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Shades of Iconoclasm in Orson Welles' Film Noirs
Verma, Jyoti ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Vichnar, David (referee)
This diploma thesis is an effort towards unfolding the various dimensions of Orson Welles' originality of expression in his film noirs. For this purpose the films in focus are not only the noir classics from Welles' oeuvre like The Lady From Shanghai, Touch of Evil, Mr. Arkadin, and The Trial but also Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons which were important for his complete maturity in the noir tradition. The critical positions of various critics, mainly James Naremore, Simon Callow, Clinton Heylin, and Erik S. Roraback have been studied and cited to develop my arguments. The first chapter will be a study of characters in his films and Welles' acting methodologies, along with the treatment of female agency. The second chapter will be a thematic study of Welles' critique of major social shifts and attitudes that prevailed in the US. Events like Spanish-American War, Operation Wetback, and concerns like Yellow Journalism, attitudes towards immigrants, and racism will be studied in how they materialized in his films. The last section of this study will be a renewed study of theories of film critics and philosophers, namely Andr'e Bazin, Gilles Deleuze, and Jacques Ranci`ere. It broaches how their respective theories about cinema apply to Welles' oeuvre of film noirs. The last section of this...
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