Orson Welles only Color Feature Film, (not counting the Mockumentary "F for Fake" (1973), is Basically only of Interest to Welles Fans and Admirers. It is so Slow and Literary that Today if not Viewed as a "Staged Play" can be Glacial in Style but Not Without Beauty.
The Metaphorical Tale that Welles uses is not only Immortal in Folklore but to the Director/Actor Himself. Tragically Mounted with Soft Brown-Red-Yellow Hues, it's a Dusty Ditty of Talk as the Sands in the Hourglass are Squeezing through the Aperture of Time Immemorial for the Character and Welles.
Unable to Sleep in His Declining Years, the Wealthy Mr. Clay is Read Bedtime Stories by His Accountant. The Readings Consist of the Lonely Man's Ledgers of "Dry" Figures and Bottom Lines of a Life left Meaningless when all is "Said and Done".
The Boring Brutality of the "Facts and Figures" leads to an Off Handed Remark about a Story supposedly Told by Sailors on Long Voyages. Mr. Clay Laments that the Story is Useless because it is Fictional and Decides to Pay People to Actually "Live" the Tale so it can have "Real" Life Meaning.
The Film is Well Acted with Welles in Heavy Makeup Looking like "Death Personified" with His Face Projecting an Evil Discompassionate Life of a Capitalist Bloodsucker. It's most Interesting Aspect, Ironically, is not the "Story", it's the Pictured Colored Palette that Welles Frames with the Words and Meaning of the Whole Thing Secondary to the Audience, Especially Today.
Originally Shot for French TV, it Runs Only One Hour, and as such is Worth a Watch for the Curious. Those having No Interest in Orson Welles Career might want to Pass.
The Metaphorical Tale that Welles uses is not only Immortal in Folklore but to the Director/Actor Himself. Tragically Mounted with Soft Brown-Red-Yellow Hues, it's a Dusty Ditty of Talk as the Sands in the Hourglass are Squeezing through the Aperture of Time Immemorial for the Character and Welles.
Unable to Sleep in His Declining Years, the Wealthy Mr. Clay is Read Bedtime Stories by His Accountant. The Readings Consist of the Lonely Man's Ledgers of "Dry" Figures and Bottom Lines of a Life left Meaningless when all is "Said and Done".
The Boring Brutality of the "Facts and Figures" leads to an Off Handed Remark about a Story supposedly Told by Sailors on Long Voyages. Mr. Clay Laments that the Story is Useless because it is Fictional and Decides to Pay People to Actually "Live" the Tale so it can have "Real" Life Meaning.
The Film is Well Acted with Welles in Heavy Makeup Looking like "Death Personified" with His Face Projecting an Evil Discompassionate Life of a Capitalist Bloodsucker. It's most Interesting Aspect, Ironically, is not the "Story", it's the Pictured Colored Palette that Welles Frames with the Words and Meaning of the Whole Thing Secondary to the Audience, Especially Today.
Originally Shot for French TV, it Runs Only One Hour, and as such is Worth a Watch for the Curious. Those having No Interest in Orson Welles Career might want to Pass.