F for Fake [DVD]
Join Orson Welles in a one of a kind cinematic experience that examines many shades of the truth. 1973’s F for Fake is presented as an essay film; most definitely the first of its kind. Welles narrates the documentary often on camera with the appearance of a worldly travel host. While delivering literary quotations in a Brechtian style, interviewing subjects and delivering personal tales in his larger than life/life of the party personality, he incorporates a wide range of footage (including bit-lits from his recently abandoned projects) and edits various film formats in dramatic fashion.
At the heart of the movie, Welles discusses the parallels between notorious art forger Elmyr de Hory and the biographer Clifford Irving. Irving who settled in Ibiza working on the de Hory tale, later went on to create a fake of his own: a false biography of Hollywood tycoon Howard Hughes. The director weaves these and other scandals and also shines the light on his infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast.
Though the content in F for Fake is presented as fact, the masterful Welles, a fan of the slight of hand, cannot resist the urge to play with his audience.