Alfonso Arau's handsome The Magnificent Ambersons, based on Orson Welles's original screenplay, is a brave attempt to restore the dramatic scenes lost when RKO radically recut Welles's magnificent 1941 masterpiece, but it's less a remake than a new take on the material. Bruce Greenwood makes a gracious and sincere Eugene Morgan, the inventor who woos heiress Isabel Amberson (a vibrant Madeleine Stowe) and finds his rival is her spoiled, arrogant son, George (played with sneering, bug-eyed intensity by Jonathan Rhys Meyers). It hits a few sour notes (notably Meyers and a terribly miscast Jennifer Tilly as the jealous Aunt Fanny), but the "new" scenes explore the sprawl of the city, the falling fortunes of the Amberson dynasty, and the almost incestuous intimacy between mother and son only hinted at in Welles's compromised version. It may lack the grand design and cinematic grace of Welles, but it creates its own gentle take on Booth Tarkington's turbulent novel. --Sean Axmaker
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From Orson Welles' Original Screenplay
Finally, Orson Welles' masterpiece has been refilmed to reflect his original artistic vision. The Magnificent Ambersons, Welles' follow up to Citizen Kane, fell victim to a bitter struggle between the filmmaker and RKO Pictures, which radically re-edited it for release, cutting over an hour of footage and shooting a new ending.
After 60 years, Welles' vision of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Booth Tarkington novel has finally been realized. Using the original shooting script, director Alfonso Arau (Like Water For Chocolate) and an extraordinary cast featuring James Cromwell (Babe, L.A. Confidential), Madeleine Stowe (12 Monkeys, Short Cuts) and Gretchen Mol (Sweet and Lowdown), have re-filmed every scene according to Welles' directions. The result is a haunting story of a wealthy Midwestern family's struggle to adapt to the rapidly changing world at the turn of the 20th century, and the long overdue restoration of a missing piece of American cinematic heritage.
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