The Immortal Story 1968

Romance

Drama

Runtime

58 mins

Language

English

Made by

Albina Productions S.a.r.l.

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The Immortal Story Plot Summary

Read the complete plot summary and ending explained for The Immortal Story (1968). From turning points to emotional moments, uncover what really happened and why it matters.

In nineteenth-century Macao, the aging Merchant, Fernando Rey presides over a life of quiet wealth, attended by his steadfast book-keeper, Elishama Levinsky, Roger Coggio. One evening, while Levinsky reads to Mr. Clay, Orson Welles, the atmosphere in the candlelit rooms grows thick with old memories and unspoken tensions. Clay declares his contempt for prophecies and interrupts to tell a shipboard tale he heard long ago about a rich old man who offers a sailor five guineas to impregnate his wife. Levinsky, who has heard versions of the same story from many seamen, quietly completes the narrative, and a dangerous spark is lit: the idea of turning a legend into a living act.

Clay’s obsession intensifies as he resolves to make the legend come true, and Levinsky is dispatched to recruit a sailor and a young woman to play the roles of husband and wife in this macabre experiment. The search leads Levinsky to Virginie Ducrot, Jeanne Moreau, the daughter of Clay’s former business partner. Virginie’s father was driven into bankruptcy and ultimately suicide by Clay’s ruthless dealings, leaving her with a burning hunger for revenge. On the streets, a destitute sailor named Paul, a young Dane rescued from a desert island, Norman Eshley is found and recruited. Paul, who has heard the same tale as everyone else, initially refuses, but the promise of money persuades him to take part.

As Virginie and Paul enter this fragile bond of complicity, a subtle emotional thread develops between them, even as they prepare to fulfill a plan that will wound Clay’s reputation and sting his pride. Virginie’s bitterness eases as she sees a possible path to vengeance, while Paul allows himself to be drawn into a companionship he never expected. Yet the pair’s union remains transactional, and once the plan unfolds, they drift toward separate destinies—Virginie releasing her fury, Paul stepping away from the villa with a quiet sense of loss. Before he leaves, Paul asks Clay to give Virginie a shell he found on his desert island that will play a song if she holds it to her ear, a small, haunting keepsake of a voyage and an alliance built on a dangerous lie.

Levinsky returns to report what happened, only to discover that the old merchant has died, leaving the operation unfinished and its moral weight unresolved. He brings the shell to his ear and, with a growing sense of déjà vu, remarks that the song sounds familiar, though the memory of where he heard it eludes him. The film closes on this note of memory and ambiguity, suggesting that some threads of fate, once set in motion, persist beyond the lives of their architects, leaving behind echoes that neither time nor death can fully quiet.

The Immortal Story Timeline

Follow the complete movie timeline of The Immortal Story (1968) with every major event in chronological order. Great for understanding complex plots and story progression.

Clay's life in Macao

In nineteenth-century Macao, the wealthy merchant Mr. Clay lives at the end of his life with only his book-keeper Levinsky for company. Clay harbors a growing disdain for prophecies and the idea that fate can be guided by stories. He becomes curious about turning a shipboard legend into reality.

late 19th century Macao

Isaiah prophecy recited

One evening, Levinsky reads to Clay and recites a prophecy by Isaiah. Clay reacts with hostility toward prophecies and reluctantly focuses on a tale he heard on a ship. This exchange seeds the central obsession that drives the plot.

evening Clay's room, Macao

The tale told and expanded

Clay begins to tell the story of a rich old man who offers a sailor five guineas to impregnate his wife. Levinsky, who has heard the same tale from many seamen, completes or embellishes the story, reinforcing its plausibility. This shared legend makes Clay yearn to realize it in reality.

night Macao

Obsession and dispatch

Clay's fixation grows as he resolves to make the tale come true, no matter the cost. He dispatches Levinsky to find a suitable sailor and a young woman to play the wife. The project marks a dangerous turning point for all involved.

days later Macao

Virginie as ally

Levinsky approaches Virginie, daughter of Clay's former business partner, who has fallen from prosperity due to Clay's ruthless practices. She embraces the plan as a chance to exact revenge and secure a new future. Her motive is not romance but retribution.

days later Macao

Paul found and recruited

The destitute sailor Paul, a young Dane rescued from a desert island, is found on the street and recruited to play the sailor. He initially refuses, but Clay reminds him that money can change his life, and Paul finally agrees.

days later City streets; Paul's desert island origin

Virginie and Paul's bond

Virginie and Paul develop an emotional bond during their brief union, though their paths will diverge afterward. Virginie experiences a softening of her bitterness toward Clay as she shares moments with Paul. Paul departs toward an uncertain future, leaving Virginie behind.

after the union Villa

The desert island shell

Before leaving, Paul gives Virginie a shell he found on his desert island, promising it will sing if she places it to her ear. The shell becomes a tangible link to the island and to the story that has consumed Clay and Levinsky.

before departure Villa

Levinsky learns of Clay's death

Levinsky goes to inform Clay of what has happened, but discovers the old merchant has died. The revelation ends the immediate scheme and leaves the conspirators with a hollow victory and unresolved fates. The moment underscores the fragility of their plans.

after Paul and Virginie's encounter Clay's villa

Paul's departure

After fulfilling his part, Paul is seen walking away from the villa, his future unclear. The film hints at a quiet liberation or a future unknown beyond the immediate plot. This departure marks a quiet, unresolved ending.

after departure Villa outskirts

The shell's echo

Levinsky retrieves the shell and holds it to his ear, reporting that he has heard a familiar song before but cannot remember where. The moment echoes the prophecy and unsettles him, suggesting memory and fate are tangled in the chain of events.

after Clay's death Levinsky's quarters or villa

Ending impression

The story leaves the audience with a sense that the prophecy's song lingers, tying the island memory to Clay's life and Levinsky's recollections. The characters' actions blur the line between legend and reality as the shell's tune hints at a past they cannot fully recall.

ambiguous Macao

The Immortal Story Characters

Explore all characters from The Immortal Story (1968). Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained.

Charles Clay (Orson Welles)

An aging, powerful merchant whose wealth fuels his desire to see a myth become real. He treats prophecy as a challenge to control his fate and uses others to enact his will. His ruthlessness masks vulnerability and a fear of insignificance in his final days. He remains the driving force behind the elaborate ruse.

💼 Wealthy 🧠 Manipulative ⏳ Obsessive 🗺️ Aging

Virginie Ducrot (Jeanne Moreau)

Daughter of Clay's former business partner, driven by betrayal and a hunger for revenge. She joins the scheme to topple Clay's power and uses a complicated bond with Paul to pursue her goals. Her bitterness is tempered by strategic thinking and risk-taking as she navigates the mercantile world.

💔 Revenge 🎭 Scheming 💪 Resilient

Elishama Levinsky (Roger Coggio)

Clay's Polish-Jewish book-keeper who knows the prophecy and becomes the agent arranging the sailor and the woman for the tale. He remains calm, calculating, and loyal, serving as the thread that binds the different players together. His narration anchors the plot’s shifting moral ground.

🧭 Loyal 🧠 Calculating 🗝️ Keeper

Paul, the Sailor (Norman Eshley)

A destitute Dane rescued from a desert island who is recruited to play the husband in the staged tale. He is initially reluctant but agrees for money, and his evolving bond with Virginie adds emotional tension to the scheme. His participation reveals the human cost behind grand plans.

🏝️ Desert Island Survivor 💰 Money-driven 🤝 Bond

Merchant (Fernando Rey)

An aging, powerful trader whose wealth drives the scheme; he embodies mercantile ambition and willingness to manipulate reality for personal gain. He uses his influence to propel the plan forward, illustrating how money can steer fate.

💼 Wealth 🧠 Manipulative ⚖️ Control

The Immortal Story Settings

Learn where and when The Immortal Story (1968) takes place. Explore the film’s settings, era, and how they shape the narrative.

Time period

19th century

The events unfold in the late 1800s, a period of global maritime trade and colonial influence in East Asia. Wealth and influence shape social hierarchies as a prosperous merchant bids to turn a legend into reality. Prophecy and storytelling blur with reality, turning a simple tale into a dangerous plan. The mood blends opulence with risk, matching the era's appetite for power and intrigue.

Location

Macau (Macao)

Set in nineteenth-century Macau, a bustling port city on the Pearl River Delta where East meets West. The action centers on a grand villa belonging to the aging merchant, with scenes that move to docks and ships connecting Macau to distant shores. A desert island backstory adds a remote, windswept space to the tale, enriching the sense of travel and commerce that defines the setting.

🗺️ Port city 🧭 East meets West 🚢 Docks and ships

The Immortal Story Themes

Discover the main themes in The Immortal Story (1968). Analyze the deeper meanings, emotional layers, and social commentary behind the film.

📜

Story Power

Clay's obsession with turning a legendary tale into reality shows how a single story can steer choices and justify immoral acts. Levinsky acts as the conduit between tale and execution, exposing how memory and narrative can be manipulated. The film questions whether stories create reality or merely reflect it, and whether some tales are too dangerous to enact. Ultimately, it probes the ethical cost of letting fiction drive real lives.

💰

Greed & Control

Money fuels the scheme, enabling Clay to orchestrate others and demand obedience. Wealth corrupts loyalties, turning affection and revenge into calculated instruments. Virginie’s participation shows how financial motive intertwines with personal vendetta. The plot condemns mercantile hunger that uses people as instruments to bend fate.

🕯️

Mortality

The old man's approaching death frames the urgency of the plan and exposes life's fragility. Levinsky's discovery of Clay's death before the plan completes underscores the fragile boundary between myth and life. Age and loneliness drive the characters, turning the tale into a meditation on memory, oblivion, and what endures after death. The ending suggests that mortality outlasts even the grandest schemes.

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The Immortal Story Spoiler-Free Summary

Discover the spoiler-free summary of The Immortal Story (1968). Get a concise overview without any spoilers.

In the smoky, lantern‑lit streets of nineteenth‑century Macao, the world feels both opulent and hushed, a place where fortunes are whispered behind heavy curtains and the sea’s distant roar carries old superstitions. The city’s narrow alleys and crowded tea houses pulse with the cadence of foreign traders, mandarins, and the ever‑present scent of salt, setting a stage that feels at once intimate and boundless, as if every corner might conceal a story waiting to be set alight.

Merchant is an aging, affluent trader whose quiet life is punctuated by the echo of a maritime legend—a tale of a rich man offering a sailor a sum to enact a daring, intimate deception. Beside him, his meticulous book‑keeper Levinsky moves through the house with measured precision, his loyalty shifting between duty and curiosity. Their evenings are spent in candle‑filled rooms where fragmented memories surface, and the old man’s fascination with the legend becomes a catalyst for something more than idle fancy.

When the notion of turning myth into lived performance takes hold, Levinsky is dispatched to find the actors who will embody the story’s roles. He encounters Virginie, a sharp‑tongued daughter of a once‑prominent partner whose family’s fortunes have crumbled under the merchant’s mercantile dealings, and Paul, a young Danish sailor rescued from an isolated shore, both carrying their own histories of loss and yearning. Their meeting ignites a delicate tension, a mixture of unspoken motives and reluctant curiosity that hints at deeper currents beneath the surface of the orchestrated drama.

The film drifts between muted melancholy and quiet intrigue, its tone steeped in atmospheric prose that never fully reveals its intentions. As the characters converge around the old legend, the audience is left to wonder how the fragile threads of ambition, revenge, and longing might intertwine, leaving an echo that lingers long after the lanterns dim.