Impossible Dreams
August 7, 2012 1:35 PM   Subscribe

Impossible Dreams וידאו קסם "A sci-fi romance. Based on the Hugo award winning story 'Impossible Dreams' by Tim Pratt. Hebrew with English subtitles." [Via]
posted by homunculus (24 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
Oh wow, I remember this awesome story now. Fantastic. Thanks, homunculus.
posted by koeselitz at 1:45 PM on August 7, 2012


Pratt's currently kickstarting a new story collection.
posted by Zed at 1:52 PM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


"Miss Congeniality," starring the fabulous (just post-operation) Nicole Cage. Brilliant!
posted by koeselitz at 2:22 PM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Isn't there a very similar story about a disappearing book store that has all sorts of previously undiscovered master works by famous authors through the ages; the protagonist is a failing author who gives up their life at the end in order to end up in print, in the store only, escorted by the creepy proprietor? I may have any of these details wrong.

Anyway, lovely film. But what was the meaning of the final shot, after the kiss?
posted by stevil at 2:30 PM on August 7, 2012


Isn't there a very similar story about a disappearing book store that has all sorts of previously undiscovered master works by famous authors through the ages

"Books" by Peni Griffin has a similar premise to Impossible Dreams with a mysterious bookstore containing all the fictitious books mentioned in other books, so it hits a couple of those notes.
posted by Zed at 2:59 PM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Thanks,homunculus. A pleasant 20 minutes just spent watching this.
posted by Isadorady at 3:21 PM on August 7, 2012


This certainly makes me miss the Original Twilight Zone. The story, sets, and acting are all spot on all that is missing is the opening monologue from Rod Sterling... Tonight presented for your perusal a tale of love began in the Twilight Zone.
posted by pdxpogo at 3:50 PM on August 7, 2012


The Hebrew title is more like "Video Magic", wonder why they chose that?
posted by vasi at 8:44 PM on August 7, 2012


@vasi. Because this it's magical.
posted by captainsohler at 11:49 PM on August 7, 2012


The Hebrew title is more like "Video Magic", wonder why they chose that?


Has the right cadence and usage to be a plausible store name in Hebrew.
posted by ocschwar at 5:29 AM on August 8, 2012


Nice to hear the kind words about the film (and my story). The director took my basic premise and very much made it his own thing, specific to Tel Aviv. The fact that it's not a slavishly faithful adaptation is probably why I can watch it with pleasure -- it seems wholly separate from my story.

I love all those little magic shop and magic bookshop stories -- the Griffin story mentioned above, the library of unwritten books in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, and so on -- and wanted to do my own take on the form, but slightly different. Reading some of Kim Newman's alternate histories of Hollywood prompted me to start collecting Hollywood apocrypha and tales of near-misses in the world of film. Stir in a little romance and I had my story.
posted by timpratt at 9:17 AM on August 8, 2012 [7 favorites]


Wow – welcome, Tim! I've loved your story since I first read it a few years ago. I totally agree that this new version had enough very personal details added that I enjoyed it very much even though I had an idea of where it was headed. I can say it seems to work the other way round, too: I have a few Israeli friends I shared this with who absolutely loved it, and wanted to read the story too; when they did, they were happy to find that it was different enough that they could enjoy it as a separate thing.
posted by koeselitz at 9:41 AM on August 8, 2012


Tim, I really loved your story. I first encountered it as an episode of the EscapePod podcast. Thanks so much for writing it, and I look forward to seeing your new work!
posted by Sangermaine at 9:54 AM on August 8, 2012


Where did she come from? I have to know! Was she leaving her family behind? For this guy? Is this something I need to read the book for, if the book is similar enough? Does the book have some more exploration of the conflicts of this other dimension?
posted by Submiqent at 11:05 AM on August 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


It's a short story - you can read it pretty quickly, I think. Get thee to a library!
posted by koeselitz at 12:39 PM on August 8, 2012


While of course I'm always happy when people pick up my books, the story's actually up free online at Wired at the moment.

And, yeah, I go into a bit more of how the other universe differs, and her motivations for the decision she makes at the end. The story's not quite as out-and-out romantic as the film, either.
posted by timpratt at 1:20 PM on August 8, 2012 [3 favorites]


Finally got around to watching this. Thanks, homunculus. And thanks Tim for writing the original story and popping up on metafilter. This also reminded me of another, less happy story about a movie buff's encounter with an alternate world, which of course I had to look up again and reread.
posted by gamera at 12:47 AM on August 9, 2012


The Hebrew title is more like "Video Magic", wonder why they chose that?

It's a play on words. "Video Magic" is "video kasem", which sounds like "video cassette". It's cute, and it really shows that they made the story their own.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:50 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


I thought קסם was "kesem", but I guess that still sounds like certain pronunciations of "cassette". Thanks for the punsplanation, Joe!
posted by vasi at 3:23 AM on August 11, 2012


You're right, I should have checked it. There's still a problem, though - does the name actually mean anything? If the word "video" is being used as an adjective then shouldn't it come last?
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:35 AM on August 11, 2012


I'm a sucker for parallel reality stories (reading Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers was fairly instrumental to me deciding to be a writer) and awkward love-stories, so this couldn't possibly be any more up my alley.
posted by Kattullus at 6:57 PM on August 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


Impossible Cities
posted by homunculus at 5:49 PM on August 12, 2012


Yeah, I think "video" is the noun, maybe "Magic Video" would be a better translation.
posted by vasi at 4:59 AM on August 13, 2012


What a nice story and a nice film. Indeed they seem like two separate enough stories, separate enough to enjoy one after the other. Thanks, timpratt, for writing it, and thanks, homunculus, for putting them together on MeFi.
posted by whatzit at 1:38 PM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


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