Prodigy. Iconoclast. Genius. Exile. Orson Welles remains one of the most discussed figures in cinematic history. In the centenary year of Welles's birth, James Naremore presents a revised third edition of this incomparable study, including a new section on the unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind. Naremore analyzes the political and psychological implications of the films, Welles's idiosyncratic style, and the biographical details--both playful and vexing--that impacted each work. Itself a historic film study, The Magic World of Orson Welles unlocks the soaring art and quixotic methods of a master.
Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Orson Welles at 100
1. The Prodigy
2. The Magician
3. Citizen Kane
4. The Magnificent Ambersons
5. The Radicalization of Style
6. Touch of Evil
7. The Gypsy
8. The Trial
9. Chimes at Midnight
10. Art About Art (and Sex)
11. Between Works and Texts
Bibliographic Notes
Filmography
Index
James Naremore is Chancellors' Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. His books include On Kubrick, The Films of Vincente Minnelli, More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts, Acting in the Cinema, Sweet Smell of Success, and An Invention without a Future: Essays on Cinema
"The most perceptive study of Welles's art.--Andrew Sarris "Naremore's book, with its wealth of background and close commentary, is certainly the best study of Welles."--Tag Gallagher, Film Comment
"Naremore is not simply pandering to the movie buff's passion for unconsidered and inconsiderable trifles, but revealing that it's possible to go on where most Wellesian researchers have stopped."--Sight and Sound
"It may, along with a small handful of other books, help to change the standards of scholarship and critical sophistication we apply to writing on film. It is patient, intelligent, scrupulously researched, and yet it is never solemn. Absolutely compelling on the more technical aspects of Welles's films."--Michael Wood, Washington Post