Exceptionally good, and in ways that will take more than one viewing to fully appreciate. It is highly enjoyable the first time out for the story and the acting. Bogdanovich brings out the best in all of his actors, and Kristen Dunst is a revelation here. Does this movie have the best dramatic production sound work in recent memory? Usually I'm most conscious of sound with explosions, screeching tires or bullets. Here is a film with absolutely no noticeable special effects, but the use of ship sounds, particularly the engine, adds special layers to some of the films most powerful scenes. The camera placement and cutting are as important as the script and the acting, but it will take more viewings to get into the subtleties of how they work. It might also the best Orson Welles movie that Welles didn't make. The all-powerful man brought to his breaking point...sound familiar? Also, Hearst as Othello and Ince standing in - despite differences in motivation - as his Iago.
You really could organize a film course around this one film: mise-en-scene, cutting, sound, editing, early Hollywood history, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles...
Final note: that Bogdanovich isn't able to make a film a year is one of our national cultural wastes.
You really could organize a film course around this one film: mise-en-scene, cutting, sound, editing, early Hollywood history, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles...
Final note: that Bogdanovich isn't able to make a film a year is one of our national cultural wastes.
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