The Immortal Story (1968) ( Une histoire immortelle )

The Immortal Story (1968) (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Original Title: Une histoire immortelle
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Berlin International Film Festival

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
Australia ( PAL/Region 4 )

Running Time:
58 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Commentary
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Booklet

Movie filmed in 1968 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )

Directed By:
Orson Welles

Written By:
Karen Blixen
Orson Welles

Actors:
Jeanne Moreau ..... Virginie Ducrot
Orson Welles ..... Mr. Charles Clay
Roger Coggio ..... Elishama Levinsky
Norman Eshley ..... Paul, the sailor

Synopsis:

The Portuguese colony of Macao in the 19th century. Mr. Clay is a very rich merchant and the subject of town gossip. He has spent many years in China and is now quite old. He likes his clerk Levinsky to read the company's accounts to him at night for relaxation. Tonight Mr. Clay recounts a true story he heard years before about a rich man who paid a poor sailor 5 guineas to father a child with his beautiful young wife. Levinsky says that's a popular old sailor's legend and not true. Mr. Clay has no heir for his fortune and no wife either. He resolves to make the story true... Levinsky approaches Virginie, another clerk's mistress, and strikes a bargain for 300 guineas. Now to find the sailor...

In 19th century Macao, Mr. Clay (Orson Welles) is a wealthy merchant at the end of his life. His only constant companion is his bookkeeper, a Polish-Jewish emigrant named Levinsky (Roger Coggio). One evening, Levinsky mentions an apocryphal story of a rich old man who offers a sailor five guineas to impregnate his wife. Clay becomes obsessed in making that legendary tale come true, and Levinsky is dispatched to find a sailor and a young woman who will play the part of Clay's wife. Levinsky approaches Virginie (Jeanne Moreau), the daughter of Clay's one-time business partner. Clay's ruthless dealings drove Virginie's father to bankruptcy and suicide, and she is eager to participate in this action to get her revenge. The destitute sailor, a young Englishman named Paul (Norman Eshley), is discovered on the street and recruited. Virginie and Paul find an emotional bond in their brief union, but go their separate ways - Virginie is exorcised of her bitterness against Clay while Paul disappears into Macao's teeming streets. Levinsky goes to inform Clay about what took place, but discovers the old merchant has died.

In 1860s Macao, Mr Clay, a wealthy merchant asks his clerk to read to him when he is unable to sleep. When his clerk starts to read the scriptures, Clay objects, requesting a true story. As Clay himself begins to recount the tale of a sailor who was paid to sleep with a merchant's wife, he is shocked to learn that the story is actually a well-known urban legend, he resolves to make the story come true, no matter what the cost.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 30 January, 2012.

Customers who bought this product also purchased

Our Friends in the North - Complete Series - 3-DVD Box Set (DVD)	A Brief History of Time (DVD)	Love Among the Ruins (DVD)
They Knew What They Wanted (DVD)	City of Women (1980) (Blu-Ray)	Black Magic (DVD)