Mr. Arkadin Review
Financed by Spanish and Swiss sources, and shot on a minuscule budget in Germany, France, and Spain, Mr. Arkadin (1955) was another Orson_Welles tale of power, corruption, and the unraveling of a great man's mystery by an intrepid investigator. Conceived as Citizen_Kane European-style and shot with Welles' customary skewed angles and high contrast black-and-white, the movie makes the most of its locations and palatial interiors to communicate Arkadin's seemingly unfathomable potency and inscrutable motives. Increasing the story's decadent aura, the reporter is a shady, fortune-hunting traveler hired by Arkadin under flimsy pretexts. Rather than Kane's extended flashbacks, however, Arkadin's past is pieced together through the verbal memories of a gallery of grotesque former associates, including a flea circus wrangler who feeds his insects with his own blood. Welles as Arkadin is a bearded gargoyle, hiding behind masks, shadows, and dark glasses. Like Kane, Arkadin remains an enigma, although the film's rough sound occasionally enhances his obscurity. Dubbed in Spanish and English, Mr. Arkadin was released in Europe in 1955 as Confidential Report; it was not released in America until 1962. Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
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