The Immortal Story -The 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. TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - New, restored 4K digital transfer of the English-language version of the film - Alternate French-language version of the film - Audio commentary from 2005 featuring film scholar Adrian Martin - Portrait: Orson Welles, a 1968 documentary directed by François Reichenbach and Frédéric Rossif - New interview with actor Norman Eshley - Interview from 2004 with cinematographer Willy Kurant - New interview with Welles scholar François Thomas - PLUS: An essay by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum