Review of F for Fake (1973) by Andrew S — 06 May 2009
Orson Welles' final film is light years away from Citizen Kane, and yet also, somehow, its double. It's a one-of-a-kind film: a duplicitous documentary about fakes made by a magician who claims to be a charlatan.
The central subjects are: Elmyr de Hory, the world's most notorious art forger; Clifford Irving, who wrote a biography of de Hory shortly before he scandalized the publishing world with a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes; and Welles himself, whose own life and career get folded into the film's increasingly complex fabric.
The film is delightfully playful and its structure and technique are dazzling. It's the cinematic equivalent of spinning plates, as Welles fluidly shifts between and interweaves his different strands of thought.
He not only skewers the art world, exposing the political economy of experts and critics, he also poses some melancholic questions about the value of his own achievements as an artist. It's one of the tragedies of film history that Welles never got to fulfill his plans of making more films like this.
This review of F for Fake (1973) was written by Andrew S on 06 May 2009.
F for Fake has generally received very positive reviews.
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