Jan, a sailor newly arrived onshore, is unsure about returning to land but makes the journey to visit his childhood home only to find it no longer there. He goes to Bar Venus and joins his friends but an altercation leaves him knocked out cold. He wakes up in Malpertuis, a gothic mansion presided over by his uncle, Cassavius (Orson Welles). All the inhabitants of Malpertuis are waiting for Cassavius to die and the opportunity to inherit his vast fortune. But Cassavius wishes anyone who inherits to stay there forever. Jan investigates as those who leave meet with mysterious deaths. Harry Kümel’s phantasmagoria is a Matryoshka doll of fantastic ideas, realised with stunning photography by Gerry Fisher and scored by Georges Delerue (Contempt).
This screening will be preceded by film historian Wouter Hessels and followed by a Zoom Q&A with Harry Kümel.
A rare chance to encounter key works from Flemish cinema, spanning poetic realism, animation and modern arthouse, brought together as part of a wider celebration of Belgium’s rich film heritage.
Developed in collaboration with Flanders House and other Belgian cultural institutions and curated by Wouter Hessels, this programme of screenings running at the Barbican and the Garden Cinema invites audiences to experience rarely seen films in their original format while discovering the breadth of a film culture that has long bridged the local and the international.
