Another swipe at the man with the robe

The trial (1962)

Based on novel by
 Franz Kafka

Orson Welles described 'The Trial' as the best film he made. Some critics, however, disagree and reiterate that 'they just don't get it'. I fall into the latter category - I get it but the artistic appreciation is beyond me!
Anthony Perkins (yes, Mr. Norman Bates himself), the star of the original 'Psycho', acts in this movie where he (Joseph K) is rudely awoken early one morning by a few men assumed to be from the police to tell in so many confusing way that he is under arrest for an unspecified charge. There are two other characters Mrs Grubach (the landlady) and Ms Burstner, a night club worker and neighbour speak in a confusing manner just to make things more mysterious. K is summoned to attend what is supposed to be a preliminary hearing but it appeared more like a court with cheering spectators! Chaos seem to be the word of the day with K giving a sermon to the cheer of the crowd of thousands.
He leaves the court when a man just manhandles a girl to the cheering of court attendees, just to harassed by the policemen who arrested him and whom he openly accuses of bribery in court.
Then back to his workplace which looks more like a big godown where the staff work robotically just typing away and leave in unison when it is time to go. You see, all the surveillance is done by a computer.
Even lengthy conversations are monitored. It is amazing that the whole set-up (court, office, advocates office etcetera) are all like a maze with series of doors open from one to another. And everywhere there are stacks of filth of files all over the place.
Then come Uncle Max (K's distant uncle) to his rescue after hearing that his nephew is in trouble with the law. He brings him to see his lawyer, Hastler, (Orson Welles). At the lawyer's office, K seem to be more interested in the lawyer's flirtious nurse (his mistress) who is supposed to taking care of the ailing lawyer. K's case seem to go nowhere with cascades of bizarre happenings like court clerk volunteering to adjust his case for sexual favours, Hastler's mistress also offering herself to adjust the case and so on....
Basically this movie is an abstract expression and mumbo jumbo of a satire of sorts about the legal system and prejudices in law.
Cases just delayed and delayed, clients are treated indifferently after they have committed themselves to the lawyers. The clients are kept coming back and coaxed to stay loyal to their advocates. The law is made to sound too complicated to them. And the advocates are made to look like indispensable and they demand a demi-god status. First, the advocate refuses to take his case due health reason then later refuses to allow the client to terminate his services.
Even the painter who paints for the judge, promises to help out in arranging the outcome of his case.
As he comes out of a building, he is appended by some policemen who dump in a man made hole and a bomb is thrown into it denoting the use of hoodlums in the justice system or amongst lawyers.
It is a classic but may not be everybody's idea of a movie to catch on a lonely evening.

The days that we have seen...

Chimes at midnight / Falstaff (1965)

I am neither a student of Shakespeare nor one born in the circle of aristocrats but I have been informed that this is a compilation of Shakespeare's work taken bits and pieces here and there and altered slightly to give this Orson Welles' direction everlasting praise and awards. The fat comical character of Falstaff who appears in many of Shakespeare's plays is played by Orson Welles in this movie. He calls himself Sir John Faltroff but he seems to be just a petty thief who claims to be and to do more than he could.
Richard II dies (some say murdered by Duke Bollingbroke) and relatives of the heir, Mortimer, comes to claim the throne but is chased away by the Duke. The Duke proclaims himself as King Henry IV. There is much chaos in the land but his son, The Prince, is just too happy fooling around with his fat fraud friend  Falstaff and his friends of ill repute in a lodge.
After much deliberation, the Prince manages to fight the mutiny and take over the throne from his ailing father. He assumes the title King Henry V.
Upon hearing news of good friend's ascent to the throne, Falstaff visits the King who humiliates him and takes him to be someone from his bad dream and would like to life anew. He is imprisoned but is released  the following day. Disheartened, Falstaff dies shortly afterwards.
The story may not be much but the poetic English with word play and comedy which sounds melodiously music to their ears is the plus point of the film. Kudos should also go to the grueling war scene on horse backs.

N.B. I remember a time when RTM used to screen 'Merchant of Venice' and other classics just before the SPM (O-levels) examinations at the end of the year for the benefit of relevant students.

Turkish delight

Journey into fear (1943)
Whilst the whole world was busy fighting a war, Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton and his friends in Mercury Theatre were working with what they did best - i. e. film making.

In contrast to the merciless villainous role that Joseph Cotton acted as in Hitchcock's 'Shadow of Doubt', here he portrays as straight forward American engineer (Graham) in Istanbul who is running for his life after a failed attempt on his life. Orson Welles appears as a Turkish police chief (Haki) who comes to his rescue by sending him back home by boat rather than his planned train trip. As predicted, his assassin is on board. They are Nazi agents out to delay the upgrading of Turkish Navy of which Graham is involved.

Apparently, Welles was too busy with other commitments that he delegated directorial and other duties to others. Probably, if he were more involved in its production, then there would be imbroglio of massive reels of edited film yearning to be screened! In spite of appearing for a short while on screen, Welles did leave an everlasting impression via his unique brand of line delivery and showmanship.

The climax of the movie is the suspense-filled off the window ledge chase scene in the pouring rain.

So so movie...

Memorable line: Men are all the same, untrustworthy!

They did it because they felt like it!

Compulsion 1959
Set in Chicago of 1924, this is another film noir starring Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell (the guy on TV series 'Voyagers!' with the time gadget), Bradford Dilman, Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman of TV series $6million dollar man) and others.
Artie Strauss (Dilman) and Judd Steiner (Stockwell) are two intelligent wayward rich university law students who go around with a chip on their shoulder (thinking that they are of superior intellect) doing mischief and hit-and-run a drunk off a road because they felt like it!
Richard Anderson (Max) is Judd's brother who despises his brother's association with Artie.
The deranged duo kills a boy but for a perfect murder but Judd inadvertently dropped his glasses at the crime scene.
Judd is a loner and child prodigy speaking 14 languages who lost his mother at 8. Artie is always abandoned by his aristocrat parents. The police finally pinpoint the murder to the duo. By that time, I was wondering when Welles was going to manifest.
The weary and clearly obese Welles (Jonathan Wilk) walks in only 1 hour into the movie as the flamboyant and sarcastic atheist defence lawyer for both Artie and Judd.
The second half of the movie focuses on the court proceedings and its drama. The outcome of the case is somewhat predictable but the pull factor is the compelling powerful dialogue. Wilk, who opposes capital punishment manages to get life imprisonment for them with his heart wrenching persuasive 15 minute submission at the end of the movie, leaving a bad aftertaste of life, hatred and killing amongst man as well the the question of religious belief and the Hand of God which dropped the pair of spectacles at the scene of crime!
It is alien to see university students dressed to the nines with suits and ties here. The story is based on hate crime killing of a Jewish boy in Chicago back in 1924.
Dilman, Stockwell and Welles all received Best Actor Award at Cannes in 1959. Another 100% rating from The Rotten Tomato. Double thumbs UP!

Memorable quote...

If there is any way of destroying hatred and all that goes with it, it's not through evil and hatred and cruelty, but through charity, love, understanding. 

Oh, To Hell!

The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice (1952)

There are conspiracy theory stories surrounding William Shakespeare. The first says that he could not have written the playwrights by himself looking at his non-aristocratic family background. People like Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere and Sir Francis Bacon are some of the likely candidates who are the possible real authors. Another theory is, of course, the alien intervention of infusing wisdom to mankind to improve them culturally.

So with that background, I decided to watch Orson Welles' presentation of Othello. Seriously, I was clueless about Othello - I never had the chance to read it.

The black-and-white movie made in 1952 with many versions- the one I watched is the 1992 restored version. It starts with a funeral procession and backtracks to the unceremonious union of matrimony of Othello (a Moor, a North African general of the Venetian army) and Desdemona. His jealous 'comrades', Diago and Cassio stir the serenity by instigating Desdemona's father to accuse Othello of winning her heart through witchcraft. Othello manages to convince the royal courts of his noble intentions through his flowery rendition of love speech.
In the meantime, war breaks out with Cyprus. Othello leads his army to war, bringing his wife along. In midst of war, Diago manages to start a rumour that Desdemona has a soft spot for Cassio. Diago also manages to start a mayhem within the army by getting Cassio intoxicated. Cassio is humiliated by Othello.
Being the wolf in sheep's clothing that he is, he even manages to cast the seed of doubt in Othello's mind on Desdemona's fidelity. By placing Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's cell, Diago convinces Othello of her vice. The enraged general smothers her on the same matrimonial bed that she allegedly soiled. Emilio, Desdemona's maid and Iago's wife realizes her husband's ill intent and vouchers for Desdemona's chastity. Frustrated, Othello commits suicide. Cassio becomes Governor of Cyprus and Iago is apprehended.

Spoken in old poetic English complemented with excellent acting from Orson Welles as a broody morose filled general is an interesting watch. I get the feeling that many actors that we know like Sivaji Ganesan (maybe noisier), Marlon Brando and P. Ramlee (In 6 Jahanam) have followed his way of acting.

Gotta move with the times!

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) 
Another Orson Welles movie, this time a period drama set in the early 20th century when the automobile industry was in its infancy.
The Ambersons were a traditionally rich family via cotton, mills and the like with arrogant George as the sole heir to the family. Upon his coming home from college, his mother holds a party, when George meets Lucy and her father. Lucy's father, Eugene (Joseph Cotton), is considered eccentric as he thought automobile, the unreliable frequently breaking down horseless carriage, is the way of the future.
George's sickly father, Wilbur who outwit Eugene to win his mother in marriage, dies soon afterwards. Eugene, a widower, rekindles his relationship with George's mother, Isabel, now a widow. The haughty
George ridicules Eugene and his automobile industry. As Isabel and Eugene's affair becomes the talk of town, George goes ballistic and tries whatever means to separate this old love couple. Lucy and George's grandfather dies later and the Ambersons fall into poverty. Reality hits and Georgie has to go to work.
Eugene's automobile industry prospers and the incidence of automobile accidents plummets in which George also falls prey. This helps to unite Eugene, Lucy and the remaining of the Ambersons, George and his aunt, Fanny.
Orson Welles wrote the script , directed and narrated in his usual witty thought provoking way. The story is based on a 1918 Pulitzer winning novel. This film is a national heritage and is also considered one of 100 best American films of all time.
The take home message from this offering is that we should change with time and bask in our laurels, otherwise we would be overtaken and left to rot.
May be it is just me but I felt that the movie to be particularly disjointed. Many of the story line is left to my imagination. May be it is because, as in most of Welles' movies, the final product had to be slashed almost an hour of the film!
A good one....though!

Touch of evil

After a self imposed exile in Europe of 10 years, Orson Welles made this 1958 movie with a star studded cast of Charleton Heston, Janet Leigh, himself, Marlene Deitrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dennis Weaver and others.
It is a film noir with a very convoluted storyline and is the last of legendary movies of its genre. Here, guitar music of rock and roll had replaced the usual jazz music. This movie was supposed to be a come back movie for Welles. Again here, the studios felt that the movie had to be edited and redone much to Welles disappointment that made him write the now famous 58 page expressive plea. In 1998, the director's plea materialized and was restored to its previous glory.
Charleton Heston acts a mustachioed Mexican drug enforcement officer! Welles who was hired as a supporting actor and villainous evidence planting over-sized unhealthy looking cop ended up doing the screenplay and direction for free. This outing however lacks the power dialogue that is synanomous with Welles' offering. The one striking take was the opening scene where the director introduces the US-Mexico border town via an extremely long tracking shot which is quite unique.

Quinlan: Come on, read my future for me.
Tanya: You haven't got any.
Quinlan: Hmm? What do you mean?
Tanya: Your future's all used up.