I’ve been a fervent Orson Welles fan for the past couple months, and when I heard about the release of the criterion collection DVD “The Complete Mr. Arkadin”, I almost jumped out of my seat, I was so happy. This Welles film in particular has sparked significant interest in my eyes because of the rich history behind it.
I’ve read a couple books about the maestro already, so I’m well versed on his various accomplishments and have a basic knowledge of how most of his films were made (The conditions, etc…). Now, from the information I gathered up, I think there are 8 different versions of this film available, 8 different cuts if you prefer. And one of these, the one restored by Peter Bogdanovich , a close friend of Welles, is supposedly the closest to his original cut. You see, the film was taken away from him during the editing stage, like many of his films, and he was never able to actually finish it the way he wanted to.
What we’re left with is a “half-assed” version of what one can only assume to be a complete disaster or a stroke of genius, either way it’s quite a sight to behold. The first 20 minutes of the film are especially messy, and you can sort of tell the film was never ready for release (although the rest of the film is quite strong).
Hell, even the original story, which is credited to Welles, Orson himself denies to have written or even ever read. In short, Mr. Arkadin is one of those true mysteries of cinematic history and well worth watching.
If any of you have seen it, or heard of it, I’d be more than interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.