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F For Fake (1977)
It's often said that movies are magic, but that's another way of saying that movies are a trick. Movies are made when a director stages and/or captures an assortment of scenarios and then, through careful editing, a pile of raw footage is pared down and spliced together to form a narrative. This process is filled with deliberate artifice and its goal is to manipulate its audience in some way. The master craftsmen of filmmaking are able to use the stories they create to slyly influence the people who watch them in ways that have sent innumerable reverberations throughout modern society.
Cinema as a medium for misdirection is the stated agenda of F For Fake, the last completed film directed by Orson Welles. This movie began as a straightforward documentary about the life of infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory, but Welles ultimately seized control of the production from original director François Reichenbach and took things in a radically new direction. This happened after it was discovered that Elmyr's biographer Clifford Irving had fabricated a celebrated interview with reclusive aviator/film producer Howard Hughes; tickled by this revelation, Welles wanted to explore the intricacies of charlatanism through the various tricks and gimmicks that populate the filmmaker's arsenal. Among other things, this includes fake news broadcasts, misleading edits, and a few bits of performance art by Welles' mistress Oja Kodar.
Largely rejected upon its original release, F For Fake eventually gained an appreciative cult audience and it's occasionally argued as an interesting precursor to the mockumentary and the video essay. Ryan is joined by Cheryl for the discussion about this one; talking points include the movie's stated premise, the important context that F For Fake omits from its narrative, the shadow that Orson Welles casts over pop culture, and the antics of Pablo Picasso.
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By Ryan Valentine
5
44 ratings
It's often said that movies are magic, but that's another way of saying that movies are a trick. Movies are made when a director stages and/or captures an assortment of scenarios and then, through careful editing, a pile of raw footage is pared down and spliced together to form a narrative. This process is filled with deliberate artifice and its goal is to manipulate its audience in some way. The master craftsmen of filmmaking are able to use the stories they create to slyly influence the people who watch them in ways that have sent innumerable reverberations throughout modern society.
Cinema as a medium for misdirection is the stated agenda of F For Fake, the last completed film directed by Orson Welles. This movie began as a straightforward documentary about the life of infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory, but Welles ultimately seized control of the production from original director François Reichenbach and took things in a radically new direction. This happened after it was discovered that Elmyr's biographer Clifford Irving had fabricated a celebrated interview with reclusive aviator/film producer Howard Hughes; tickled by this revelation, Welles wanted to explore the intricacies of charlatanism through the various tricks and gimmicks that populate the filmmaker's arsenal. Among other things, this includes fake news broadcasts, misleading edits, and a few bits of performance art by Welles' mistress Oja Kodar.
Largely rejected upon its original release, F For Fake eventually gained an appreciative cult audience and it's occasionally argued as an interesting precursor to the mockumentary and the video essay. Ryan is joined by Cheryl for the discussion about this one; talking points include the movie's stated premise, the important context that F For Fake omits from its narrative, the shadow that Orson Welles casts over pop culture, and the antics of Pablo Picasso.