Word: arkadin
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...over the last few months, undeservedly I think, since the film itself is every bit as perversely eclectic as its marketing. The camera pulls back to a full shot of a family dinner, and Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life is recreated; Karloff's monologue recalls Welles' in Mr. Arkadin as surely as we recognize Strangers On A Train when the sniper's ammunition falls just out of reach (shades of Bruno and the cigarette lighter...
...brooding giant as its hero, and a perfect fit to the Welles genius. The music and the starkness of black-and-white photography are well used to add to the general effect. Organ and percussion set a perpetual sombre undertone, in the way the guitar background of Mr. Arkadin presented a leitmotif...
...alas, the flashback technique is overused, and the story becomes confused at times. The plot deals with the fortunes of Guy van Stratten, a tough American smuggler who falls in with Gregory Arkadin, a wealthy but mysterious citizen of the world. Van Stratten's attempt to blackmail the millionaire through his daughter Raina proves unsuccessful, but the American is hired to trace Arkadin's unknown past...
After a long inquiry through the European under-world, van Stratten discovers the criminal background of Arkadin's wealth. He finds, in addition, the real purpose of his mission. The financier, in a mad attempt to hide his past from Raina, wants to eliminate members of his former gang. Soon the investigator becomes the only person left in the way of Arkadin's ambition. Here Welles loses the chance for a dramatically effective ending by killing off Arkadin in a unrealistic...
...Arkadin, masterful character both in conception and portrayal, dominates the film, but he cannot carry the work alone. Robert Arden, an unappealing van Stratten, is not a convincing hero. Paola Meri's performance as Raina is even worse. She has one beautiful facial expression, much like a Modigliani portrait, but she refuses to change...