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film: The Complete Mr. Arkadin
director: Orson Welles
cast: Orson Welles, Robert Arden
Criterion Collection / 2006
movie score: 87
dvd score: A+
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Welcome to the kick off of Kaare's "Classic Corner,"
where I, your host, fill you in on the newest of the
oldest in DVD releases. To start it off, I have two
great films from two of the most famous men in film.
First up is Ingmar Bergman's, "The Virgin Spring"
(Criterion Collection/2006/$39.95) This is Bergman's
1960 film based on an ancient Swedish ballad about a
young girl that is murdered in the forest by sheep
herders in medieval Sweden. For Bergman, it marked a
return to a much simpler theme after films like "The
Seventh Seal" and "Wild Strawberries". Bergman takes a
simple idea and puts it on film in a gut wrenching way
that you will never forget.
The film takes place in a time where Christianity is
starting to become the faith of Sweden. There is a
delecite balance between the Norse paganism and the
Christian faith. The father, played by the always
stoic Max Von Sydow, is one of those that follows
Christianity, but still hides those pagan beliefs
inside. So when he sends his daughter to the church,
a days ride from their farm, why should the father
fear because she is riding to the house of God? His
daughter Karin (Birgitta Pettersson) is taking the
sacred candles to church to light for the Virgin Mary.
Karin is a very naive girl, you could say that she is
incredible sheltered as the only living child of her
parents. On her way to the church, she comes along
three brothers. After giving her a fantastic story
about their lives, she invites them to join her for
lunch. She barely can break the bread before their
true intentions are known. Karin is raped and
murdered in the woods. That's the gut wrenching part.
Karin's mother waits anxiously for her at home, her
husband tells her not to worry because she is at
church. But when the sheepherding brothers
unknowingly ask Karin's father for shelter from the
cold, their fate is decided as well.
Ingmar Bergman, in Criterion's also informative
booklet, says that he never considered "Virgin Spring"
to be one of his best works. Many would disagree;
including director Ang Lee who gives a glowing
introduction to the film. What Bergman does, as
already stated, is takes a simple tale of murder and
revenge and turn it into a heart breaking family drama
and allegory on Christian forgiveness. Bergman's
black & white cinematography is mezmorizing. The
sweeping shots of Karin on horseback riding through
the hills of Sweden are breathtaking, and the close
up shots of a vengeance wealding Von Sydow are
frightening. Von Sydow's performance is the stuff of
legend. When he takes out his revenge on the
herdsman, you don't know whether to cheer or turn
away. It's one of the most powerful scenes I have
ever seen on film.
The Criterion Collection is a step above any other
company putting out DVDs today. Their sets set a
standard for what a "special edition" should be.
Their work with old and new classics alike can not be
topped. The work they did on "Virgin Spring" shows
that; and it shows it even more so on their new title
"The Complete Mr. Arkadin." You have never seen a DVD
until you've seen this one.
In 1955, Orson Welles decided he was going to make a
film about a man named Gregory Arkadin (Welles), and
rich and feared man of the world. But why is he rich
and feared? That's what Guy Van Stratten (Robert
Arden) is hired to find out: hired by Arkadin! This
film is kind of a mish-mash of two other films Welles
was involved with; his "Citizen Kane" and Carole
Reed's "The Third Man."
Van Stratten is a man out for money, pure and simple.
And when he and his gal hear the dying works a
stranger, that sends him in the direction of Arkadin.
When he finds out what Arkadin is worth, Van Stratten
decides that he wants it, and the best way to it is
through Arkadin's daughter Raina. The problem is,
he's falling for Raina, and Arkadin doesn't like it.
So he has a report made on Van Stratten entitled
"Confidential Report." This is where the story gets
tricky and Welles works his magic. Arkadin hires Van
Stratten to make a confidential report for him. It's
a report on Arkadin himself! Apparently Arkadin
stumbled into Poland years earlier with no memory of
who he was or where he came from.
So Van Stratten takes the offer and sets out to find
out everything about Arkadin. The funny thing is that
whenever Van Stratten makes contact with one of
Arkadin's forgotten associates, those associates end
up dead. Now, telling any more than this gives the
story away, so I will stop here. The acting is nothing
spectacular, but no where near terrible. Welles is
really at his best behind the camera. From "Citizen Kane" to
"Touch of Evil" to "F for Fake," Welles can be
considered one of the best directors of all time. His
creepy angle shots, his upclose face shots and every
other kind of shot has made him a renaissance man of the
highest order.
This DVD is the best DVD of the year. You might be
asking why this movie that you've never heard of is
the DVD of the year. Well, when Welles completed this
film in 1955, the studio kicked him out of the editing
room. He had no say in how the film
looked. Needless to say, it was not Welles's film
anymore. Over the years several different prints of
the film have popped up around the world. What
Criterion has done is assembled three different cuts
of the same film. Disc One contains the Corinth
Version, considered to be one of the most intact
versions of the film available. Disc Two contains
"The Confidential Report," which was the US Version of
the film. Disc Three is tops of them all. Disc Three
contains a comprehensive version of the film put
together by Criterion. They have gathered as many
versions of the film as possible, and along with Peter
Bogdanovich, and created the ultimate version of "Mr.
Arkadin." To top it off, Criterion includes with the
three DVDs a copy of the book "Mr. Arkadin" by Orson
Welles.
That's it for the premier of Kaare's "Classic Corner."
Next time, I'll be a little shorter and feature the
special anniversary edition of John Ford's "The
Searchers." Until then!
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