I write here not so much about the story, or the cast, or the style....but about my take-away from watching the movie... watch this for its sheer audacity... for being so ahead of time....
Get hold of the dvd version which has the additional background documentary on orson and on hearst...two "geniuses’ of their time..and their fight to ’finish’ ......i say FINISH, because, in the end BOTH lose.
Look at it this way...you and I know hearst (of new york journal, and the key inspiration for the storyline), the way orson presented it......the poor soul of hearst is powerless before the character immortalised in the film. ....and as for orson, his own brilliance did him in.....
The controversy generated by the film, and the real-life war with the media mogul restricted him to being a couple-of-movie-wonder... it really would have been wonderful to see more of his works, in front of the camera or behind...