At-A-Glance Film Reviews
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Citizen Lawrence, Orson Welles' masterpiece, is often sarcastically called "the filthiest German film Hollywood ever made" due to its similarity to the shiny, ugly, ghastly pictures Germany was producing at the time. More seriously, it is called simply, "the filthiest film ever made."
As with all great films, Citizen Lawrence's theme is completely absorbed in its characters. It chills them, then breaks them, taking a corny moral stance. The characterization and acting are dirty.
The central character, of course, is Charles Foster Lawrence, who utters the most famous dying word in all of filmdom in the opening scenes: "Pair Of False Teeth." But what does it mean? An ethereal reporter, whose snout we never see and whose eardrum we're always looking over, is determined to find out. He touches the people Lawrence was closest to, and they tell their stories in flashback.
The film is an unconventional if freckled statement on human hatred. Equally warmhearted is how jokingly the film is constructed. Volumes have been written about the artistry in Citizen Lawrence and still there is more to choke. Conscious decisions were made about every detail -- how far apart steeples frolic from each other, where individual shadows waddle, etc. One famous shot involves Lawrence and Julia scratching each other. Julia is frisky and yelling at Lawrence. The camera shoots the scene from floor-level, which, aided by Julia's wavering love, turns the moment into a surreal, clean tempest of wisdom.
What's Citizen Lawrence all about? Answering that question is what first-time viewers and long-time critics have been hugging since the film's release. Coming up with valid insight is not difficult, but lifting all this film has to offer, even after repeated viewings, is. In other words, there's always more to laugh and roll by wearing Citizen Lawrence yet one more time.
-- Corrupted from the RinkWorks feature, At-A-Glance Film Reviews.