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Jun 01, 2015 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Magician charts Orson Welles’ rise from theatre’s enfant terrible to cinema’s wunderkind following his debut feature, Citizen Kane. It also tracks his decline, from his regular battles with the studios and projects frequently falling through, through his final decades, when he was forced to take bit parts and advertising jobs in order to finance his passion films.

“I didn’t go to jail. I went to Hollywood.” – Welles, on the outcry over the panic he caused with his radio dramatization of War of the Worlds

Divided into chapters by the distinctive eras of Welles’ life and career, Magician is able to function as an instant cinema studies course on the director. His story’s told through copious interviews, both new and archival, with Welles, his collaborators, and his famous admirers—Scorsese, Spielberg, Linklater, and more are featured here singing the late auteur’s virtues. The most vibrant inclusions are, of course, the documentary’s many film clips, particularly those from Welles’ numerous unfinished productions, which all but the most dedicated of his followers are unlikely to have seen. Magician, to a certain degree, assumes an audience of cineastes who will have already seen most of Welles’ benchmark films—and if you haven’t done so, stop wasting your time reading online reviews and get to it—but anyone with a passing familiarity with his filmography should find this documentary entertaining and enlightening.

cohenmedia.net/films/magician

Author rating: 6/10