F for Fake (1973)
France 88m, Colour
Director: Orson Welles; Cast: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten, Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving, François Reichenbach, Gary Graver
As an exploration of authenticity and the value of art, F for Fake is a documentary styled film narrated by Welles that is loosely based around the story of Elmyr de Hory’s infamous “career” as an art forger. This is a wildly paced film which is presented as a stream of consciousness. In it, Welles implicates his own work and suggests that to some extent, that all art is fake, insofar as it is merely a representation of life. One of his last movie projects, F for Fake is a fascinating and under-appreciated film that will primarily remain of interest to Welles’ fans (Klaus Ming December 2015).
2 comments on “F for Fake (1973)”
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Not only authenticity and value, but also specifically authorship, as he brings out in the wonderful middle part about Chartres.
Which always makes me think of all the effort that’s been expended on establishing who wrote what in the screenplay of Citizen Kane — who is the “authior” of Kane?
Who cares? Certainly not me — you can dissect it however you want, but the movie remains exactly as good as it ever was. 🙂
i was very interested when Welles implicated himself. fascinating stuff!