Orson Welles

Just prior to my visit to Vienna, I decided to check out the most famous movie connected to that city and that is classic 1949. thriller "The Third Man".The most interesting thing about this movie is that completely ignores typical trashy, cheesy and fluffy Vienna stuff that locals so proudly display as their cultural heritage - whatever Austrians consider original and interesting part of tourism (schnitzels, waltzes, empress Sissy and such) is not shown here at all - this is Vienna as post-WW2 hell, still in ruins and people living in cold, empty palaces, controlled by four different foreign police sectors. Joseph Cotten is  small-time writer of cheap, paperback novels who arrives here on invitation of his good friend, just to find out that his friend died in suspicious car accident day before and this is where the real story starts - unwilling to let it all go, Cotten gets entangled in all sorts of underworld twists and turns, with dark, scary and gloomy Vienna serving as perfect background for the noir story. Come to think of it, the movie is probably one of the best known examples of what today we call film noir, crime thriller of 1940s/1950s. It does look and feels very foreboding, black & white camera perfectly creating the nightmare atmosphere and there is hardly a character we can really trust, seems that everybody has some secret agenda. Even famous Viennese landmark, the spinning wheel Wiener Riesenrad gets a dangerous role in this movie, this is definitely some dark, disturbing vision of Vienna and no wonder locals were initially reserved about this apocalyptic nightmare about their beloved town. Background music by Anton Karas is perfect, as it appears first just sweet and lilting just to slowly turns disturbing and dissonant, reflecting the whole darkness of the story. Orson Welles is not only the star of the movie but also its most memorable character, although he comes in fairly late and he completely overshadows everybody else with his presence and charisma. Thinking back about the movie, its all about secrets and dark corners, how nobody is what they pretend to be. The ending is just perfect, one of the best ending in the history of cinema. Truly a classic.

"The Third Man" impressed me so much that I found myself thinking about that movie long after I saw it recently so no wonder I decided to check another of Orson Welles masterpieces - "Citizen Kane" unfortunately has such a mythical reputation as one of the greatest wonders of cinema that its almost impossible to approach it with fresh eyes and just relax enjoying it for what it is (old 1941. black & white movie) but you can't help constantly feeling like this should be some religious experience. It won't work if you constantly expecting the burning bush and life-affirming knowledge so my suggestion is, just take it easy and pretend you have never heard abut it before - before you know it, you might get swept away into the story and yes it is quite unforgettable movie, touching so many various subjects that you might find yourself remembering the little details long afterwards. Impossibly young Orson Welles, caught in that fire & inspiration so typical of the first youth, directed, produced and wrote the movie that is impossible to forget - his character is the millionaire taken as a child from his parents and raised by Bank officials who expected him to became one of them: what follows is a life wasted, millions spent, constantly surrounded with envious parasites and deep down inside private understanding that true happiness was always out of reach. You can't help but thinking he would have been better off had he stayed with his parents (who gave him away with the best intentions). There is a whole cornucopia of excellent actors playing supporting roles, including Joseph Cotton and two brilliant actresses playing wives (Ruth Warrick and Dorothy Comingore), not to mention Agnes Moorehead as Kane's mother in her small but unforgettable scene. Visually, the movie is stunning and time has not diminished it at all - its still a joy to watch all those meticulously prepared scenes and my guess is, this is one of those classic movies you can watch again and again, always finding new details in it.