The Immortal Story was, famously, Orson Welles's first color film. An adaptation of a story by Karen Blixen (writing as Isak Dinesen), the film also stars Wells in the lead role. Set in the Macao of the nineteenth century, here Welles plays Charles Clay, a successful albeit miserly and aged merchant. His bookkeeper (and the only person even close to being a friend to the man), Elishama Levinsky (Roger Coggio), tells him a folk story about a wealthy man who paid a lowly sailor a tidy sum to get his wife pregnant. After hearing this, Clay decides to play a game of sort but soon becomes somewhat obsessed with this story, wanting to make it actually come true as he has no one to leave his vast fortune to, and no wife.

However, there's more to it than just a strange man's strange obsession. Levinsky is sent off to find a sailor and a willing young woman to play the part. Some time ago Clay drove his business partner to commit suicide, and when Levinksy approaches the daughter that man left behind, the beautiful Virginie (Jeanne Moreau), she sees in this strange offer a way to get revenge. The company is completed when Clay recruits an English sailor named Paul (Norman Eshley) to do the deed. And from there, things get… complicated.

Welles' final completed fictional feature, The Immortal Story began its life as a project intended to debut on French television. This was initially conceived as the first of a series of Welles directed adaptations of Blixen's writings but it was the only one to actually get made by the infamously tempestuous filmmaker. It's a beautifully shot film thanks not only to the cinematography from Willy Kurant but also the gorgeous Spanish locations employed in the picture (much of which was shot outside Madrid where Welles lived at the time). The score is also very strong here. In fact, even if it were intended for television, there's no faulting the production values on display. There's a very grandiose feel to much of what we see, particularly when we are inside Clay's massive estate, but at the same time, it never feels like too much. For all its beautiful shot sets ups and exotic locations, the focus is very much on the characters and their plight. There's style here to be sure, but not at the expense of substance.

It'll come as a surprise to no one to note that the performances here are very strong across the board. Norman Eshley is quite good as the sailor, he has a bit of a sad-sack vibe about him, at least initially, that suits the part and the predicament that the character eventually finds himself in. Jeanne Moreau is a great choice for the woman scorned, bringing to the role she's cast in an intensity that rivals her beauty. She's a very striking looking woman with very piercing eyes and Kurant's camerawork occasionally captures this in some very memorable shots. Roger Coggio's part is interesting. He seems to be in servitude at times, but then, there are scenes of dialogue between he and Clay that alludes to more. Of course, Welles himself is a powerhouse. His voice is so instantly identifiable and so powerful that even the calmer moments of dialogue have an admirable strength to them. His take on Clay is impressive and memorable and he does very fine work in front of the camera.

This doesn't move at a particularly rapid pace and it isn't really all that concerned with realism, but as a filmed parable it is quite interesting and very well made.

Video:

The Immortal Story arrives on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection in a ‘new, restored 4K digital transfer of the English-language version of the film." Framed at 1.66.1 and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 50GB disc, the movie looks really strong here. Some scenes are a little flat and there are a few sequences where colors look a tad under-pronounced but otherwise this is clean and very nicely detailed. This is a pleasingly film like presentation. There's plenty of grain but not to the point of distraction, but there's very little actual print damage outside of a couple of minor specks here and there. Black levels are pretty solid, there's impressive depth and texture and skin tones look quite good here too.