
• Jasmine Trinca as Viola
• Luna Wedler as Grete
• Josef Hader as Herr Lange
• Ulrich Matthes as psychiatrist
• Udo Samel as private investigator

Production

Milán Füst's novel, The Story of My Wife, was one of Enyedi's favorites when she was a teenager, which led her to adapt it into a film.^[2] In February 2018, it was announced Léa Seydoux had joined the cast of the film, with Ildikó Enyedi directing from a screenplay she wrote. Monika Mécs, Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Flaminio Zadra, Pilar Saavedra Perrotta producing under their Inforg-M&M Film, Komplizen Film and Palosanto Films banners, respectively.^[3] In April 2019, it was announced Gijs Naber, Louis Garrel, Josef Hader, Sergio Rubini and Jasmine Trinca had joined the cast of the film.^[4] The dialogue is primarily in English because in the 1920s English was the primary language in the shipping industry.^[2]

Filming began on April 8 and in Hamburg, Budapest, and Malta.^[4]

Release

In February 2020, it was announced Rai Cinema, Mozinet, Pyramide Distribution and Almonde would distribute the film in Italy, Hungary, France, and Germany, respectively.^[1]

The Story of My Wife had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 14 July 2021.^[5] It is scheduled to be released in Hungary on 23 September 2021.^[6] and in Germany on 14 October 2021.^[7] and in France on 12 January 2022, by Pyramide Distribution.^[8] The film will have its North American Premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.^[9]

Reception

The Story of My Wife holds a 21% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 19 reviews, with a weighted average of 4.60/10.^[10] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 40 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[11]