Hello, My Name Is Orson Welles

Orson Welles liked to reuse certain elements throughout his

films. He
liked a good deep focus shot. He liked low key lighting. He liked the
grotesque side of life, blocking actors in groups of three, low camera
angles
and especially pointy bras. He also liked to open his movies in a
certain
predictable way. In Citizen Kane, he used the announcer in "News on
the March"
to introduce the subject and main character, Charles Foster Kane. In
The
Magnificent Ambersons, Welles himself dubs the voice-over which
introduces the
life and environment of the Amberson family. The Irish Welles serves
as a story
teller in the beginning of Lady from Shanghai, recalling the beginnings
of his
plight and giving insight into his character. Welles reads the
enigmatic
parable, serving as the basis of Kafka's work, The Trial.
However, in Touch of Evil, the viewer can not hear the booming
instruction of an announcer, nor is the primary character revealed or
the plot
introduced by a Wellesian voice over. In Touch of Evil, Welles parts
with his
usual opening style in favor of a much more dramatic method of
introduction;
this creates a less obvious, yet more intimate initial interaction
between the
characters on the screen and the viewer in the seat.
Foremost, Welles's legendary long shot opens the film. These
three
minutes and twenty seconds have many effects upon the viewer in
introducing this
movie. The primary purpose of this shot is to slowly draw the viewer
in to the
story by limiting the viewer's role in the film; he doesn't allow the
viewer to
actively enter the world of the film. Rather, he constrains the viewer
to
simply observe the actions presented without allowing the viewer to get
involved
in the action. After the initial focus on the time bomb and its
intrinsic
importance to the plot, the camera moves away from the action. At the
same
point, Mancini's score begins, providing intrigue and promoting the
viewer's
interest in the scenes revealed while, through the rhythmic ticking of
the
bongos, also supplies a constant reminder of the ticking time-bomb
waiting to
explode. Stepping back, the camera reveals the wider picture of the
town; just
as an establishing shot serves to orient the viewer without displaying
any
intimate action, Welles's camera then begins to introduce the setting
to the
viewer. However, Welles limits the viewer's interaction by not
involving the
viewer in any specific action. Rather, the focus of attention shifts
continually between different points of interest. First, the focus is
the
doomed car driving pulling out of the parking lot, then driving down
the street.
Then attention shifts to the other activity on the street, then back to
the car,
and then on the entrance of Mr. and Mrs. Vargas. Until the end of the
scene,
the Vargases and Linnaker's car battle for attention as they
continually pass
each other within the camera's view. This shifting of focus keeps the
viewer
just that: an observer looking into this world through the camera.
Welles also
reinforces this feeling by raising the camera to unhuman points of view
above
the action. It eliminates any initial intimacy the viewer could form
with the
characters. Therefore, the viewer gets a broad overview of the town,
the
atmosphere, and the people before gradually entering this world.
Welles first invites the viewer into the scene as the camera
finally
returns to a human point of view at the border checkpoint. This
change, not by
coincidence, comes with the first words spoken in the film. Welles
uses these
two factors to humanize the camera and draw the viewer into this
interaction
between the Vargases and the border guard. However, the view remains
imperfect
for a human participant in the scene. The floating movement of the
camera, a
left over attribute from the beginning of the shot, remains to remind
the viewer
that he is not yet totally immersed in the action. Then, with a dolly
into the
kissing couple, Welles gains some intimacy between the viewer and the
characters.
However, still just an outside observer, it takes the violent
explosion to
suddenly snap the viewer into the story. With the first cut of the
film, Welles
shocks the viewer into entering this reality.
With the subsequent low angle, hand held tracking shot along the
ground,
Welles finally changes the viewpoint of the film. The high amount of
energy in
the shot, as opposed to the previous dream-like sequence, energizes the
viewer,
drawing him into the action. The shaky style of the hand-held camera
lends a
feeling of reality, as associated with documentary style filmmaking.
This
energetic reality finally allows the viewer to feel a connection with
the action,
quickly becoming the viewer's temporary reality for the next two hours.
By withholding the story from the viewer, only to suddenly thrust
the
viewer into the action heightens the excitement of this initial
incident.
However, through the movie, Welles reveals the irony of this carefully
constructed opening sequence. With the all the excitement created by
these
techniques, the viewer expects that the explosion will be the basis of
film's
plot. However, Welles makes it eventually apparent that the search for
the
bomber serves as a mere foundation for the true plot of the film: the
exploration of Quinlan's character and his downfall at Vargas's hands.
Just as he jolts the initial action, Welles also creates
atmosphere by
shocking the viewer's sensations. The first shot uses a truck mounted
crane to
smoothly glide through the air, traveling through the city raising and
lowering
swiftly from an obviously unnatural point of view. The camera focuses
on
various aspects of the scene, shifting attention like a stream of
conscience
exploration of the setting. Welles lights the buildings and characters
relatively brightly. This production method gives the shot a dream-like
quality; what the viewer is witnessing isn't a reality, but rather an
illusion
of a reality which Welles soon reveals.
With the explosion, the dream instantly transforms into the
nightmare that
Welles intended to create in this film. The Vargas's leisurely stroll
through
the town turns to chaos as the townspeople erupt in a frantic effort to
reach
the burning car; actors seemingly run in circles around Vargas just to
emphasize
this commotion. Mancini's mysterious bongos have been replaced with
sound
effects of burning wreckage, screaming Mexicans and eventually wailing
sirens.
The gentle high-angle floating crane turns to a jarring low angle hand-
held run.
The formerly bright lit buildings suddenly turn to darkness and shadows
envelop
the characters as the run toward the fire. In addition, Welles uses the
brightness of the fire and the darkness of the night sky to create the
typical
high contrast shooting style of film-noir.
 Welles also establishes many of the film's basic thematic elements
through
this sequence of shots. First, he introduces the relationship between
the
Mexican and American border towns. The visual lack of security and
laxity with
which the Vargases cross the border indicate the close relationship
between the
neighboring towns. Even despite the lunatic ranting of Linnaker's
date, they
too are allowed to cross the border. The casual relationship between
the towns
on either side of the border quickly becomes apparent, yet also a point
of
controversy. Indications such as the "Welcome Stranger" sign under
which Vargas
soon stands show the surface friendliness, yet also reveal the
sarcastic element
of racism that will appear.
Similarly, these opening shots introduce the forbidden
relationships that
develop in the border situation. Specifically, Welles briefly
investigates two
couples, neither of which appear entirely acceptable. Foremost, Mike
and Suzy
Vargas appear as the first couple in the film. They walk down the
street, with
his arm around her, an apparently healthy couple. However, the first
indications of a problem arise when they reach the border station. The
border
guard can not accept that the American blond beauty is in fact married
to a
Mexican. When she corrects him with "Mrs.," he retorts with confusion
and the
brief question "what?" Then when Mike mentions that he's "on the
trail of a
chocolate soda for my wife," the guard once again questions in
disbelief, "Your
wife?"
Though not as obvious, Welles also dooms the relationship between
Linnaker
and his date, the stripper. By knowing his name and by his quick
passage across
the border, the border guards reveal Linnaker's apparent status in the
town.
Linnaker's reputation appears nearly as impressive as that of Vargas,
to whom
the guards also knew and also granted easy passage. In comparison,
Zita appears
not only dumb, but insane with her rantings of the ticking sound in her
head.
This forbidden couple, flawed by this apparent personality and status
clash, is
doomed by a ticking time-bomb in the trunk; not only will this
relationship not
work, the viewer knows that it won't even matter as they're about to
become
"strainable."
Rarely in a film does a director pack so much insight into his
movie than
Orson Welles does in the beginning three shots of Touch of Evil. With
minimal
dialogue and mostly visual elements, he clues the viewer into so many
aspects of
the film. In a very unwellesian way, Welles manages to introduce the
setting,
the characters and some of the thematic elements which will later become
apparent. However, although film critics may tag Welles's methods in
the
beginning of this movie as "unwellesian," it nevertheless awes the
viewer with
its splendor. And what is more "Wellesian" than awesome splendor?