Customer Reviews

Citizen Welles - The Stranger, The Trial, Hearts of Age

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you are a student of film, and/or wish to see anything that issued from the fertile imagination of that cinematic genius, Orson Welles, then you probably will want to purchase a copy of "Citizen Welles". However, be forewarned, the razor sharp images, clarity and impressive gray-scale range of restored vintage movies that the DVD format has made commonplace will not be found on these disks. Here we are presented low resolution, soft-focus prints that may well be clean of scratches and blemishes, but that let us see none of the crisp details that the original negative must have contained. (Does the original negative even exist?)

The cover of the DVD case states, "Fully Restored and Remixed into Dolby Digital 5.1", and a documentary on the second disk explains in excruciatingly detailed mumbo-jumbo how much effort went into the restoration process. But the results are so poor (these restorers should really be embarrassed) that I can only assume they "restored" videotape transfers of rather mediocre prints. They certainly could not have been working with the original negatives, or with fine-grain archival master prints. ("The Trial" is a shade sharper than "The Stranger", but not by much.)

I was so very disappointed when I watched these disks because "The Stranger" has always been one of my favorite movies despite the fact that Welles, and many critics, consider it to be his worst film. I think I enjoy watching as the quiet facade of an all-American small town ("Our Town") crumbles to reveal its malevolent threat. Reminds me of Sherlock Holmes' observation while traveling through rural England, "It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful country-side."

"The Trial", on the other hand, was ranked quite high by Welles, although I find it to be only an interesting exercise that is far too bleak and unrelenting for my taste. It is a film that must be studied by the student, I suppose, but its flashes of brilliance stop far short of being entertaining. "Hearts of Age" is a short home movie with little of interest except, perhaps, for the most avid devotee.

The documentary narrated by Richard France will tell you considerably more about the films in a few minutes than Jeffrey Lyons does in his full-length, silly, boring commentaries. Commentary tracks, for me, offer some of the real pleasures of DVD's. But Lyons comes to the task unprepared, and he spends his time talking about the music and the dialogue (which, apparently unbeknown to Jeffrey, is usually so muted that it can't be heard by the viewer while watching his commentary) as though he is seeing the film for the first time in years (or, perhaps, ever). His superficial observations present very, very little of interest, although he's a little bit better commenting on "The Trial" than on "The Stranger". He's obviously a movie buff who has seen a lot of films (I know . . . I know . . . he's a professional movie critic who gets paid to watch films . . . go figure), but commenting on an important film to a paying audience is clearly well beyond his level of scholarship and competency. I want to hear the erudite insights, observations, and behind-the-scenes gossip of an authority, not the prattle of a popinjay who apparently has had too much coffee. (Sorry . . . nothing personal, Jeff. I'm sure that you're a very nice guy. It's just that you took my money but didn't earn it!)

The definitive "restorations" of these movies continues to elude me, but I will continue to dream. Until then, if you want to watch either of these films, buy (or better yet . . . rent) either this DVD or any videotape of these movies. Either will provide the same viewing experience, although the videotape will undoubtedly be a superior print.

The cover of this release boasts a quote from film critic Jeffrey Lyons that "This restoration is in perfect condition. Orson Welles would have loved seeing it." Yeah, seeing it burn like a sled. In his tedious and obvious audio commentary ("Note the ominous use of shadow") Jeffrey raves about how gorgeous the transfer of The Stranger is and how it's the best version he's ever seen. Huh? There are better versions of both films out on VHS, laserdisc and DVD (The Roan Stranger and the Image Trial). The restoration documentary makes it clear that the producers of this set found the (worst) looking prints of these films imaginable to restore. I've seen better ones projected in my college film classes. The only reason to buy this set is to get Hearts of Age, the film shot when Orson was 18.

If one reads between the lines of Amazon's editorial review of Citizen Welles, you'll see a serious concern about the quality of the digital transfers of these movies. The Trial is probably passable, although very far from being "pristine". However, The Stranger is truly shocking in terms of how bad it looks. If you've ever seen a public domain movie on VHS from a fly-by-night distributor, you'll have an idea of how bad The Stranger looks on this set. Even if the source materials used for these DVDs were video tapes originally sold to consumers, it still doesn't explain why The Stranger looks this bad.

By the way, there's actually a quote from Jeffrey Lyons (who does two very mediocre audio commentaries on this set) that says "This restoration is in perfect condition. Orson Welles would have loved seeing it." I can't imagine how Jeffrey Lyons could say this, although I'm sure the money he got paid for his contribution to this DVD set has something to do with it. Orson Welles was one of our greatest directors and his movies don't deserve such shabby treatment.

As noted by other reviewers, these films are not restored from film, but from poor video sources. The clowns in the `documentary' even admit it, if you listen carefully. The part of the commentary that I could stand was poorly prepared and repeating the obvious. Since `The Trial' is the much more interesting film of this double feature, I regret having preordered this release instead of buying the appearantly better other DVD release of `The Trial' ...

No one is lying when they say the video quality of these prints is not great. They look okay, and that's it. It's hard to find any copies of The Stranger these days, so unless you snagged it off a TV broadcast you may have to settle for this one. The Milestone DVD of The Trial looks much better, but is very expensive.

The set is worth buying in order to add Hearts of Age to your collection, which Welles referred to not as a "film" but as "a little joke one Sunday afternoon."

The commentaries by Jeffrey Lyons are the worst I've ever heard. He should be ashamed of himself.

The soundtracks are only available in the 5.1 Surround Sound mode - for some reason the producers didn't see fit top include the original mono.

The video is okay. The Stranger looks a little bleached. I've seen much worse copies of both of these films.

If you need these for your library, go for it. Or if you feel like shelling the bucks for the Milestone Trial, then you will be better served.

Actually, the best quality DVD release of The Trial is by Studio Canal (under the title "Le Proces") - much better picture than the Milestone one.

"Citizen Welles" is absolutely essential for anyone who is seriously interested in the cinema of Orson Welles. This magnificent 2 DVD package highlights the eclectism of Welles's work -- it illuminates aspects of Welles's career and personality that often get overlooked amid all the "Citizen Kane" hoopalah.

"The Trial" has been marvelously restored. The image detail is clearly defined; the folks at Focus have eliminated most of the artifacts that commonly occur during films of this vintage (ie. excessive dust, dirt, film scratches.) The audio quality is superb; the clarity of the original soundtrack has been restored -- most significanly, the major sych issues that plague most versions of this film have largely been remedied. The film perfectly captures the bleak beaurocratic purgatory of the novel. Welles presents the kinky side of Kafka: the slinky Romy Schneider taunts and tantilizes; Jean Moreau remains luringly aloof; Anthony Perkins must endure it all. Irresistable madness.

"The Stranger" lacks the visual clarity, the crispness of detail, of the restored version of "The Trial." While the image often appears "soft," the version of the film presented in this package is a significant improvement over the Laserlight DVD. The film is a fairly typical Hollywood potboiler: Welles plays the part of an escaped Nazi who becomes a professor at an exclusive New England boys prep school; he befriends the locals, woos the daughter of a Supreme Court justice, and distinguishes himself as a master clocksmith -- Edward G. Robinson tracks him down. This film is significant within the Welles filmography because it presents the director working within the conventional Hollywood framework. Welles plays by the rules and suceeds in producing a well crafted Hollywood genre film.

The short film, "Hearts of Age," offers a rare glimpse at Welles's first cinematic effort.

Film critic, Jeffery Lyons, provides commentary for "The Trial," "The Stranger," and "Hearts of Age." His commentary focuses on the life of Orson Welles. Lyons' approach is anecdotal: he waxes nostalgically about his friendship with the great director -- he offers wonderful biographical tidbits. His commentary provides a cohesive conceptual framework for the enire "Citizen Welles" project.

The menus are well designed and function quite nicely.

"Citizen Welles" is a superb package -- absolutely essential for anyone interested in the films of Orson Welles.

Citizen Welles is pretty awful. The movies themselves are really fascinating for anyone who is a fan of Welles' work, but this DVD set is a waste of money.

The transfers are unwatchable on a digital display and are pretty disgusting on a regular TV as well. The picture is washed out to the point that even messing with the brightness/contrast couldn't salvage a distinct feature. The restoration documentary seems to imply that this disc is mastered from a video source. I have no clue why they would boast so much about the sound on the box, because it's an incoherent mush. There are MUCH better releases of these films on VHS and the Image DVD of The Stranger is so superior that I really wonder why anyone bothered with this awful thing.

There is a short documentary by Richard France. It's very basic, but I'm sure it's new to someone out there. As interested as I am in Welles, I can't say that I got anything important out of watching Hearts of Age - a student film. It's more a curiosity than entertainment.

Jeffrey Lyons' commentary is bad. Not only did he pretty much just repeat what was on the screen ("...here we see him coming in the room..."), but he was frequently SURPRISED by what he saw. As other reviews noted, either he hadn't seen The Stranger and The Trial in a long long time or he was watching them for the first time.

Citizen Welles is pretty awful. The movies themselves are really fascinating for anyone who is a fan of Welles' work, but this DVD set is a waste of money.

The transfers are unwatchable on a digital display and are pretty disgusting on a regular TV as well. The picture is washed out to the point that even messing with the brightness/contrast couldn't salvage a distinct feature. The restoration documentary seems to imply that this disc is mastered from a video source. I have no clue why they would boast so much about the sound on the box, because it's an incoherent mush. There are MUCH better releases of these films on VHS and the Image DVD of The Stranger is so superior that I really wonder why anyone bothered with this awful thing.

There is a short documentary by Richard France. It's very basic, but I'm sure it's new to someone out there. As interested as I am in Welles, I can't say that I got anything important out of watching Hearts of Age - a student film. It's more a curiosity than entertainment.

Jeffrey Lyons' commentary is bad. Not only did he pretty much just repeat what was on the screen ("...here we see him coming in the room..."), but he was frequently SURPRISED by what he saw. As other reviews noted, either he hadn't seen The Stranger and The Trial in a long long time or he was watching them for the first time.

I must confess that I was skeptical when I first read the reviews of others who had purchased this colletion...but being a Welles fan and loving the movies and the concept I broke down to draw my own conclusions. Boy am I glad I did...this is a very good value and full of some extras that you won't find elsewhere.

Sometimes when I read reviews posted on Amazon I get the feeling that the 'Siskel and Ebert wannabees' mislead the rest of us that just want the straight scoop.

The review by Amazon, although I disagree with some points, is at least more honest...less emotional and more accurate. I suggest that anyone that reads this will learn from my experience that you can never account for another's tastes and we each need to come to our own conclusions.

I won by going with my gut instinct and will continue to do so! ...

This collection adds two DVDs for the hard-core Welles fans. Disc one is "The Stranger," which is almost a rethinking of "The Third Man." Welles plays an ex-Nazi who masterminded the Holocaust, and then hid in a rural town in Connecticut, with Edward G. Robinson as the government agent sent to capture him. This film is pure Welles, although I wonder if it would have been better to have the evil-looking Robinson in the role of the fugitive. Like Peter Lorre, he just looks evil.

"Hear of Ages" is a very odd piece of film, which is significant only in that it is Welles' first attempt at filmmaking. If you have ever seen Spielberg's early adolescent films, you get the idea. What is significant is that you see the camera angles and cinematography that would be ignited when Welles rubbed his mind against the flint of Gregg Toland.

"The Trial" is absolutely stunning. Iwas completely mesmerized by this film. Or was I hypnotized? I am a bit cautious about saying this, but I believe that in some ways, it is better than "Citizen Kane." It certainly follows the visual pattern and fell that "Citizen Kane" had, but with absolutely incredible locations. It is not quite "Theater of the Absurd," but more surrealistic, and reminds me, of all things, like "Joe Versus the Volcano," except with a nihilistic feel. It is a focused film, dealing with a very young Anthony Perkins (Psycho's Norman Bates) as he wanders around the absurd and sinister bureaucracy. He awakes in a world where he doesn't know the rules, except when he breaks them, and no one can give him a straight answer. Kind of reminds me of my childhood in a way. It is based on Kafka's "The Process," so it has the expected nihilistic ending, but, man! What a ride! And this as only Orson Wells can deliver!

These are "Film Noir," which means to say that Hitchcock fans would eat them up. Black themes filmed in black. I am not an artsy-fartsy type of guy, but I do love Welles performance and interpretation of things. This is primarily for the Die Hard Welles fans and Cinema Grad Students, so watch and enjoy!