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• usman khawaja said...

  Posted on Oct 21 2009 07:52 HAYWORTH MAKES HISTORY -orson welles has in in essence designed a film noir but this has aged into unique and twisted art as much more than a murder mystery,that the motives of all the characters are obscure or they are conceived as a failure is insignificant as there is a twist here which every cineaste will observe as a multilayered work of genius .
  the meeting between elsa -RITA HAYWORTH -and micheal -ORSON WELLES -in new york'S central park opens the overture to a brittle romance with intense and torrid emotional exchanges ,the encounter is just as accidental as this unique drama destined to become a legendary cult classic .
  ELSA is enroute to San francisco on their private yacht with her husband and some pals and hireS mike as a navigator and the turbulent journey begins , sailing through panama canal .
  the murder mystery is planned and it hatches on the yacht in the vast background of the mighty ocean and the rocky cliffs and exotic beaches where the romance mingles with evil negativity in a tongue in cheek manner .
  finally in a bizarre conspiracy almost like a prank, micheal is framed for the murder of one of the guests on the yacht with irrefutable evidence and the murder trial ensues in san francisco.
  frisco is shot as never before and even the 70s chinatown borrowed from this classic ,the atmosphere is electric and chilling with menacing shadows and the corrupt cops around every corner .
  the satire on the penal codes and judiciary is too obvious to be missed in a brilliant performance by welles in the court with some eclectic and mischievously rampant dialogues delivered in total contempt of the law and order as extant until this day.
  the movie is anti -establishment and anti -imperialist in it's tone but it is not so at cost of admiring any other system but just describing humanity in it's miserable paradigm .
  
  rita hayworth cut and dyed her long red mane to blonde and this is an affective sinister and her most interestinf act which will grow in strength with time galore as she expressess every shade of the complex character she plays with her body language and her exotic facial expressions .
  
  hayworth has a tragic grace laced with a surreal glamour which is both hypnotic and haunting and you cannot take your eyes off her whether it is the short lived romance with welles set on the yacht against the rippling ocean which enhances her mystique or whether it is her her bizarre approach to the opposite sex which she regards as justly exploitative ,nevertheless a character that is unforgettable in all it's nuanced glory .
  
  despite being butchered by the studio, the movie has enough memorable and profoundly artistic visuals from new york to frisco and welles and hayworth are magically intense and the melancholy they arouse is both bittersweet yet romantic in a surreal sense .
  this is romance in a murder mystery which overshadows many greater love tales in its profound passion .
  the exceptionally unique set design and musical composition with the sound and the cinematography in the maze of mirror sequences makes this totally unique and memorable unlike any other movie ever made by hollywood and the credit goes to the script and direction by welles and the performance he extracted from rita hayworth as the wickedly divine angel -elsa .
  
  the fact they married at the start and divorced after the shoot finished shows that true art is taxing and takes it's toll even on genuinely talented individuals ,but the results are honourably exquisite in a story which is best described as a romantic satire on the social milieu in the era it was made and it is still relevant today as the nature and behaviour of the characters is captured in a timeless frame in classic images immersed in divine shades of wickedness which oozes off the screen and provokes your senses setting them on fire .

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