The Immortal Story (Criterion Collection)

"Orson Welles’s first color film and final completed fictional feature, The Immortal Story is a moving and wistful adaptation of a tale by Isak Dinesen (Babette’s Feast). Welles stars as a wealthy merchant in nineteenth-century Macao, who becomes obsessed with bringing to life an oft-related anecdote about a rich man who gives a poor sailor a small sum of money to impregnate his wife. Also starring an ethereal Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim), this jewel-like film, dreamily shot by Willy Kurant (Masculin féminin) and suffused with the music of Erik Satie, is a brooding, evocative distillation of Welles’s artistic interests—a story about the nature of storytelling and the fine line between illusion and reality. Directed by Orson Welles. In French with English subtitles. Includes alternate French-language version, Interviews with the production team, 2005 audio commentary from Adrian Martin and Portrait: Orson Welles (1968), a documentary about the director and star on 2 DVDs or 1 Blu-ray Disc. 1968/color/58 min/NR/widescreen.