Part of what I do here with these reviews is trying to put
singular films into a greater context. The wheres and whys that surround each
production can often help make sense of the product itself, for better or for
worse. And in the realms of American cinema, few directors can lay claim to
being such utter fonts of cinematic context as Orson Welles.
Film as any of us know it simply doesn’t make sense without
considering his contribution to the art, something that can easily be taken for
granted when looking at his seminal classics in today’s light. From the
revolutionary visuals of Citizen Kane to the ground-breaking editing of F For
Fake to the character wizardry of Chimes At Midnight, his work has influenced so much of what would come afterwards that it's frankly staggering. He is one of the few
filmmakers I can recall where it feels necessary to separate entertainment
value from the legacy of the art itself. This film, a posthumous completion of
one of the many productions Welles never lived to see completed, is no
exception.
