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A Question about Bracco's Death

posted 18 years ago by thornhill54
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I bought the Criterion Collection DVD of Mr. Arkadin this weekend and actually sat down and watched all three versions (Confidential Report, Corinth and Comprehensive) consecutively (there is something I find fascinating about this movie).

As I recollect all three versions show the same perplexing reaction shot on the docks when Guy Van Stratton asks if Bracco is dead. This shot perplexes me because Guy is facing the camera, flanked by two officers, and his face is completely dark (the shot is also at a canted angle).

I figure since this shot is in all three versions that it is possible that there was not that much coverage of the scene and that this is intentional. It reminds me of the scene in Citizen Kane in the newsroom, after the news reel, where all the reporters are talking but you can not see their faces.

If you recall the shot I am talking about, I would like to pose a question as I can not tell exactly what the intention was. What do you think it is (or am I just nuts and fanatical)? The best guess I can surmise is that the composition of this shot actually matches the introduction of Arkadin at the party. Same obscuring lighting scheme, same canted angle. Best guess is that we could infer that Guy is "standing in for" Arkadin on the docks (not that there is that much evidence to that fact). However, I think there are a lot of canted angle shots in this movie and it is impossible to declare any answer definitively. Perhaps it is much ado about nothing.

What do you think?

P.S. Peter Bogdanovich, where are you when I need you, oh preeminent Wellesian scholar.

[–] MagAmbersons 18 years ago

Lack of coverage is the most logical explanation for this shot's inclusion. I tend to think that Welles (and/or the editors of the scene) needed a cutaway for this line and the "Van Stratten in shadow" shot was the best solution since you wouldn't be able to tell whether his mouth was actually in synch with the line. Bracco's death scene truly demonstrates the budgetary limitations Welles was working under. Note that Robert Arden and Patricia Medina were not on-set at the same time; a double stands in for one of them everytime the two have to appear in the same frame together (watch the shot where Mily rushes past Van Stratten and Bracco and you'll see what I mean). That the sequence maintains any continuity at all is a testament to Welles' talent in directing screen action.