Touches You

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Defying All Reasonable Recitation, This Film is Another of Welles Extravagances that Spun Out of His Control in Post Production and Manifested a Life of its Own. Trying to Discern What it Was Supposed to Be or What it Is, for that Matter, is the Stuff of Scholarly Pursuits, Doctoral Thesis, and Criterion Collections.The Casual Film Buff Venturing Into Welles World, Especially His Late Term Efforts, is Likely to be Chewed Up, Spit Out, and Sent Sliding Into Incomprehensible Mutterings and a Desire for Firmer Ground.Solid Footing is Fleeting when it comes to Mr. Arkadin. There are So Many Versions, So Many Varying Prints, and So Many Rumors and Recollections that it is Best to Just Go with the "Comprehensive Version" and Leave "Welles" Enough Alone. Orson Welles was a Magician, a Curmudgeon, a Tinkerer, and a Tailor of Film that Loved to Play with His Craft Endlessly Until All Reason was Ripped This Way and That and Then Back Again.Few Knew or Have Been Able to Penetrate the Mind of this Filmmaker and Come Up with Anything Coherent or Understandable (a description of Arkadin), Although Mr. Bogdanovich and Others Certainly Gave it the Old College Try. Therein Lies the Endless Fascination with Orson Welles. A Puzzle of a Motion Picture Maker that is Forever Being Broken Up and Put Back Together, Although the Image on the Box is Always Different for Anyone Willing to Look. Mr. Arkadin is Perhaps Welles Most Fun Film. It is Bizarre, Disjointed, Awkward, Ill Fitting, and Absolutely Amazing and it Exists in a Select Universe of Films, Fit for Deconstruction Only by the Most Masochistic and Maniacal of Movie Fanatics. Others are Best Advised, for Peace of Mind, to Please Move Along and Play Elsewhere.

I admire Orson Welles's ability to take a seemingly simple story and develop it into a brilliant one. with his square face covered in a huge beard and devious eye brows he makes the strongest character in this film. The leading character (Van Stratten) was all right, but he did not succeed creating a captivating performance. i saw this one at a friend of mine, he happened to have it on Criterion(at a steep price i might add). of course we saw the longest version as there are three versions to behold. the dialog coming out of Arkadin's(Welles) mouth is wonderful and just plain amusing. this film is a must see/own for those who enjoy the old stuff and those who appreciate the work of a cinematic genius .

There's just something about Orson Welles behind a camera (as well as in front). I saw this movie years ago on a public television station. The print was pathetic, however you could still pick out the extreme angles, deep focus, layered soundtrack and quirky characters that are the Wellesian touch.I recently purchased the Criterion set and was absolutely delighted. The back story of just about any Welles movie is generally at least as exciting as the movie itself, and this one is a doozy.I was watching one of the versions with my wife last year and she asked what year it was made. I think that Welles was perpetually about 50 years ahead of the curve. This is why his movies have a tremendous audience and respect now.

After seeing Gregoire Aslan knifed on a dock and hearing a couple of last words like Sophia and Mr. Arkadin, Robert Arden and girl friend Patricia Medina know at least part of it.Mr. Arkadin refers to the mysterious gazillionaire played by Orson Welles. However Sophia is as elusive at first as the mysterious 'rosebud' in Citizen Kane.Welles seeing that Arden is a man of wit and resource in the seamier side of life, hires him to find out about Sophia. In fact the story that Welles gives Arden is that before 1927 when he found himself in Zurich, Switzerland with several million francs, he has amnesia and has no memory of his past.It's obviously a lie because one of the reasons that Arkadin is so mysterious is that he has steadfastly refused to be photographed. Not something someone would normally do unless they had a lot to hide.Still Arden takes the assignment and it leads to some startling answers and puts Arden's life in peril.Welles came up short with Mr. Arkadin. It's an intriguing story and has some good performances by the cast members already mentioned and people like Mischa Auer, Akim Tamiroff, Michael Redgrave, and Katina Paxinou from Welles's past. Problem is that Welles seems to be using a lot more in his bag of tricks than is necessary to tell the tale.A little to arty for art's sake. Still it's an interesting story and well acted.