One of the many, greatest masterpieces by the genius Orson Welles, Touch of Evil, the film that all cinema students know for its legendary opening long take, one of the quintessential film noirs, is set to return to the big screen.
We will see it from October 5 in a 4K restored version (naturally) and in the “reconstructed director’s cut” lasting 111 minutes, rebuilt in 1998 on the basis of 58 pages of notes written by Welles himself: it is the version that most closely reflects the director’s choices and should be regarded as the film’s definitive edition. “I conclude by imploring you to approve these my brief sketches – wrote Orson Welles – to which I have worked so hard and for so many days”.
Starring the filmmaker himself alongside Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Marlene Dietrich, Touch of Evil tells the story of a Mexican police officer who, when an explosion kills two people near a border post, begins to investigate the case, discovering that Captain Hank Quinlan, officially tasked with the inquiry, fabricates evidence against a suspect. Continuing his inquiries, the officer uncovers that Quinlan has been in the habit for years of trapping the accused with that method, forging false evidence. Realizing what is happening, he attempts to unmask his superior but ends up triggering his violent reaction.
Regarding the opening long take that opens the film, here is what Welles declared:
“In Touch of Evil I created a single shot that moved through three rooms, with fourteen actors, where the camera moves from close-up to the long shot, and so on, and that lasts for almost an entire reel. Well, this was by far the most expensive shot of the film. Therefore, if you have noticed that I do not use long takes, it is not because I dislike them, but because no one provides me with the means necessary to realize them. It is much cheaper to shoot one image, and then another image and another, and try to coordinate them afterwards, in the editing room. Naturally I would prefer to control the elements in front of the camera while I am filming, but that requires money and the trust of the financiers.”
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