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| Sexy women, murder, mystery and massive close-ups of its co-producer/director/star's bearded face are promised on this typical for its time poster for Orson Welles' Mr. Arkadin |
Mr. Arkadin is a film nour-ish, international spy thriller written and directed by Orson Welles (The Trial (1962)), who also plays the title role as the mysterious tycoon, Mr. Arkadin. It is based on several episodes of the radio series The Adventures of Harry Lime (1951-52), written by Welles and Ernest Borneman (Tremolo (1938)).
The driving character in the film is a small-time smuggler (Michael Redgrave (Assignment K (1968))), who gets hired by Arkadin to dig up information about Arkadin's own past, as he seemingly suffers from a memory loss that has dissolved everything before 1927.
'Seemingly' is an important word for the mystery that is Mr. Arkadin, (both the character and the film, really), the agent finds out, as he races from country to country on leads, often finding key figures dead on arrival. Besides one stint in Mexico, where he gets to talk to an old, settled ex-girlfriend to the man, who is revealed to have had a different identity before 1927, the investigations take place in several war-weary, cold, poor and disillusion-ridden European countries.
Akim Tamiroff (After the Fox (1966)) plays the disillusioned Jakob Zouk to perfection, a man who just wants a goose liver. In another scene the agent interviews a fascinating flee circus manager, and you get to see actual performing flees. All these curious scenes from a dilapidated, weak Europe are reminiscent of Carol Reed's great movie, The Third Man (1949), in which Welles plays the equally mysterious power figure Harry Lime, and Arkadin was actually inspired by the Lime-character.
Many other scenes take place in Spain, where the production shot in Segovia, Valladolid, Costa Brava, Madrid and possibly more places. Much care and attention went into catching local culture like a procession of penitents and a masque ball.
As to the worth of the film, Mr. Arkadin receives a generously enthused four stars from here.
The problems with it are quite a few, and undoubtedly some of them stem from the fact that it was taken from Welles' creative control and edited into several versions by its co-producer Louis Dovilet. No less than seven versions (at least) thus exist of Mr. Arkadin! In this way, the film itself is also wrapped in an attractive veil of mystery, even if the plot seems frail and at times incomprehensible as a consequence.
Other problems are the very varied performances in photography and acting: Cinematographer Jean Bourgoin (Goha (1958)) sometimes succeeds with sweeping traveling shots and poignant compositions, but at other times, especially in one-on-one conversations, the shots simply do not match together, and the abrupt style and incessant use of Dutch angles is disruptive. No doubt Hal Hartley's awful Fay Grim (2006) draws inspiration from by Mr. Arkadin.
Redgrave is not a very charismatic or interesting in the other lead as Arkadin's agent, and in many instances, acting performances vary, and the dubbing isn't very well achieved.
Still in all, Mr. Arkadin is a fascinating and exciting film, wherein Welles plays with myth and history and stages himself as a kind of grand and mysterious film wizard.
Also, the ending of the film is exciting and does not let down the vivid expectations of tragedy and gloom that the film builds up.
Related posts:
Orson Welles: F for Fake (1973) - Welles' eccentric fakery meditation is a trip
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist adaptation (supporting actor)
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (co-star)
Citizen Kane (1941) - The cold elephant on the shelf
Watch Welles as Arkadian tell a story of a scorpion in this 1-minute clip from the film
Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain
[Mr. Arkadin premiered 27 June (Barcelona, Spain) and runs 93-106 minutes (according to which of the seven or so versions of it you watch.) Shooting took place in London, England, Switzerland, Spain, Germany and Italy from January - August 1954. The film was taken from Welles during post- production, when he exceeded a deadline, and the debacle of the film's many 'rival' versions were later described by Welles as the "biggest disaster" of his life. The public domain 95 minute version is not worth watching, as it eliminates the film's nonlinear flash-back structure, whereas the 2006 Criterion edit (completed by experts, including Peter Bogdanovich, 21 years after Welles' demise) may be the one closest to Welles' vision. Mr. Arkadin was released in the UK and Spain in 1955 and in several other European markets in 1956. In 1957 followed Portugal and Argentina, and only in 1962 was the film released in North America. Gross numbers are lost, but it reportedly sold 517k tickets in France, - and likely also drew crowds in Spain due to its many locations there. On an expected low budget, the film may have been profitable. Welles returned with 3 TV projects before his theatrical return, Touch of Evil (1958). As an actor he returned in Moby Dick Rehearsed (1955, TV movie), Ford Star Jubilee (1956, TV-series) and theatrically in Moby Dick (1956). Mr. Arkadin is fresh at 80 % with a 7.14/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Mr. Arkadin?
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