TOUCH OF EVIL - A MASTERPIECE FROM FILM GENIUS
You sort of feel unoriginal when you regurgitate the words of every major critic who gives this film glowing praise. And I went into this film with the expectations of seeing something special - especially since it is directed by Orsson Welles, the man who gave us Citizen Kane - perhaps the best film of all time. And I was extremely shocked to find that my expectations were not only met but exceeded. Here we have a virtuosic display of cinema technique and far more far-sighted than any other film that was produced at that time. The opening scene is the standard bearer for long takes - tried endlessly in films from the brilliant Martin Scorsese openings to Snake Eyes (apparently) to Boogie Nights. But it's like the feeling you get when watching Star Wars IV when you watch Touch of Evil - you realise that here is the origin of the long take. And it cannot be underestimated how significant it is to cinema, but just as important to the narrative suspense that Welles amazingly builds up in this movie. It's a masterful twist to spend so much time on tracking something, but one can imagine how audiences would have been excited by this rather unusual convention of allowing one camera to film an entire sequence. Then there are the low-angle shots of Welles' character, apparently giving away things, leading us to conclusions, making us think we have the upper hand over the narrative. But Welles' movie shows a profound almost Hitchcockian understanding of suspense, and it is exercised in all elements of the film. The score for this film is non-existent (I think). It is made up of source music, mainly from radios - and it is remarkably prophetic of some films that are coming around to this play on diegetic sound in the sonic construction of film. It also adds to the racial tension, location and other elements of the film. If anything it accentuates the stereotypes only to have them broken down and perhaps re-established. But one thing the film focusses on - the relationship between Mexicans and Americans is still of significance to this day - and the film, apart from changes in technology maintains this aura of timelessness. This special edition of Touch of Evil was re-edited according to a 30 page memo Welles wrote on seeing a studio edit of his film. This is the way he would have wanted it - and however good it was before the re-edit, I can't imagine it being much better than this.
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