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| LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947) | |
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Several films in the history of cinema either become timeless or fade away in time.
Lady from Shanghai is one of these timeless contributions to film history, but it is not ageless due to its story.
The true ambitiousness of the film is the cinematography and the mise-en-scene, which reaches its pinnacle at the end of the film in the fun house where Orson
Welles uses his magical touch in order to elevate the story into timelessness.
Welles' artistry in cinema has later been studied and used repeatedly in order to enhance the cinematic experience of a mass of films.
This is what makes Lady of Shanghai a masterpiece, as it can withstand the test of time. The film opens with a narration by Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles), a seaman with something of a dubious past, where he introduces how he got into the mess that he is about to enter. One night in a park O’Hara is taking a night stroll as he encounters a beautiful woman, Rosalie (Rita Hayworth), that is riding in a coach. Infatuated O’Hara approaches her and offers her a cigarette, which she accepts even though she does not smoke. Shortly after Rosalie has left, three strangers attack her. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, O’Hara discovers Rosalie’s situation and comes to her rescue. This is the foundation for a treacherous tale of murder, deceit, and greed. The Lady from Shanghai has several elements that make it a good film. The cinematography, mise-en-scene, and the script offer moments of Welles’ brilliance. The first two have already been mentioned, but the script has portions of delicate planning as well as creative metaphors. One of the metaphors used is another reason why the film is considered a masterpiece. O’Hara gives Rosalie, her husband Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane), and George Grisby (Glenn Anders) descriptive analogies to their behavior in regards to a shark he once caught on a hook while fishing where the shark is attacked by other sharks around that began to eat each other in a frenzy. Orson Welles, who then was married to Rita Heyworth, the films female protagonist, brings real emotional tension between them. This could probably be true tension, as the two got divorced the following year. Nonetheless, Welles and Heyworth offer the audience great performances as the independent O’Hara and the stunning Mrs. Bannister. Lady of Shanghai does not measure up with Welles’ previous masterpieces Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) as these two stories offer deeper and more developed insights into humanity. The film studio might be to blame for why Lady of Shanghai did not reach the same level as his two earlier films, as they cut down Welles’ original 155-minute version to 86 minutes. Nonetheless, Welles got out some of his socioeconomic messages in the film, but they might feel somewhat interrupted as his full vision never was released. The climatic ending in the fun house was also severely truncated by the studio where Welles displays a marvelous way of depicting the true nature of each character through the use of mirrors. Ultimately, Lady from Shanghai offers a good cinematic experience; however, having the knowledge of the massacre on the artistry in the film brings to light the film's possibilities. |
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DIRECTED BY |
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| Orson Welles* | |
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USA |
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| REVIEWED | |
| 1/19/2005 | |
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The Internet Movie Database. |
