Touch of Evil (1958)

Orson Welles’s “Touch of Evil”

Thematic Elements: 

The Film Noir movement ended in 1958 when Orson Welles released Touch of Evil. This film represented the closing out of this chapter in film history with its take on the darkness and evil of the human soul and the total corruption of society. The film starts out like any film noir does, a man decides to take it upon himself to investigate a crime or another dark occurrence. This investigation leads to the disillusionment of the society that man is apart of as well as the realization of the totality of how corrupt the human soul can get. 

The protagonist in this story is Vargas, a Mexican special prosecutor, who, with his wife, Susan witness a car bombing on the US/Mexican border. Thirty-year police captain Hank Quinlan has taken the case with local authorities and Vargas accompanying him. Through his individual investigation, Vargas learns of the depths of corruption that head police investigator Quinlan will go to maintain his power and maintain the animosity between the two border countries. All the while, the brother of one of the men Vargas has been investigating named Grandi, has sent his gang to antagonize and rape Susan. Vargas and Susan’s life gets turned upside down in trying to uncover the corruption of this tension-fueled border town. 

Camerawork: 

Opening Shot: The opening shot of the film is that of a timed bomb being placed into the trunk of a car. This opening shot suggests the tension and animosity that is set to explode during the rest of the film. 

Dolly Shots: Welles utilizes dolly shot incredibly frequently in this film. In the opening after a man has placed a timed bomb in the trunk of someone’s car, a dolly follows the car down the street. The dolly floats above the city watching the car drive through the streets, until the dolly lowers to a street view as it continues to track the car. Welles’ uses this dolly frequently throughout the film to suggest a sort of omnipotence watching as the horrible events of the film unfold – suggesting that we the viewer are the eyes of God looking over the depravity of his creations. 

Low Angle Shots: Welles uses the low angle shot frequently throughout this film. The low angles mixed with Dutch angle shots provide a disorientation of what is happening and show these figures, such as Captain Quinlan towering over the people around them. In true Noir fashion, Welles tells his story with a lot of visual incongruency as to notion to the incongruency of the setting and society the story is taking place in.

Handheld: Whether or not Welles used handheld for this picture is uncertain, however there are certain scenes that give the appearance of it. For example, after the car bomb goes off, Vargas rushes over the scene. Welles shows this using a low angle shot that slightly shakes as Vargas is running. The shaking of the camera gives the scene a kind of franticness and unsteadiness – matching the unsteadiness of the events unfolding.

Close-Up: Throughout the film, Welles films with low angles and Dutch angles to provide imbalance. However, he uses close-ups to cut to the tension of the scene, allowing the audience to lean in to the central battles taking place and creating a claustrophobic atmospheres for the characters. In one instance, Vargas confronts Quinlan about his corruption and Welles holds tightly on a close-up of the two of their faces squeezed together in the frame. He is demonstrating to the audience the central conflict of the film while at the same time closing Quinlan in with Vargas to trap both of them into the conflict, surely to be resolved as the film unfolds. 

Rapid Editing: In the scene in which Quinlan murders Grandi, Welles films the scene using rapid cuts and disorienting editing. The purpose of this is to create the sense of franticness and terror associated with the scene. The murder is meant to instill fear and alarm as the editing makes it difficult to grab hold of anything tangible – we the audience are meant to feel a loss of control, and the editing forces this. This rapid editing technique would go on to be used two years later in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho during the iconic shower sequence – utilized for the same reasons.

Best Shot: 

The best shot of the film comes when Quinlan kills his partner, Pete. Pete confronts Quinlan about his implications of innocent people and his criminal acts. Quinlan shoots Pete, his partner of nearly 30 years. This act of betrayal is the single most sinister act of the film, according to Welles’s utilization of his shot. There are no lengths Quinlan won’t go to protect himself, the levels of depravity he wouldn’t stoop to. This final act is the final nail in the coffin for his black soul. The camera captures this as Quinlan is filmed with a low angle as he towers over Pete. The way Welles has positioned the bodies in the frame in congruency with the camera almost makes it feel as though Pete is being visually molested. The disturbing framing of the shot is Welles pointing out to the viewer that Quinlan views himself above all others and this single act proves his utter corruption of the soul.