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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Art is a lie that makes us
feel good or at least recognize some of the truth.
So much about art is an illusion and a hoax. So
it's fitting that filmmaker, illusionist and
prankster Orson Welles should make the art of
illusion and hoaxes the central theme of his last
complete film. "F for Fake" could be called a
fictional documentary or a documentary about a
couple of talented con men. Make no mistake,
Welles's last film "F for Fake" isn't a great
movie but, like all of Welles's films, it has
enough greatest in it to make it worthwhile for
fans of film and cinema. Welles begins his
"documentary" (which, in and of itself spoofs the
whole genre) looking at art forger Elmyr de Hory
and his biographer Clifford Irving (who also
penned the fraudulent Howard Hughes autobiography
that raised such a ruckus during the 70's). Welles
proceeds to examine what's "real" and "fake."
Welles includes himself in this examination of how
we lie to get what we need and why people are so
inclined to believe a lie. Welles was well known
for padding his resume in the theater at the
beginning of his career and, of course, he
masterminded the War of the Worlds radio program
that caused panic (although how much panic is
truly open to question and, again, is part of the
deceit of showbiz) among the general public in the
1930's. This nonlinear film "essay" is fascinating
but those watching it shouldn't expect a straight
ahead narrative. The last complete film by Welles,
"F for Fake" may not match the classic grandeur of
"Citizen Kane," "The Magnificent Ambersons" or
"Touch of Evil" but it has its own charms worth
noting.
Criterion has done a splendid job of restoring a
film that was shot on the cheap. Portions of the
film have always been grainy as they were blown up
from 16mm to match the 35 mm footage that Welles
shot himself. The colors are brighter than the
version of this film that I had seen in art
theaters in the 80's and, while the mono sound
doesn't have much presence, it sounds pretty
decent overall. The sound comes across with nice
clarity although it doesn't have much depth.
Criterion has done its usual thorough job putting
together a nice package. Included as part of the
package are two stunning documentaries on the
films that Welles began but never finished (with
tantalizing snippets from the unfinished "The
Other Side of the Wind" starring John Huston) and
a terrific documentary on art forger Elmyr de
Hory. "Orson Welles: One-Man Band" made in 1988
examines the films that Welles began and abandoned
or lost interest in during the last twenty years
of his life. It's not a biography or even a career
retrospective of the man but an examination of a
truly restless spirit. I'd suggest that Welles had
the equivalent of artistic Attention Deficit
Disorder as he would start projects and interest
and move on to the next project on a whim. By the
way, if you plan on watching the movie don't watch
the documentary first as it gives away a number of
twists and turns in "the plot."
The Norwegian Film Institute documentary on Elmyr
de Hory is almost as fascinating as the
documentary on Welles. It's clear that Welles felt
a kinship with Clifford Irving and De Hory feeling
as if his career had been little more than an
illusion. He really had no career per se. Welles
was a polymath of sorts. De Hory demonstrated a
lot of flair as a painter early on in his career
but found his niche in creating nearly perfect
forgeries of other artist's great works. In a
sense, this documentary examines the psychology
behind De Hory's desire and need to copy other
artist's work. It's a fascinating glimpse into the
pathology of deceit.
The video introduction by Bogdanovich provides
interesting insight on Welles. I only wish that he
had been asked to do a running commentary on the
film in addition to Graver. Bogdanovich touches on
some of the themes that are recurrent in Welles'
work including the fact that the art of cinema is
an illusion all its own and just as much a form of
deceit as a forgery copying the elements of life
without capturing the essence. He also discusses
the making of the movie and how Welles integrated
an unfinished documentary, re-edited and
rearranged the movie to create a "documentary
essay." Also of interest will be the 9-minute
trailer for the film. It's essentially, an
original short film by Welles incorporating
footage from the film and features a brief parody
of the "News on the March" footage from "Kane."
Shot by Welles after the completion of the film,
it's presented in black and white. The releasing
studio decided not to put it into theaters, as it
was so unconventional at the time.
The informative commentary by and star/co-writer
Oja Kodar and director of photography Gary Graver
("The Clones," "I Spit on Your Corpse," "Countess
Dracula's Orgy of Blood") whose career of shooting
low budget horror films and exploitation films is
appropriate to the very subject of this film gives
considerable insight into Welles and his maverick
methods as a film director. Although I would have
preferred a commentary from Bogdanovich or, at the
very least, the three working in tandem, Graver
and Kodar between them have enough stories to keep
the commentary track entertaining. Graver's
comments about how Welles deliberately avoided
anything that looked like a Welles shot indicated
how much he wanted to continue to reinvent
himself. Isn't reinvention a form, after all, of a
hoax and forgery? Graver also discusses how hurt
Welles was by Pauline Kael's nasty accusations
that Welles had little to do with creating
"Citizen Kane" and was no more than a mid-wife at
the birth of a classic collaboration.
Don't be deceived this isn't one of Welles' best
films by any stretch of the imagination nor is it
a bad. It's an oddity with Welles pushing the
boundaries of the documentary genre. Regardless,
it's a fascinating bit of filmmaking using unusual
editing techniques to tell a story about lies.
Welles uses his charming personality and
techniques as a film director to keep this film
from becoming predictable. While it isn't a
classic, "F for Fake" has a number of inspired
moments and Welles plays with the preconceptions
of the audience just enough to keep the film
diverting. The documentaries included with "F for
Fake" make this a must have particularly the
glimpse into Welles' storage closet of unfinished
films. |
