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| Legendary filmmaker Orson Welles seems to be inspecting an invisible diamond, while a beautiful woman in a flying blue dress appears beside the title on this mysterious poster for Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar and François Reichenbach's F for Fake |
Master Wisconsinite filmmaker Orson Welles (Touch of Evil (1958)) wants to tell us of the master of forging great paintings, Elmyr de Hory, who lives in Ibiza and is a very charming and eloquent man.
F for Fake is written by Welles and co-director Oja Kodar (Jaded (1989)) and directed by Welles, Gary Graver (Veronica 2030 (1999)) and François Reichenbach (Do You Hear the Dogs Barking?/¿No Oyes Ladrar los Perros? (1975)). It is also about fake biographer Clifford Irving, Howard Hughes, Picasso and Welles himself (of course). The film is a mix of documentary, experimental film, biography and fakery, which some, for lack of a better term, have coined a 'film essay'.
F for Fake is relayed in a somewhat fatiguing Godardesque New Wave editing style, where the image is frozen about twice a minute, (to more or less of an effect.) It is a film of and with cock-and-bull stories, artistic eccentricity and critique of the hunt for phonies and imitators. Welles clearly identifies with the outsider figure Elmy. F for Fake is rambling at times, something of a curiosity item and probably mostly for cineastes and Welles-fans.
Related posts:
Orson Welles: Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist adaptation (supporting actor)
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (starring actor)
Mr. Arkadin/Confidential Report (1955) or, The Mysterious Past of the Great Gregory Arkadin
Citizen Kane (1941) - The cold elephant on the shelf
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain
[F for Fake premiered in September (San Sebastián Film Festival, Spain) and runs 88 minutes. Shooting took place in France, including Paris, and in California and Nevada from 1972 - 1973. The details are mired in doubt, as all involved are unreliable in relation to statements concerning the film, which took its basis in fakery very seriously. The film was not released before 1975 and 1976 in most of its few release countries. Elmyr de Hory committed suicide in December 1976, upon learning that the Spanish authorities had agreed to turn him over to the French, (his death has, however, also been doubted.) The film sold 182k admissions in France, the only box office fact known about the film, which is unlikely to have covered its cost alone. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal to its rating here. Welles returned with one last regular feature, the posthumous The Other Side of the Wind (2018). Graver returned with And When She Was Bad... (1973). Kodar returned with Jaded (1989). Reichenbach returned with Hildegard Knef and Her Songs (1975, documentary) and with feature Do You Hear the Dogs Barking (1975). F for Fake is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.79/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of F for Fake?
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