Introducing Orson Welles Spring

For fourteen years I posted regularly in this spot, but have let things go to seed while I've been concentrating on my Substack, where I am writing less and with more intention. I have been missing writing here for Notes From the Ironbound, however. In recent years I've loved doing my album-by-album retrospectives of legacy artists' back catalogs. I wanted to do another, but my potential picks just aren't inspiring me. 

Last year I happened to watch all of David Lynch's films, the first time I had ever really done that with a legacy film-maker. It was such an enriching experience, and I began to think I should do a blog series about a director rather than a musician. I listen to the Blank Check Podcast, so I also knew I would have to go with someone they had not covered yet. 

As the country has descended into its current state I have clung to comforting things to watch to distract myself and try to get rested enough to sleep at night. Late at night I often fire up an old interview with Orson Welles, it's my own version of ASMR. I was watching one from the early 80s where he said he was more interested in politics than film, and that suddenly unlocked something for me. Welles' films are indeed political, and his politics were formed in the crucible of the interwar years, a time that feels uncomfortably like our own. 

Welles' did not just critique capitalism in his films, he lived the consequences of that critique. He only got to make one Hollywood movie without interference, his first. He spent much of his career working independently, begging for money and scraping together productions under difficult circumstances. He is the patron saint of artists who insist on creating against difficult odds. His is a spirit that we need today, both in our culture and our politics. At a time when mainstream culture seems almost opposed to the entire concept of artistry, I think viewing his films will be an inspiring endeavor. 

Soon I will post about Citizen Kane, that one shining moment where his artistry had the full backing of a major Hollywood studio.