Unfairly slammed by critics, the film is a fun romp through post-war Italy (played by the ruins of Belgrade), a spirited cast chewing on the bonkers plot and cine-buff friendly in-jokes coming thick and fast.
When a politically well-connected actor dies on the Black Magic set, Orson Welles (Huston) smells a rat and together with disillusioned ex-cop Tommaso (Luna) begins an investigation that will take them to the actor’s beautiful adopted daughter Lea (Vega), the shadowy dealings of the Christian Democratic Party, Communists hard-nuts and the opportunistic American occupiers, headed by early-CIA operative Brewster (Walken).
While the plot makes sense of sorts, the fun comes from the actors carving thick slices of ham, the comic book visuals and a clever use of film as the Great Detecting Tool.
Danny Huston looks nothing like Welles, but captures his handsome egotism, complete with humbling asides about his expanding waistline and the Rita Hayworth split. Luna looks suitably haunted and Walken reigns in his typical schtick to give a morally elastic turn as a prototype Donald Rumsfeld.
While references to The Third Man and other Welles movies pepper the movie, what’s missing is the great showman’s mad Midas touch. The Lady from Shanghai and Touch of Evil pack similarly loopy plotting, but the inspired filmmaking and poisonous dialogue made them movie gold.
Fade to Black is as sleek and attractive as the chrome polished vintage cars Huston travels in, but never truly gets in gear.
Rob Daniel
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