Rating: 2.5/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2016 | 15/52 | Film Noir
A woman’s body lay on the beach.
On December 25th, an airplane was spotted off the coast of Barcelona. It was flying empty. Investigation of this case reached the highest circles, and the scandal was very nearly responsible for the fall of at least one European government. This motion picture is a fictionalized reconstruction of the events leading up to the murder and to the appearance last Christmas morning of the empty plane.
Two mysteries are planted at the beginning of the story — the woman and the empty plane.
Guy Van Stratten, an American gambler and smuggler, tries to protect Jakob Zouk from murder. Jakob doesn’t understand, so Guy tells him a story.
Guy and his girlfriend Mily witness a murder at night at the Naples harbor. The dying man, Brocco, whispers two names to Mily before he passes. One is Gregory Arkadin. The other, she can’t remember. With the name Arkadin comes the promise of untold wealth.
Guy and Mily separately look for Mr. Arkadin, but Mr. Arkadin is a secretive and elusive man. Guy dates Arkadin’s daughter, Raina, hoping to meet her father.
At a masquerade ball, Arkadin hands Guy a confidential report with Guy’s name on it. Arkadin suspects Guy is a con looking to exploit his daughter. Guy claims to have dirt on Arkadin, which strikes his interest. Arkadin claims not to know his past. He hires Guy to find out who Arkadin is.
Thus begins the convoluted, cross-national narrative, wherein Guy follows lead after lead in search of Arkadin’s identity.
Meanwhile, Mily becomes Arkadin’s mistress.
Names pile onto names, and plots diverge into dead ends — Guy exhausts himself chasing a mystery with a grand promise at the end.
A certain great and powerful king once asked a poet, "What can I give you of all that I have?" He wisely replied, "Anything sir… except your secret."
I watched The Comprehensive Version pieced together by The Criterion Collection. Nine versions of this movie exist (including one novelization), and this one has the most footage. Also, being re-edited by several folks, it’s probably the most logically cohesive version of the movie.
Welles exiled himself so he could have creative freedom. He didn’t finish this movie on time, and financers weren’t going to wait around. Once again, he didn’t get final cut, so he declared it a disaster.
Having seen the most complete version, it all fits together — it’s still a mess.
The movie plays with dynamic camera angles and motion, sometimes to a distracting degree. Occasionally, the Dutch angles create captivating frames. More often, they’re distracting.
Welles, whose fake beard and heavy makeup obscure any facial expression except an arched eyebrow, is flat. His accent is hammy, and his delivery of every line is so self-important.
The heavily dubbed dialogue pushes into itself — I couldn’t tell if it was a clumsy Howard Hawks send-up or what.
Having only seen this version, I can’t say what is Welles and what are reedits. Regardless, this isn’t one I’d recommend.