Malpertuis

I had never heard of Malpertuis until I had the opportunity to review Radiance’s new release, the first time the film has been made available on blu-ray. I have a lot of cinematic blind spots, and Orson Welles is one of them. I’ve seen the popular films, but I’m ignorant when it comes to releases like this that had been edited and even retitled (The Legend of Doom House in the U.S.) until a director’s cut could restore the proper vision years later. Hoping to fill in a bit of that blind spot, I watched this, mainly looking forward to Welles’s performance. 

Much to my surprise, the film didn’t grab me until Welles’s character, Cassavius, died. Cassavius is the ruler of a world within a world in a decrepit and labyrinthine mansion called Malpertuis. He hopes to trap his young nephew, Jan (Mathieu Carrière), into taking his place at Malpertuis to oversee all his eccentric heirs. After lambasting all of them (a standout scene with Welles truly conveying disdain for everyone in the scene), Cassavius reveals that the only way to get his fortune is for everyone to stay at Malpertuis until only one man and woman are left alive. After his death, the film is able to truly begin. 

This premise intrigued me, but I was also worried. The film is clearly otherworldly, and I feared it would be one of those “mind-bending” films that doesn’t make sense for confusion’s sake. Sure, there are plenty of moments that didn’t make perfect sense to me, but it becomes very clear by the end who all the characters are. But the film still leaves enough ambiguous elements to leave it open to interpretation. 

The look of the film, presented in a new director-approved transfer, is the main selling point. The locations in Belgium are great, and the production design of the titular mansion are amazing. You never really get a feel of the actual size of the mansion, but the endless rooms and hallways and staircases make it seem like a cobbled together dream of a house more than an actual physical location. The camerawork adds to the disorienting design, making the viewer feel like they are there with Jan throughout. 

These elements establish Malpertuis as a fascinating look at what is or isn’t reality, or if it even matters in the end. Welles may be an entry point for the film, but by the end his presence is negligible compared to Jan’s journey. 

Special Features

Fans of this film should be thrilled with this release. All the featurettes and the commentary from a 2005 release are included, as are new interviews and a collectible booklet filled with new writing about the film. The original Cannes cut is also included, though only as a curio. 

I was most interested in the new interview with director Harry Kümel. He’s my favorite kind of elder statesman of cinema: uncaringly honest. He gives his blunt opinion of Welles, in which he claims “everyone was so relieved that they started to drink” when Welles was finished filming. But Kümel still praises the actor and considers him a friend. 

Kümel also casually says the star was not the greatest actor (I thought he was fine). And he goes on a slight tangent about Catherine Deneuve. Deneuve was up for the multiple role part that eventually went to Susan Hampshire (who truly seems like different characters in her roles). But Kümel didn’t cast her because she wasn’t wearing make-up when they first met. He goes on to say he lucked out by not casting her because Luis Buñuel told him that he hated Deneuve so much that he added a scene to Belle du Jour in which mud is thrown on her. I can’t find anything to back this claim up, and Buñuel worked with her again after that film, so who knows? But I still love hearing directors talk like this when I’m so used to typical press junket answers to everything.