I have not seen a good dramatic movie in sometime. Aside from Indemnity, the last drama that I've seen would have had to of been Revolutionary Road. That being said, I think I've fallen in love with movies again thanks to Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Never in my life have I felt so uncomfortable from a movie and still walked away thinking "damn, I really enjoyed that."
Review
Uncomfortable is really the word that sums up this movie. Why? Let's start with the opening scene. Evil begins with the camera following two couples as they cross the Mexican border, one in a car what is seconds from blowing up and another walking down the street. Now normally, most directors would give us close up, very personal views of the couples. Orson Welles give us that "personal" view periodically, yet the shot is set up so that the camera is moving at normal walking speed which, as far as I've seen, hasn't been done before. When you think about it, the scene was so simple and yet so uncomfortable, knowing that the car the camera was following was seconds from blowing up.
Now let's move to acting. Charlton Heston with his face painted brown playing Vargas, a Mexican government official... That last sentence just boggles my mind. Heston is good actor but come on, talk about miscasting. But, after reading Nericcio's article I understand what Welles was trying to accomplish. There is a line from the movie that states "this isn't the real Mexico," and I think that Heston supports that; he is not really Mexican. In fact, I don't think an "average" Mexican person was at all present in the film (most were prostitutes, drunks, or criminals).
Then there is Orson Welles' character Quinlin, who is a fascinating creature. This overweight, overtly racist crooked cop is, at the start of the movie, idolized for his great detective skills (his hunches that come in the form of twitches in his leg). When Quinlin first appears a sense of relief and comfort falls upon the viewer, knowing that this "ace detective" is on the job and by the way the other cops react upon seeing him. Yet as the movie progresses we see the same characteristics emerge on Quinlin as we saw on Heston; he seems to be different than anyone else in the whole film. Think about it: he is a fat, racist, candy bar eating, cop who specifically asks for donuts and coffee. Welles not only is playing off stereotypes of Mexicans, as we have discussed in class, but he is playing off the stereotypes of cops and white American men as well. And this idea of a "border town" applies both ways... its neither Mexico or America, so stereotypes of Americans and Mexicans are present.
Lastly, the acting by the stunning Janet Leigh. Boy was she phenomenal. Both the articles we've read for class talk of this infamous implied rape scene and the uncomfortable feeling the viewer gets from watching it unfold. Yet, never once do they give credit where credit is due; if it were not for the amazing work by Janet Leigh, her face of terror, the frantic movements under the bed sheets, the wild kicking of her legs as they were holding her down, all of these images created this very awkward feeling.
Conclusion
This is a movie to watch, reflect about, and then watch again. There have been only 2 movies in my life that I've rented, returned, and gone immediately to the store and bought: The Fountain and now Touch of Evil. This movie scores a 10 out of 10 and recieves my highest recommendation. Thank you Mr. Welles!
It's good that you enjoyed it so much, despite the awkwardness. I too felt incredibly awkward while watching this movie. The usual stereotypes were very obviously represented and the corruption that existed in the police department really heightened the awkwardness for me. And the terrible things that happened to Suzie- I also agree that Janet Leigh did a wonderful job playing her role.
ReplyDeleteI love how you sum up the film in one word: uncomfortable. I think it’s great that you really got to the center of what the film was for you and simplified it into a one word description. I think that’s really important to do.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I’m really fascinated by Orson Welles’ character in this film and was glad that you focused some of your blog specifically on his character. I like how you pointed out how he was different from every other character especially in appearance. I think that there is also one thing that sets him apart from everyone else in the film and that is his back story. His specific history involving his relationship with his wife is fascinating but what is even more fascinating is that he is one of the only characters in the film whose history we know even a little bit about. I think this makes Quinlan a very realistic character. He seems the most human and in many ways the most tragic.
Just as a side note: You said that you haven’t seen too many very good dramatic films lately. I also noticed you cited The Fountain as the only other film that you went out and bought immediately after renting. I was wondering if you saw Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. I thought it was absolutely phenomenal and definitely recommend it if you haven’t seen it.
Whoah.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent post--one of the kind that gives me a new view of the movie. Very, very nicely done.
What works so well about it is the specificity with which you describe the 'uncomfortable' effect Welles is going for. Just about everything in the movie is slightly off-kilter. Shots are never what you expect them to be, which has been bugging me. But you explain why and how that works very well.