Mr. Arkadin

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Product Description

Something of a remake of Citizen Kane, Orson Welles's 1955 Mr.� Arkadin is a knowing and self-reflective variation on one of Welles's pet themes: the search for a defining secret of a powerful man. Welles plays an important financier who tries to discover his own past by hiring a man (Robert Arden) to research it. Did the seemingly haunted Arkadin simply forget who he is or where he's been? Or is he seeking his own Rosebud--a crucial, lost thing from his life that can serve (if identified) as a mythic key to former happiness? The film, a European coproduction, was made under the typically difficult and extended conditions Welles had to navigate after leaving Hollywood, and the bumpiness shows. But the entire project is really an act of Wellesian deconstruction--it's Welles making a film about the kind of film Orson Welles previously made--and that approach is more electrifying than one might imagine. The editing in this film, for instance, is not quite like in any of Welles's other works, with bursts of linear action literally disappearing between frames, as if the fabric of reality itself was vanishing. As far as the titan Arkadin is concerned, it might as well be. --Tom Keogh

Mr. Arkadin Review

Orson Welles wrote and directed "Mr. Arkadin" based on 3 episodes of "The Lives of Harry Lime" (1951-1952) radio show, in which Welles starred as antihero adventurer Harry Lime, reprising his role from the 1949 film "The Third Man". Guy Van Stratten (Robert Arden) -con artist, "petty adventurer", and, according to himself, "the world's greatest sucker"- was smuggling cigarettes with girlfriend Mily (Patricia Medina) in Naples harbor when a man named Bracco (Gregoire Aslan) was stabbed on the dock. Bracco whispered 2 names to Mily with his dying breath. One name was Gregory Arkadin (Orson Welles), a fabulously wealthy international financier. Thinking that Bracco's dying words might be worth something to Arkadin, Guy tries to ingratiate himself with Arkadin's daughter Raina (Paola Mori), while Mily uses her charms to get close to him. Disapproving of Guy's relationship with Raina and realizing his ambitions, Mr. Arkadin proposes to pay Guy to investigate his past in exchange for Guy abandoning Raina. Arkadin claims to suffer from amnesia, knowing nothing before he found himself in Zurich in 1927 with 200,000 Swiss francs in his pocket. With this information, Guy criss-crosses Europe trying to reconstruct Arkadin's past. (4 stars)

"Mr. Arkadin" has been called a burlesque and a pastiche of Orson Welles' earlier films. It's not clear whether to take it literally, figuratively, or as satire -although the film's outrightly comic scenes are its best. Robert Arden's performance is often considered the weak spot in the film, because he doesn't make Guy Van Stratten sympathetic. I think Arden portrays Guy's clumsy, obnoxious ambition rather well actually. He's not a sympathetic character, but a junior Mr. Arkadin. There are many wonderful supporting performances. The weakness is Mr. Arkadin himself, who is a caricature rather than a character. Called "the ogre" by his daughter and a "phenomenon of an age of disillusion and crisis" by his enemies, Mr. Arkadin has a ridiculous appearance and manner, and his actions rarely make sense. A large man with a conspicuously coiffed hair and beard, he is simply absurd. Welles' keen sense of the absurd comes through in canted camera angles and lavish, chaotic art direction. The seemingly modern tale is set before an intriguing medieval backdrop of castles, peasants, and religious ritual. The Goya-inspired masquerade ball adds a touch of grotesque to the already unsettling tone.

Adding to the absurdity, Welles often changed his mind about structure and dialogue, forcing some scenes to be dubbed later. Welles himself dubbed several parts, including Bracco and The Professor. That was probably for technical reasons, but it's unfortunate. Scenes dubbed out of artistic whim are recognizable for speech that doesn't match the actors' lips. Welles lost control of the film in the editing process, as usual, ultimately resulting in several different versions of "Mr. Arkadin". Producer Louis Dolivet, a stealthy character himself, took the film away from Welles, because he was editing only 2 minutes of final product per week. Louis Dolivet was a communist who had been Welles' political mentor for a few years in the 1940s. Dolivet later had colorful career as a Soviet espionage agent, but insofar as "Mr. Arkadin" was concerned, he did the capitalist thing and sued Welles. The Criterion Collection offers 3 versions of the film in this "The Complete Mr. Arkadin" set (5 stars). Optional English subtitles are available.

DISC 1: The "Corinth Version" (99 minutes), discovered by Peter Bogdanovich in the early 1960s, is thought to be the last extant version to be under Orson Welles' control. Welles stated that the editing within scenes is true to his intentions. This version isn't horrible, bu it cuts to Guy and Zouk in the Berlin apartment repeatedly in such a manner as to disrupt the flow of the film. Arkadin's rendition of the scorpion-crossing-the-river story is the worst that I have seen, and it spoils his entrance. Bonus features on Disc 1: There is a nice audio commentary by Welles scholars Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore. They discuss the film's origins, visual style, themes, performances, and Welles' directing methods. "The Lives of Harry Lime" (90 min) includes the 3 radio show episodes (audio) on which the film was based, for play on a computer, DVD or MP3 player. The sound quality is not very good. "Reviving Harry Lime" (20 min) is an interview with Harry Alan Towers, who created and produced the radio show. He recalls how Orson Welles came to work on the show, putting the show together, and who may have actually written the 6 episodes credited to Welles, namely Ernest Borneman. There is also a "Stills Gallery" of production stills and behind-the-scenes photos.

DISC 2: The "Confidential Report" version (98 minutes), or the Louis Dolivet edit, which was released in 1955 in Great Britain. This version has the best picture quality, but it's the worst edit. It assumes that the audience will not be able to follow the story unless it is spelled out. The flashback structure is simplified, which at least eliminates choppiness. But the audience is guided by an overburdened voiceover narration. Extraneous scenes are included, particularly in the first 15 minutes, while more interesting material was cut. The introductions to both women, Mily and Riana, make them out to be weaker characters than they are. The scene on the dock with Bracco is longer, contains more explication, and a different intent. The bonus feature on Disc 2 is "Men of Mystery" (25 min), an interview with Welles biographer Simon Callow, who talks about Orson Welles, Louis Dolivet, actor Michael Redgrave, and includes some interview tapes with Robert Arden.

DISC 3: This "Comprehensive Version" (105 minutes) has recently been assembled by film historians/archivists Stefan Drossler and Claude Bertemes from 5 different versions of the film based on comments that Welles made in the years following the film's original release. It is an attempt to create a Welles edit, not the best edit. Although we may know Welles' intentions, it is impossible to know what he would have done had he had the footage in front of him. This version is superior to the others, because the elaborate flashback structure has been restored to working order. But it errs on the side of including too much. For example: Additional footage of Guy approaching Zouk's apartment house gives that scene an inappropriately leisurely pace. In one scene, Mily's dialogue is interrupted then resumed, apparently a mistake. A clip of the plane crashing makes little sense, because it is a subjective camera in an empty plane. Bonus features on Disc 3: "On the Comprehensive Version" (20 min) in which Drossler, Bertemes, and Peter Bogdanovich explain some of the decisions in the new edit. "Outtakes and Rushes" (30 min) are from footage found at the Cinematheque de Luxembourg. "The Spanish Actresses" are alternative scenes with the Baroness Nagel (4 min) and Sophie (7 min) shot specially for the Spanish language version with Spanish actresses Amparo Rivelles and Irene Lopez Heredia.

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