Title: Wellesian Filmmaking at Its Most Delirious
Product review: "The Lady from Shanghai" (1948) flaunts its cinematic iconoclasm from beginning to end. Defying Hollywood tradition, director-star Orson Welles creates a nightmarish charade. Since Orson's Irish sailor remains as unconvincing as Rita Hayworth's femme fatale, "The Lady from Shanghai" can be viewed as a distorted, fun-house parody of classic film noir. Modern-day critics who bemoan the confused plotting and bizarre motivations never acknowledge the stream-of-consciousness framework established by Welles' tongue-in-cheek narration. There is a method to this chaos. Marked by abrupt shifts in tone and locale, the film becomes a never-ending series of jolts - culminating in the legendary "hall of mirrors" shootout. Despite studio interference, the wildly uneven "Lady from Shanghai" is delirious Wellesian bravura with an undercurrent of paranoia and despair.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
