THAT'S IT!

I think that Orson looks a bit like Vincent. Or that Vincent looks a bit like Orson, if you like. When I watched 'Vérités et mensonges', 'The Stranger' (not the naked one), 'The third man' and all the other flicks I even pretended it was Vince, performing Welles' characters. Then Five Minutes Mr. Welles appeared like from nowhere, and it became one of my favorite shorts even before Vincent spoke his first line.


Actually it's not 'just' a short. It's rather a masterpiece of history in film making, acting and writing, and offers something new with each viewing. I like the idea of movement and tension, so I like the fact that the story line changes the rhythm often. And Vincent & Janine acted it to perfection: Pulse! Push! Power! Light! Shade! Intensity! That was something that was going to keep increasing, building and rising from the beginning to the very end. The whole film is structured as a crescendo rising from one climax to another ... like an orgasm.

You need a STRONG script to make a short film work. And you need BRILLIANT actors. Five Minutes Mr. Welles has both.This 30min picture speaks to me in a thousand different ways. The first time I saw it, I almost forgot to breath. The second time I watched it I simply was in awe of Vincent's and Janine Theriault's acting skills, the unusual camera angles, the plot ... well, of everything! Sometimes this film just makes me high simply by watching Vincent and Janine being so comfortable being together, doing their brilliant dialogs and sometimes telling their story and expressing their emotions just by subtle gestures. They make the set become alive! It blows me away every time anew!
You know that feeling when you listen to a great song full blast and the sound of the bass pulsates and vibrates not only in the air but also deep inside of you. Suddenly you can FEEL the song, and one heartbeat later you are part of it and you know: "That's it!" A good film - and I mean a really good film evokes emotions in you, and good actors kind of play an instrument. Five Minutes Mr. Welles truly does it. I could FEEL the atmosphere as if I was on the other side of the screen, and I went like: "Yeah, that's it!"
Vincent and Janine - ONE actor rather than two. One couple against the world (against the film industry, that is) in one short film. They are not like those one-dimensional Hollywood screen characters. She, Katherine, impresses Orson with a lovely quiet personality, never loud yet strong. She's not just his latest fuck, not just his personal assistant, not just a 'spy'. She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it; even or especially in post war times. And he, Orson, gets her with -- with what? Money? Sex? Fame?

Katherine: "Why, what can you offer me? Money? You've got none! Sex? You call that sex; you and your pistachio icecream. Fame! But, you'll never make another picture if you screw this one up."

Orson gets her with his vulnerability! But he is also neurotic, witty and sexy -- the latter comes from Vincent of course.
As a lover Orson isn't a stallion as like Valentino, isn't a romantic as like Sam Deed, neither he has the 'do you like to fuck' attitude as like Elton; in fact Orson's sexlife seems to be a bit passionless. His passion for his occupation, however, is boundless! When the 5 minutes are almost gone, his passionate outburst comes from his inability to remember Harry Lime's lines. He throws the typewriter against the wall, the cuckoo clock falls on the floor and then, finally ...



... he creates the 'Cuckoo clock monologue':

"You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Welles (the real one) is quoted as saying "When the picture came out, the Swiss very nicely pointed out to me that they've NEVER made any cuckoo clocks."

Honesty, I didn't know that you could do this, just two people acting on a simply furnished set, no million $ budget, no special effects, no fancy costumes, no spectacular location -- but still it means everything about expression, everything about creativity ... about ART!

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:48 PM

    And Vincent knows the secret, and that's a beautiful thing! No wonder we stand in awe.

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  2. He is an unrecognised genius. Well, except by us, and other people with taste. The film industry doesn't know what i's ignoring.

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  3. Marvelous review, Jazzy! And perfect comments, Bev and Val! I am in total agreement!

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  4. I'm impressed by your review, Jazz. You found the good words to express my feelings! I always love movies about cinema, they're exciting for moviegoers. When i watched "Five Minutes" the first time on YouTube, i was in clouds! I had to watch it again right away to appreciate more.
    You're right : the budget is ridiculous but the film is a masterpiece. Talent always makes the difference! Vincent always says he's not a movie director but an actor who makes film. I don't agree : he's a great movie director and i hope he will made a feature length soon.
    Vincent doesn't need the film industry because he's a true artist and these guys, in Hollywood, are only accounting. Independent cinema is able to work wonders! "Five Minutes" is one of them. :D

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  5. but an actor who makes films! Sorry!

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  6. Excellent review, Jazzy. I love this film to bits. I showed it to a friend of mine who is a long-time fan of Orson Welles but who has never - gasp! - heard of Vincent D'Onofrio. She "got" the film right away and is now a fan.

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  7. a brilliant post jazzy :>)

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  8. You already know that I LOVE this post, you ROCK \m/(0.0)\m/!
    As for our beloved he is one of the most amazing actors EVER!

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  9. Some of the best films ever made were the simplest and the least expensive to produce. This film is definitely a case in point.

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  10. Forgot to add: this was a most insightful, incredible, and honest review, dear Jazzy! You truly are a gifted writer!

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  11. Thank you all for your comments, and I agree talent makes the difference. The industry and people with no taste only recognise those who go mainstream; and mainstram is always tantamount to a loss of artistic creativity. I think it's pretty cool that he never walks 'in the middle of the road', after all that's why we love him.

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