Review of Touch of Evil (1958) by Shawn W — 08 Aug 2011

The last feature film brilliant Hollywood legend, Orson Welles, directed. Touch of Evil is a spectacular feat of intence and masterful filmmaking, stunning cinematography and a brilliant cast. Too bad the story is half asked noir.

It begins with a 3:20 minute shot of following a car with a bomb inside. What follows after is mystery, lies, and murder. When the car explodes near the boarder between America and Mexico 2 policemen follow the case: Mike Vargas, Mexican drug enforcement officer, and a legendary and troubled police captain, Hank Quinland. Vargas and Quinland clash over Quinland's prejudice and questionable investigation procedures. When Vargas goes his own way on the mystery he discovers a secret that puts him and his wife's life in danger. Touch of Evil is a very pulp fiction-esque thriller, dealing with murder and drugs all wraped in a conspiracy. We have a twist on cliches having a Mexican (played greatly by Charlton Heston) as our hero and the American police enforcement as the corrupted. And not to mention a disturbing thought of the trauma done to Vargas's wife, played also wonderfully by Janet Leigh. But it's the veterain himself, Orson Welles who steals the show with his uncommon and revolutionary style of acting. But for all this movie had going for it, this is just me talking here, but the story was unoriginal and flat. Though told very suspencfully and with very wonderful moments and quotes, I just couldn't get over how unoriginal, simple, and frankly unexplained the story turns out to be.

All praise to Orson Welles. He may have a reputation of being a crazy ass director, but it's his crazy style that makes his movies BRILLIANT. And Touch of Evil may just be his best efforts yet. There is not one sigle normal shot in the entire movie. Every frame has an awkward camera angle, incredibly creative lighting, or very symbolic and memorable image. Welles goes all out making this movie, full of continuous shots and incredible uses of camera angles and lenses. As a matter of fact, as bloated as Welles looks in this movie, it's actually Welles' choice of cinematography and his own brilliant acting that gave the illusion of him being a larger man. Hands down this is one of the best directed movies I've seen. And it definitely makes a weak story seem a hell of a lot more exciting than it really is. And this movie's music is also composed by the one and only, Henry Mancini which I found surprising.

It may have been a flop, but Touch of Evil is still remembered today as an incredible accompishment of filmmaking style that only Orson Welles could provide. The story to me has aged a large some since then being not as climactic as it could have been, but let us not forget the artistic style that Touch of Evil has inspired over the years.