IMMORTAL STORY again and again

[Tony]

To tell the truth, I've always had the feeling that Welles lost a lot of power of vision when he moved to colour. All of the material in colour- Merchant, Deep, OSOTW, Fake, FO, Dreamers, Magic Show, seem not as strong as his B&W material, although I think IS is the best of the bunch. I remember somewhere Welles saying that he hung onto B&W as long as he possibly could. Just compare the list I've just typed to Kane, Ambersons, Shanghai, Macbeth, Othello, Evil and Chimes: perhaps not only age had to do with the loss of solidity, of firmness of conception.

Near the end, Welles was encouraged by the success of Manhattan (1979) and Raging Bull (1980) enough to announce that Big Brass Ring (save for the fireworks) and King Lear would both be B&W productions. I don't think enough has been written and thought about on this issue, so crucial to OW's art, in my view.

[jaime marzol]

so if what i'm looking at is not a pastel version, what the hell is it?

i never cared for immortal story either till i saw the dvd and suddenly realized that the version i had on vhs was different. when i finally found the vhs i checked it out, and liked it better with the strange colors.

the dvd is unwatchable

[Terry]

You're watching a bad dub with mutated colours of which I doubt Welles would have approved. Though I'm glad you like it.

[jaime marzol]

ok

[colwood]

Jeff posted these two comparisons three years ago when the dvd first came out. The first in each set comes from his bootleg, presumably from the british vhs. Is this what you're talking about Jaime?









I've never thought of it as a great film, but unlike some others, I am not really that against the IS.

[jaime marzol]

no, it's crazier than that. those captures look like a regular version in bad shape. what i have is weird, and cool to look at. a lot of magenta and yellow tints, and a lot of glowing.............. well screw that. i could explain forever. does some one have don q on dvd, or the alternate journey into fear they will trade for a pastel immortal story?

then you can discribe it.

[Harvey Chartrand]

Even though I prefer early anarchic Welles, I am actually able to appreciate THE IMMORTAL STORY. It's not the kind of arty fare I usually go for. Welles, once a showoff from the Midwest, had succumbed to all the highfalutin' praise from European intellectuals and made a self-consciously artistic film. THE IMMORTAL STORY is a lovely oddity. Jeanne Moreau is gorgeously vulnerable and world-weary. An Orientalized suburb of Madrid substitutes for Macao. Welles' makeup job is quite sloppy, though. His fake mustache seems to be detaching, and the putty nose has a clayish hue. Welles' performance is lifeless, but this must have been an intentional acting choice, as Charles Clay is nearing the end of his days. Usually the cinematic stylesetter, Welles borrows creatively from Ingmar Bergman in the more intimate scenes between Moreau and Norman Eshley. Perhaps shooting an erotic scene in color was too much of a leap for Welles and he had to rely on the warmly lit ECU long-take style favored by the great Swedish director. I'm glad Welles was able to shoot a third film in as many years, but I frankly would have preferred that his last completed work as a director be his weird fusion of Poe's MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO – a film project that, like so many others from Welles' fertile imagination, exists only as a screenplay.

[jaime marzol]

harvey:
maybe you are looking at the wrong stuff and it's keeping you from enjoying the oddity. i know it was such a struggle for welles to make films that i'm glad for what we got and don't think about what it might have been if.... if his nose stayed on, if the dialogue is sync-ed, if the film didn't have scratches.

i'm hardcore. none of that bothers me. i love the clips of merchant of venice i've seen. i love all the odds and ends i've come across from other collectors.

i watched a dvd of my vhs immortal story zoomed out, with all the weird colors, and didn't think about all that other stuff. it was a strange little offering, and it looked cool.

[tonyw]

I saw THE IMMORTAL STORY theatrically on its initial British release in 1970 and found the color scheme really overwhellming making the story so poignant if one is familiar with the work of a writer Welles really loved. This may be one instance of how a film is better seen in a 35mm theatrical version rather than DVD or VHS. Perhaps the people in Munich may wish to begin restoration using appropriate color timing and digital techniques?

I've seen the film in an atrocious VHS copy and a slightly improved DVD version.

However, members of this group may be interested in looking up the latest issue of the excellent Australian online film journal www.sesnsesofcinema.com whose CTEQ Annotations section has a great article by Adrian Danks on THE IMMORTAL STORY among others on Welles films cuurently being screened in Melbourne.

[moviefan]

Where I can buy the Immortal Story dvd from Italy and have it shipped to the United States? Who is a good retailer on the web?

[colwood]

While there may be others, this is the only one I know of and where I got mine,

http://dvd.it/sid....le.html