288 F for Fake

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Martha
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288 F for Fake

#1 Post by Martha » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:15 pm

F for Fake

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/1331/288_box_348x490_w100.jpg[/img]

Trickery. Deceit. Magic. In Orson Welles’s free-form documentary F for Fake, the legendary filmmaker (and self-described charlatan) gleefully engages the central preoccupation of his career—the tenuous line between truth and illusion, art and lies. Beginning with portraits of world-renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his equally devious biographer, Clifford Irving, Welles embarks on a dizzying cinematic journey that simultaneously exposes and revels in fakery and fakers of all stripes—not the least of whom is Welles himself. Charming and inventive, F for Fake is an inspired prank and a searching examination of the essential duplicity of cinema.
Special Features

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by star and co-writer Oja Kodar and director of photography Gary Graver
- Introduction by director Peter Bogdanovich
- Orson Welles: One-Man Band, an 88-minute documentary from 1995 about Welles’s unfinished projects
- Almost True: The Noble Art of Forgery, a 52-minute documentary from 1997 about art forger Elmyr de Hory
- A 2000 60 Minutes interview with Clifford Irving about his Howard Hughes autobiography hoax
- A 1972 Hughes press conference exposing Irving’s hoax
- Extended nine-minute trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Plus: A new essay by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum

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Poncho Punch
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#2 Post by Poncho Punch » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:32 pm

Was going to mention the very interesting 75 minute documentary in the BBC's TX strand focusing on Welles's lost films, but it says in this link that it is the Orson Welles: One Man Band documentary itself as mentioned above!
Orson Welles: One-Man Band (1988), an hour-long investigation of Welles�s unfinished projects
Can anyone confirm the full run time of this documentary? IMDB has it as 90 minutes, even. I'd be disappointed to get it without the clips from the films themselves, like they've done before (the Man of Iron doc on Straw Dogs, for instance).

Edit: Ugh, the one I checked on IMDB as Orson Welles: The One-Man Band is from 1995. The only doc I can find on there from 1988 is 2 and a half hours long. I hope someone can shed some light on the situation.

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denti alligator
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#3 Post by denti alligator » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:46 pm

So will CONFIDENTIAL REPORT get its own spine number?

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#4 Post by Andre Jurieu » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:51 pm

denti alligator wrote:So will CONFIDENTIAL REPORT get its own spine number?
I don't see why it wouldn't. It might even be Spine #287.

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ellipsis7
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#5 Post by ellipsis7 » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:51 pm

The version of OW: ONE MAN BAND that I have on VHS (in German & English with English subtitles) runs about 77 minutes... Came from the German distributor and labelled 'German Version'......

It is possible I suppose that a different fully English language version was recut for the BBC, running 60 minutes...
Last edited by ellipsis7 on Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Martha
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#6 Post by Martha » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:53 pm

Poncho Punch wrote:
Was going to mention the very interesting 75 minute documentary in the BBC's TX strand focusing on Welles's lost films, but it says in this link that it is the Orson Welles: One Man Band documentary itself as mentioned above!
Orson Welles: One-Man Band (1988), an hour-long investigation of Welles�s unfinished projects
Can anyone confirm the full run time of this documentary? IMDB has it as 90 minutes, even. I'd be disappointed to get it without the clips from the films themselves, like they've done before (the Man of Iron doc on Straw Dogs, for instance).

Edit: Ugh, the one I checked on IMDB as Orson Welles: The One-Man Band is from 1995. The only doc I can find on there from 1988 is 2 and a half hours long. I hope someone can shed some light on the situation.
For what it's worth, I've got a version in Tivo that I taped off Showtime this summer. It's listed as being from 1995 and the running time is 1:45.

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#7 Post by Dr. Mabuse » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:14 pm

Info. on the documentary "Almost True":
http://www.nfi.no/english/norwegianfilm ... tml?id=289

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#8 Post by Tribe » Mon Jan 31, 2005 5:57 pm

I always assumed that this was merely a fluff piece that Welles made as a last gasp. After reading about this, I'm actually looking forward to it....particularly after taking into account the subject matter of fakery and artifice, brought to us by the man who duped legions into believeing that aliens were attaking.

Tribe

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denti alligator
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#9 Post by denti alligator » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:09 pm

Tristan once said that this, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Star Wars were the three greatest films of the 70s. That's no fluff ... =P~

But then again, that was Tristan ... :roll:

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Dylan
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#10 Post by Dylan » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:15 pm

I have the Peter Bogdanovich-edited Showtime version of "One Man Band," which is quite good. But that was edited and shown on television in 2003, this says 1988. It's probably a different presentation of the unfinished material, but I didn't even know a docu on his unfinished work was made in 1988. I'd certainly like more information on that feature. However, with that said, a magnificent release. I've never seen this before, but I'm looking forward to it.

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#11 Post by jesus the mexican boi » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:29 pm

Two points for me for correctly guessing Peter Bogdanovich intro and Jonathan Rosenbaum essay, plus supplementaries on Elmyr. Those were easy. But the biggest "Doh!" is not prefiguring the inclusion of the 10-minute trailer. There's a black-and-white version of this on Gary Graver's WORKING WITH ORSON WELLES disc, a so-so film of talking heads featuring everyone from Cameron Mitchell to Peter Jason.

The trailer, though, is really unique and quite separate from F FOR FAKE. It's almost like a promo for the movie to help bring in more (completion) cash... whatever they call those.

Anyway, very exciting news.

I have a copy of ONE MAN BAND which ran about 90 minutes. This is not the Bogdanovich edit, but an earlier cut, though not as early as 1988.

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#12 Post by Martha » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:46 pm

jesus the mexican boi wrote:The trailer, though, is really unique and quite separate from F FOR FAKE. It's almost like a promo for the movie to help bring in more (completion) cash... whatever they call those.

Anyway, very exciting news.

I have a copy of ONE MAN BAND which ran about 90 minutes. This is not the Bogdanovich edit, but an earlier cut, though not as early as 1988.

I'm pretty sure the trailer is in the version of ONE MAN BAND that I stole from Showtime-- which would explain its 1:45 running time, probably. Possibly it's the Bogdanovich edit, with the promo tacked on?

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#13 Post by Gordon » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:53 pm

Orson Welles: One-Man Band

The version shown on UK TV as The Lost Films of Orson Welles included clips from The Other Side of the Wind.

The German version released in 1996 contains a few scenes not included in the US version.

The 2003 American version is narrated by Peter Bogdanovich that includes scenes from Other side of the Wind, Don Quixote and Filming Othello that are not included in the German version.

There was a documentary on Welles shown on BBC1 (produced by the BBC) in 1988 called With Orson Welles: A Life in Film, which runs 150 minutes and is brilliant. I think it was also shown on US TV.

Incidentally, Bogdanovich said last year that he is still trying to get The Other Side of the Wind finished. Apparently, all it needs is its second-half edited; Welles edited 50-minutes himself. The principle photography was complete and it is a question of gaining full control of the film and completing it.

Oja Kodar is said to own the film, but Welles' daughter, Beatrice has threatened to sue Bogdanovich is he tries to work on the film. We might see it one day, but I'm not holding my breath.

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#14 Post by ellipsis7 » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:59 pm

1995 is the production date of the 77minute German version of ONE MAN BAND - it did the festival circuit in 1996...

Just as Welles' partner Oja Kodar made that film possible, so she has presumably encouraged and facilitated this CC edition of F FOR FAKE...

It would be wonderful if she were also able to help with a CC release of CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, but that's another day's work...

The BBC made a classic 2 part Arena documentary in 1982 centred round a seminal extended interview on film with Welles... This material has been widely used... The BBC reedited the Arena films and source material into THE ORSON WELLES STORY a coproduction with Turner in 1994, and also produced THE COMPLETE CITIZEN KANE in 1991 - both long form documentaries

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#15 Post by THX1378 » Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:38 am

I'm happy at last that this very underrated film is going to hit DVD with some pretty nice cover art with it as well. I saw the One Man Band doc on Showtime last summer. It pretty much cements it that Wells after he peaked so early in life with his film work would spend the rest fighting to finish anything that he started. What I found funny in some places was the way that Wells would just abandon a project if for some reason the project just started to not work at all. But the sadiest part of the doc is that people stopped given him chances and made him out to be washed up. BTW does anyone know where I can buy or track down the With Orson Welles doc at all?

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#16 Post by DrewReiber » Thu Feb 03, 2005 2:53 am

Frank Booth wrote:I watched this on Showtime too. If I recall correctly, they just plopped the trailer in the middle of the film when they were talking about F for Fake.
So, does that mean the version on the CC release is in fact the proper running time? I'm really anxious about this release and I've wanted to see One Man Band really bad, especially for the Wind material. It would be horrible if the documentary has been trimmed.

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#17 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:05 am

Should we read anything into the change to the F For Fake features listing for One Man Band?
Orson Welles: One-Man Band (1988), a feature-length investigation of Welles’s unfinished projects

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#18 Post by chaddoli » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:51 pm

I just saw F For Fake on a murky VHS, but I absolutely loved it. It's a weird, exciting and sobering masterpiece.

I have a question about art forgery though. De Hory would paint in the STYLE of a famous artist an original painting, yes? It would not be a copy of an already existing painting?

And the whole thing in the end with Oja, why did she need to get Picasso to paint 22 paintings for her to have her grandfather forge 22 other Picassos?

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#19 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:45 pm

De Hory would paint in the STYLE of a famous artist an original painting, yes? It would not be a copy of an already existing painting?
Yep. The compulsively readable Crime Library has a serviceable biography of de Hory. Han van Meegeren was another fascinating forger in this vein, just barely predating de Hory.

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Gordon
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#20 Post by Gordon » Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:19 pm

A supposedly excellent new documentary on Welles' life in Spain, where he lived for ten years has just been shown in Sweden: http://movies.sieblogs.com/movies/2005/ ... l-brunnen/

It features Jesus Franco discussing his friendship with Welles and footage of Welles at a bullfight.

It sounds intriguing and I hope it gets released in the UK.

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#21 Post by Brian Oblivious » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:03 am

Mouth-watering specs no matter what the answer to this question is, but it must be asked:

Is the 88-minute version of "Orson Welles: the One-Man Band" the version with clips from the Other Side of the Wind?

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#22 Post by porquenegar » Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:32 pm

Othello - My personal favorite. The Criterion LD is very good. Sadly the R1 dvd has a different soundtrack and I believe has been reedited from Welle's original cut. I haven't seen the DVD but I understand that besides these glaring problems it is a decent disk. The movie is so good that it couldn't possibly totally ruined by the changes. Could it?

The Citizen Kane 2-disc set from Warner's is amazing even though they went overboard with the digital restoration. The commentary tracks and documentaries alone are worth the purchase.

Touch of Evil is also a fine disk even if it is the re-edit.

The Lady from Shanghai - the Columbia disc is good even if it is overpriced. I got mine through a Columbia House order.

It's all True - Has some amazing parts. The Bonito sequence fills me with joy.

The Stranger - A more commercial film but one of my favorites. Catching this on TV at a 2pm showing was my introduction to Welles and I've been hooked ever since. I think the R2 disc is supposed to be the best version available. I have a fairly decent copy of it on the Questar Film Noir Killer collection but it isn't anything to write home about.

Confidential Report - I have the Criterion LD but can't wait for thier DVD issue later this year to see what extras we get.

The Trial - I've only seen a VHS copy of this but it I found it very distrubing. He definitely nailed the Kafkaesque nature of the story. The set design are incredible and the camera work was so disorienting that it made me physcially nauseated.

Macbeth - Not so fond of this one although it has its moments. It is more like a filmed play than a movie due to the loss of funding and having to film on a extremely minimal budget.

Chime at Midnight - Never had the pleasure of seeing it

The Immortal Story - Never had the pleasure of seeing it

The Manificent Amberson - The Criterion LD is one of my holy grails. Warner's is supposedly working on the DVD. Until then I have to be content with my VHS copy. The history of this film is very interesting. The movie was extensively edited (read butchered) by the studio against Welle's wishes. What is left of the story is a jumbled mess but there is no denying how amazing it could have been.

Hope you find some of this useful.

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#23 Post by ellipsis7 » Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:29 pm

CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT is a lovely film - one of my Welles favourites, although my copy is an ancient off air VHS... The battle scene and much else (Falstaff disbelievingly being given the brush off by his old pal Prince Hal in front of the whole court) is classic...

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Gordon
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#24 Post by Gordon » Tue Apr 05, 2005 5:06 pm

-A 60 Minutes interview with Clifford Irving, from 2000, about his Howard Hughes autobiography hoax
Image

"It's all true!"

Those full specs are indeed very, very impressive. I love the film, but I always felt that it would either never be released on DVD or would show up in a typically 'adequete' edition from a small label. So to see a package like this is truly impressive.

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#25 Post by ben d banana » Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:48 pm

porquenegar wrote:The Manificent Amberson - The Criterion LD is one of my holy grails. Warner's is supposedly working on the DVD. Until then I have to be content with my VHS copy. The history of this film is very interesting. The movie was extensively edited (read butchered) by the studio against Welle's wishes. What is left of the story is a jumbled mess but there is no denying how amazing it could have been.
Just this February I passed on it for $25 (I think, definitely not more than $40) at Amoeba when I was in LA. If I had a LD player, or even believed I would buy one (The one LD I bought dirt cheap remains sealed for over 10 years) I would've snapped it and many others up in a heartbeat. If you have an LA connection you should give them a mission. There seemed to be a fair amount of turnover in the section too. They also have loads of non-Criterion laserdiscs.

On topic, just saw F For Fake and Confidential Report when they played here, both were absolutely stunning.

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