Touch of Evil is a 1958 motion picture directed by Orson Welles, who interpreted the main character of Hank Quinlan as well. This movie picture falls in the category of Noir Films since contains both aspects of a thriller and dramatic dark nuances from character’s inner personality. Consequently both the Direction and Cinematography present typical characteristics of Thriller and Noir genre in terms of lighting and frame composition: sharp photography with definite shadows and highlights along with deep black areas in background are the most important things to sharpen the character instead of the landscape. Is it possible to define different themes in the story, as the contrast between Quinlan and Vargas’ characters as representatives of American and Mexican culture. The theme of double thou is like stronger element in the movie, so is it possible to state this is the main theme. we can point out some interesting choices that help better understand the overall visual style of the film, the theme of double and the relation between two main characters. Photography and Frame Composition changes as the story goes on to suggest and emphasize the role of character in the tale and the relations growing between personages.
For example:
The relation between Quinlan and Vargas changes from the first scene where they met compared to the scene where Vargas accuses Quinlan; in the same way the frame is different: in the first case Quinlan is shown bigger and closer to the screen (low angle shot) while Vargas is small and lost in the dark, and they are in different frames; after, the two men are in the same shot with same dimensions in the frame, suggesting Quinlan’s power is fading (notice also the shadow hiding Quinlan’s eyes).
The relation between Quinlan and the police department from the frame construction point of view shows in the same way that at beginning Quinlan is bigger, he is the leader, the center of attention as well as the scene and his figure is in bright light. Approaching the end, he is shown smaller and further away from his police mates.
Again the relation between Quinlan and the bad guy Grandi change along with the frame as this sequence of events is enforced by specific frame construction and light management. First of all (I) Quinlan is shown as the good policeman; then (II) Grandi offers him a deal to get rid of Vargas (who bothers both Quinlan and Grandi for different reasons) and here we can distinguish a sudden change in the frame as Grandi shifts from being small and far in the shot to gain the control on Quinlan (low angle to high angle); eventually (III) Quinlan kills Grandi, turns out bad and in the frame he is again above him until exiting the frame and becoming wide obscure undefined;
We could state that the Frame Composition really helps the narration to give the sensation about what is happening in the story. Quinlan’s character above all is subject to this rule. In the first shot in which we meet Quinlan is interesting to notice the low angle suggesting importance along with the half black frame, maybe suggesting Character’s duality by light side and dark side.
We can compare the first to the very last shot in which we see Quinlan, that is literally an undefined dead figure floating in a dark sea.
Much alike, the Photography is modified as Quinlan shows his evil touch. So if at beginning we could see his face expression clearly, near the end a sharpen dark shadows cuts his face and his eyes are hidden to point out the presence of the bad side in him.
Finally, about the photography, we can observe that when Quinlan is unleashing his evil part, the entire frame goes black with only the silhouette of his figure standing out by the back light contours, (as shown int he images from the scene in which Quinlan kills the bad guy).
Camera movements are conceived to bring the public throughout the story though sometimes misleading it and creating doubtful feelings. In the very first scene we can follow a car in which a bomb about to explode has been placed; in this long take sequence the car is the center of attention and the public is waiting for the explosion to happen. Eventually we lose the car in favor of the main character and his wife; the attention is now shifted to the couple talking and kissing and no longer on the car which has left the screen. The audience’s attention is brought back to the bomb only when we hear the explosion far away. In a similar way during the search of the suspect’s house, the camera follows Vargas’ character removing attention from Quinlan who can place the false evidence undisturbed, far from audience’s attention. This kind of mechanism, along with the wide angle lens used almost every time (I guess around 20mm, wide lens’ long depth of field shows everything in background), suggest that nothing is kept hidden inside the frame . The frame composition is the main vehicle of expression. Throughout the frame the public can understand relations between characters, perceive the feelings of characters, and can guess what is happening in the scene before it happens or at least get into the right mood; during a scene in the “outside frame” the unexpected can happen.
I am aware there are much more things to say about Touch Of Evil, but I hope this could be a good starting point to understand the Visual Style of this motion picture.
954 words - Copyright and Drawings by Pietro Torrisi, nov. 2012, Los Angeles, CA
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