I'm not sure whether the cutty choppy nature is intentional or if that is from the studio interference which Welles was opposed to--- whatever the case, it manages--along with the intense close-ups, pasted-in audio, and complex lighting--to form a singular example of cinematic expressionism.
Unease is not a well charted emotion in cinema; it doesn't show up on a face the way anger or elation does. But, watching Welles in that courtroom, watching the ease of the lawyers and the judges interspersed with halting coughs and movements from the benches--- and then watching Welles again, knowing the stakes for him; the feeling is anything but 'ease'.
And this unease pervades the entire runtime, simmering at every glance and beat. And this is what makes it a brilliant noir--that genre which above everything should inspire unease and a sense that things are not going to turn out well; that there is something we don't know but can't quite make out which spells danger.
This is not to mention the 'hall of mirrors' -- finding a reason to include an aquarium, a fun house, and a Chinese theatre in the same film; great stuff. Also like many great noirs the plot makes no goddamn sense and thats okay.
I'm not sure whether the cutty choppy nature is intentional or if that is from the studio interference which Welles was opposed to--- whatever the case, it manages--along with the intense close-ups, pasted-in audio, and complex lighting--to form a singular example of cinematic expressionism.
Unease is not a well charted emotion in cinema; it doesn't show up on a face the way anger or elation does. But, watching Welles in that courtroom, watching the ease of the lawyers and the judges interspersed with halting coughs and movements from the benches--- and then watching Welles again, knowing the stakes for him; the feeling is anything but 'ease'.
And this unease pervades the entire runtime, simmering at every glance and beat. And this is what makes it a brilliant noir--that genre which above everything should inspire unease and a sense that things are not going to turn out well; that there is something we don't know but can't quite make out which spells danger.
This is not to mention the 'hall of mirrors' -- finding a reason to include an aquarium, a fun house, and a Chinese theatre in the same film; great stuff. Also like many great noirs the plot makes no goddamn sense and thats okay.
