This magical realism film brings together the fallen gods of Olympus in an old house somewhere in Flanders. At the end of the 19th century, a young sailor named Jan arrives unconscious at Malpertuis, a strange mansion in a forgotten neighbourhood of a Flemish port city. Here, his uncle Cassavius (played by Orson Welles) collects stuffed animals and hosts mysterious guests. Cassavius is dying, with an enormous fortune to bequeath. His mysterious will and testament threatens to turn all the residents of Malpertuis into prisoners.
Malpertuis combines stunning visual artwork and extraordinary poetry with a brilliant cast. Based on the eponymous novel by prolific Belgian writer Jean Ray, this elaborated and unconventional movie blurs the boundaries between dream and reality, and explores the complexities of identity, memory, and human condition.
After the film’s initial release in English and its presentation at Cannes in 1972, director Harry Kümel was not satisfied and re-edited a longer Dutch version. For the restoration, three elements were used. Originally, the Dutch version was created using an internegative derived from the English version. We opted to scan the negatives of both the Dutch and English versions. In reel 2, approximately 30 seconds were missing from the negative. Fortunately, we were able to utilise a distribution print, untouched for more than 30 years and preserved as archival material.

Bruno Mestdagh