sr edler
gold is not reality
- Mar 20, 2010
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Mr. Arkadin (also known as Confidential Report) (1955) by Orson Welles – 4.5/10
Okay, so I watched this film. Apparently it exists in several (minor different) versions. I don't know which one I watched, but I knew from the start the film have a reputation of being "unfinished". I didn't like it very much though (the film), I don't think because of its unfinishedness, but mostly because of the campy exaggerated tone/acting.
I've read/heard a story regarding the 1967 James Bond spoof/comedy film Casino Royale where it's said that Peter Sellers and Orson Welles couldn't stand each other during filming because Sellers tried to take his acting/the film seriously and Orson Welles just wanted to perform magic tricks on the set while shooting the movie (he was a hobby magician). That film is quite unwatchable, not only because of Welles though but because of everything, and I can't remove myself from the slight feel of something similar here. It's hard to pin down to a tee though.
Sometimes when you watch this film you get a feeling Welles is not taking it very seriously. Perhaps semi-comedy just isn't his strongest genre, I don't know.
(first scene in the film is a shot of this plane, at least in the version I watched)
Mr. Arkadin/Confidential Report was shot mainly in Spain (where I guess Welles lived at the time) and other locations in Europe. The narrative moves too quickly in the beginning, and the film lacks in structure/build up. The main actor/character (Robert Arden/Guy Van Stratten) also lacks heavily in charisma/likability. Pretty much everyone in the film does, actually.
The film does have some relatively good/interesting scenes though. What did annoy me when I watched this film was that it's very easy to see the potential in the story. Welles' character (Mr. Arkadin) was apparently modeled after the the real-life Greek businessman/industrialist Sir Basil Zaharoff who made a great fortune for himself as an arms dealer during WW1 and was described as a "merchant of death" and "mystery man of Europe" during the first few decades of the 20th century. That's a great foundation.
The German title on this film is Herr Satan persönlich and the Swedish title is Herr Satan själv, and both those titles translates to "Mr. Satan himself", but no time during the film do you get the feeling of something eerie in the antagonistic character because Welles lends himself too much to his hobby magician self and not enough to the actual war/post-war settings/stories/undertones.
I think I would have liked this film a lot more if it went much closer to The Third Man than it does the 1967 version of Casino Royale.
I also didn't like most of the close-ups.
A big plus/thumbs up for Gert "Goldfinger" Fröbe in a small role as a German police detective though.
Mr. Arkadin telling the story of the scorpion and the frog for a smaller audience.
Okay, so I watched this film. Apparently it exists in several (minor different) versions. I don't know which one I watched, but I knew from the start the film have a reputation of being "unfinished". I didn't like it very much though (the film), I don't think because of its unfinishedness, but mostly because of the campy exaggerated tone/acting.
I've read/heard a story regarding the 1967 James Bond spoof/comedy film Casino Royale where it's said that Peter Sellers and Orson Welles couldn't stand each other during filming because Sellers tried to take his acting/the film seriously and Orson Welles just wanted to perform magic tricks on the set while shooting the movie (he was a hobby magician). That film is quite unwatchable, not only because of Welles though but because of everything, and I can't remove myself from the slight feel of something similar here. It's hard to pin down to a tee though.
Sometimes when you watch this film you get a feeling Welles is not taking it very seriously. Perhaps semi-comedy just isn't his strongest genre, I don't know.
(first scene in the film is a shot of this plane, at least in the version I watched)
Mr. Arkadin/Confidential Report was shot mainly in Spain (where I guess Welles lived at the time) and other locations in Europe. The narrative moves too quickly in the beginning, and the film lacks in structure/build up. The main actor/character (Robert Arden/Guy Van Stratten) also lacks heavily in charisma/likability. Pretty much everyone in the film does, actually.
The film does have some relatively good/interesting scenes though. What did annoy me when I watched this film was that it's very easy to see the potential in the story. Welles' character (Mr. Arkadin) was apparently modeled after the the real-life Greek businessman/industrialist Sir Basil Zaharoff who made a great fortune for himself as an arms dealer during WW1 and was described as a "merchant of death" and "mystery man of Europe" during the first few decades of the 20th century. That's a great foundation.
The German title on this film is Herr Satan persönlich and the Swedish title is Herr Satan själv, and both those titles translates to "Mr. Satan himself", but no time during the film do you get the feeling of something eerie in the antagonistic character because Welles lends himself too much to his hobby magician self and not enough to the actual war/post-war settings/stories/undertones.
I think I would have liked this film a lot more if it went much closer to The Third Man than it does the 1967 version of Casino Royale.
I also didn't like most of the close-ups.
A big plus/thumbs up for Gert "Goldfinger" Fröbe in a small role as a German police detective though.
Mr. Arkadin telling the story of the scorpion and the frog for a smaller audience.