Mr. Arkadin Essay

[cinescot]

For those that may be interested, here is a link to an updated version of Jonathan Rosenbaum's
“The Seven Arkadins" essay that he recently added to his site.

http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=22958

[Glenn Anders]

Dear cinescot: What a lovely mid-summer's gift!

I found Jonathan Rossenbaum's weaving together of Welles, Dolivet, Nixon, and Stalin brilliant, going beyond certain assumptions I made in my own Epinions review of MR. ARKADIN, just after Christmas 2000 (reprinted at The Red Room):

http://www.redroom.com/articlestory/con ... gooseliver

Especially striking (and up-to-date) is Rossenbaum's quoting of Jean-Luc Goddard in his new film about Socialism in the Cinema:

"After the invasion of France by the Germans, the Komintern transferred the gold from the Spanish bank over to Russia; they loaded it in Barcelona onboard the France Navigation company, which belonged to the French Communist Party. But upon arriving in Odessa, a third of the gold disappeared, and a second third again disappeared before arriving in Moscow… I imagined that the Germans had infiltrated the ship, that they had taken a portion of it — that’s how the old French policeman tells it in the film. But the young Russian girl who goes rummaging through the archives figures: the third that’s missing, Komintern took it, and the rest wound up in Louis Dolivet’s pockets, whose fortune can’t be explained otherwise…”

Despite Rossenbaum's disclaimer of the value of seeking lost editions, would it not be interesting to find Dolivet's personal copies of MR. ARKADIN, perhaps like that Russian (Spanish Republican?) gold, resting in a Moscow vault since the time of the Cold War?

What I didn't quite get in the Goddard quote was his references to "how the old policeman tells it in the film" and "the Russian girl who goes rummaging through the archives . . . " Are those sequences in some different version of MR. ARKADIN or in another film? Or is Goddard misremembering?

Glenn Anders

[Roger Ryan]

I believe Mr. Rosenbaum is quoting the recent Godard movie FILM SOCIALISME; apparently, the story of Dolivet possibly acquiring some riches is discussed in that film and Rosenbaum is drawing parallels to the story of Arkadin.

[Glenn Anders]

No, Roger, I understand that. What I'm questioning is, the reference to "the old French policeman" telling the/a story, and "the Russian Girl . . . rummaging through the archives." What film is Goddard referring to? No old policeman, no Russian Girl, no archives, appear in MR. ARKADIN. Is the reference to another film? another version of MR. ARKADIN? Or is it simply a misremembrance on the part of Goddard? In connection to MR. ARKADIN, unless he means "Milly" or the Peter van Eyck character, it makes no sense.

I don't wish to appear any more dense than I am, Roger, but it is a legitimate question, is it not?

Glenn

[cinescot]

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for the link to your review. I suppose that out of all the lost cuts of Welles' films, the one of Mr. Arkadin that you remember is more likely than others to still exist somewhere. Especially considering this version was shown in cinemas.

The title of the Godard film (which I have not seen) initially made me think it was a documentary and that Godard's quotes could have been from the film itself.

However, Godard's Film Socialisme is a drama and the scenes and characters mentioned in the interview by Godard (and quoted in Rosenbaum's essay), are in fact referring to scenes and characters from the narrative of Film Socialisme itself. They are not from Mr. Arkadin or any other film.

cinescot

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you, cinescot, for the keen clarification. A combination of your knowledge about Goddard's actual film and my own ignorance makes me wish to see FILM SOCIALISME.

Curiously enough, I have a friend who, quite independently, several years ago, wrote a film script about an American reporter in the Spanish Civil War, who discovered that the Republic's gold was being traded with the Soviet Union for further support. The projected film begins on the docks as a Russian freighter carrying the gold casts off. The plot involves skulduggery and a chase. And of course, there is a beautiful Russian NKVD agent who falls in love with our hero.

I worked on the script myself.

Ah, genius is universal, someone said. Emerson?

Good work, cinescot.

Glenn

[Roger Ryan]

Yes, this is what I was trying to say in my earlier post: the action described is from Godard's film.