The Immortal Story (Histoire immortelle)
Directed by Orson Welles
Written by Orson Welles and Louise de Vilmorin from a novel by Karen Blixen
1968/France
IMDb link
First viewing/Criterion Channel
[box] Elishama Levinsky: It is very hard on people who want things so badly that they can’t do without them. If they can’t get these things, it is very hard. And when they do get them, surely it is very hard.[/box]
Orson Welles’ first color film is good not great.
Welles plays Clay, a wealthy merchant who has been intrigued by a seaman’s legend for years. He is now obsessed with making the story come to life. According to the story, a rich man old man hires a sailor to impregnate his young wife. Clay’s clerk is assigned to hire the woman to play the wife. He just happens to pick Virginie (Jeanne Moreau), an aging beauty who has good reason to despise Clay. Clay hires a virgin sailor to play the male lead. You will have to watch to see what happens next.
I thought this was only OK. It’s ponderous like Confidential Report (1955) without being particularly enlightening. The film looks good though and with this cast you know the acting is solid.
