The Stranger

What can be said about Orson Welles that hasn’t been said before? The way that he films his movies, using shadow and angles to heighten the mood and drive the narrative. The way he constantly keeps the viewer uneasy, whether with trickery (like overlapping dialogue in Touch Of Evil) or clever acting, as here, where you KNOW the truth about his character Charles, but he’s so damned charming, you almost forget. Or the way he pushed the envelope at the time, using real footage from the Holocaust, having the hero admit that if using the damage as bait led to her murder it would be better for his case, or the graphic finale. Welles was ahead of his time. But even as tastes and moods and tolerances have changed, his quality has not lessened. He may no longer be cutting edge, but he is forever peerless, and The Stranger — a deft, tense, thrilling noir — is evidence of it.