''L'Immortelle'' is a 1963 international co-produced drama film directed by

Alain Robbe-Grillet Alain Robbe-Grillet (; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the ''Nouveau Roman'' () trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simo ...

, his first feature after the worldwide success of

Last Year at Marienbad ''Last Year at Marienbad'' (), released in the United Kingdom as ''Last Year in Marienbad'', is a 1961 French New Wave avant-garde psychological drama film directed by Alain Resnais and written by Alain Robbe-Grillet. Set in a palace in a park t ...

which he wrote. Entered into the

13th Berlin International Film Festival The 13th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1963. The Golden Bear was jointly awarded to '' To Bed or Not to Bed'' directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro and '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' directed by Tadashi Imai. ...

, it also won the

Prix Louis Delluc The Louis Delluc Prize ( ) is a French film award presented annually since 1937. The award is bestowed to the Best Film and Best First Film of the year on the second week of each December. The jury is composed of 20 members, consisting of a group ...

. Set in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, it tells the story of a withdrawn man falling hopelessly in love with an attractive and sexy woman who will not reveal her identity. While the two speak French to each other, the other characters mostly speak unsubtitled Turkish. Using a non-linear structure, intercut with memories and fantasies, neither the characters nor the viewers can be sure of what is portrayed and must reach their own understanding.

Plot

Having taken a job in Istanbul, a melancholy Frenchman rents a flat overlooking the Bosphorus. He sets out to explore the city but, as he speaks only French, cannot communicate. He meets a beautiful and mysterious woman in a white convertible who speaks French as well as Turkish and is prepared to show him around. She is also ready to start a discreet affair. While they take in the sights of the city, often in deserted ruins and graveyards, they tend to be shadowed by sinister-looking men with one or more ferocious dogs. Then the woman disappears, and the Frenchman's obsession with her grows. Hunting for her all over, he finds the locals unhelpful, until he sees her one night in a crowded street. She rushes him away in her car, only to crash it as she tries to avoid one of the shadowing dogs. The Frenchman is scarcely harmed, but the woman is dead. Still obsessed with her memory, he starts a new quest to find out who she was, one possibility being a high-class prostitute. Once her car has been repaired, he buys it and crashes it on the same road, dying as well.

Production

, who was one of the most successful screenwriters of the

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

, longed to direct a feature film, but no offers of backing were forthcoming. At length, a Belgian producer agreed to let him direct a film from his own screenplay, on condition that the film be shot in Turkey, using "blocked funds" (profits from an earlier film that could not be taken out of the country) owed to

Cocinor Cocinor was a French film production and distribution company based in Paris. Established in 1948 its full name is the Compagnie cinématographique du Nord. It was founded by Ignace Morgenstern out of a former distribution company SEDIF he had pr ...

, the French production company. Robbe-Grillet accepted this, and in his first feature film as a director, created a dreamlike, erotic fantasy. Robbe-Grillet wrote a very detailed plan for the shooting, and wanted it followed in every detail. Both

Françoise Brion Françoise Brion (; born 29 January 1933) is a French film actress. She has appeared in 75 films since 1957. She starred in the 1963 film '' L'Immortelle'', which was entered into the 13th Berlin International Film Festival. She was married to ...

and

Jacques Doniol-Valcroze Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (; 15 March 1920 – 6 October 1989) was a French actor, critic, screenwriter, and director. In 1951, Doniol-Valcroze was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'', along with André Bazin and Jo ...

were friends of the director; though he had written the scenario with other actors in mind, he decided on them instead.Brion, F. (1972) " nterview with André Gardies, in: Gardies, A. ''Alain Robbe-Grillet''. Paris: Seghers; pp. 166-68

Cast

as L, the Woman *

as N, the Man *

Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. Selected f ...

as M, the Stranger * Sezer Sezin as Turkish woman *

Ulvi Uraz Ulvi Uraz (13 February 1921 – 25 May 1974) was a Turkish theater and film actor and director. Partial filmography * ''Zümrüt'' (1959) - Ziya * ''Tütün Zamanı'' (1959) - Bekir * ''Kalpaklilar'' (1960) * ''Denize inen sokak'' (1960) ...

as Antique dealer * Belkis Mutlu as Servant * Catherine Blisson *

Catherine Robbe-Grillet Catherine Robbe-Grillet (; ; born 24 September 1930) is a French writer, dominatrix, photographer, theatre and film actress who has published sadomasochistic writings under the pseudonyms Jean de Berg and Jeanne de Berg. Biography She was bor ...

as Catherine Sarayan * Faik Coşkun as car-mechanic/dealer

Release

From the date of its release until 2014, the film was never legally available on DVD in the English-speaking world, and circulated only in bootlegs, and in 35mm prints from the French Cultural Ministry, which loaned the film to museums and colleges from time to time. Thus, the film was almost impossible to see. However, in January 2014, the British Film Institute announced the DVD and Blu-ray release of the film, along with five other Robbe-Grillet features, as part of the box set ''Alain Robbe-Grillet: Six Films 1964-1974'', scheduled to be released in the UK on 23 June 2014. Some of the individual titles were released in the US by Redemption in February 2014. ''L'Immortelle'' and the other films were also included in the French DVD box set ''Alain Robbe-Grillet - Récits cinématographiques'', released in France in 2013.

Dino de Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian film producer and businessman who held both Italian and American citizenship. Following a brief acting career in the late 1930s and early 1940s, he moved into f ...

acquired the Italian distribution rights after production, and officially, in the film's credits, ''L'Immortelle'' is listed as a French/Italian co-production, although it was shot entirely in and around Istanbul, with a mostly Turkish crew.

References

Other sources

*Robbe-Grillet, Alain (1970) ''L'Immortelle: ciné-roman''. Paris: Minuit *Robbe-Grillet, Alain (1972) ''The Immortal One''; translated by A. M. Sheridan-Smith. London: Calder & Boyars

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Immortelle 1963 films 1963 drama films Films set in Turkey Films set in Istanbul French avant-garde and experimental films 1960s French-language films French black-and-white films Turkish black-and-white films Louis Delluc Prize winners Films directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet Films scored by Georges Delerue French drama films 1960s avant-garde and experimental films 1963 directorial debut films 1960s French films French-language drama films