Dave Kehr calls this film a true 'film noir comedy'. It seems to me that this perspective manifests in the way that the universe of The Lady from Shanghai continually and incessantly laughs at Michael O'Hara's misfortune and helplessness. Certainly Welles has obliged stylistically - his strange, morphed compositions increasingly begin to collapse around O'Hara as he is drawn slowly into the mystery of the murder conspiracy. The blocked paths of the actors criss-crossed and circle each other venomously as the aquarium creatures loom large in the background. The narrator seemingly jumps readily inside his own story as the voice-over switches seamlessly into dialogue. And then there is that famous climax in the house of mirrors where all sense of direction and orientation is abandoned for our characters - each shot and each shattering of glass further distorts the space (although the lost footage is apparently much longer and grander). In some instances the cosmic farce is literal in its humour - as the hobbling Bannister ends up on the stand interrogating himself in the trial that is little more than a slapstick affair.
But for all the effort in maintaining this pervasive aura of paranoia and disorientation by ramping up the convention stylistic tones of noir the film falls a little flat. The murder plot itself, which is meant to be increasing hard to follow until that final reveal, is secondary to Welles' atmosphere, so what we have is a distancing effect due to his own plodding, almost bored narration guiding us along. What is supposed to be irregular and affecting merely highlights its own flaws - the clumsy ADR dubbing which does the dialogue no favours, the oddly stilted romance that doesn't quite lure us into a false sense of security (perhaps a casualty of the director and starlet's impending divorce), awkward little zooms and smash cuts that merely draw attention to themselves rather than establish a tone. I would so very much like to see this lost artefact.
But for all the effort in maintaining this pervasive aura of paranoia and disorientation by ramping up the convention stylistic tones of noir the film falls a little flat. The murder plot itself, which is meant to be increasing hard to follow until that final reveal, is secondary to Welles' atmosphere, so what we have is a distancing effect due to his own plodding, almost bored narration guiding us along. What is supposed to be irregular and affecting merely highlights its own flaws - the clumsy ADR dubbing which does the dialogue no favours, the oddly stilted romance that doesn't quite lure us into a false sense of security (perhaps a casualty of the director and starlet's impending divorce), awkward little zooms and smash cuts that merely draw attention to themselves rather than establish a tone. I would so very much like to see this lost artefact.