Post by klep on May 1, 2017 6:44:48 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 5/1: F for Fake
FIRST WEEK OF DOCUMENTARY MONTH
Orson Welles opens F for Fake by performing some street magic for some young children. It's his thesis statement: in our deepest hearts, we love to be conned. We love to be lied to; to hear stories and believe them, and most of all we love seeing others made fools of. Welles spends the rest of the film examining the appeal of the con on both ends. What draws the con artist, and what keeps the marks coming?
Most of the film is spent examining a pair of men: Elmyr de Hory, a famous art forger, and his biographer Clifford Irving, who would later go on to create a hoax autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles largely skips over the mechanics of their cons, because that's not what he's interested in. Instead, he's focused on exploring how the man who exposed a fraud became a fraudster himself, and how Elmyr managed to succeed for so long. It's fascinating to watch footage of Irving and Elmyr together - you can see him being seduced and Welles' clever editing fills in some of the blanks you might have missed.
While each of the two men is now known to be a con man, both still enjoy some measure of success. Elmyr lives in a handsome villa on Ibiza where he is the toast of the island, and from where he still sells his fokes. For his part, Irving went on from his hoax to write a popular book about the hoax. Both are exposed, and both are still sought after.
Welles suggests that the joy of the con in particular comes from seeing people who think they know better get shown up. Time and again he returns to talk of 'experts' passing favorable judgements on Elmyr's and Irvings' respective works. For the charlatans' part themselves, they seem to have been drawn to fakery by a lack of respect from those self-same experts. Elmyr was only able to sell his original works for a pittance, while Irving had met little success as a writer of fiction. Through forgery and fraud, each was able to get back at the experts who had shown them such little regard.
It's readily apparent throughout this film just how much Welles wanted to make it. He's playful, almost jubilant, as he discusses the fakery of storytelling. He's a charlatan himself, after all, and his joy in his cuts between footage and an editing room - cleverly done to highlight the artifice of film - is infectious. He also delights in cutting between his various subjects in order to make it seem like they are holding a conversation. And all of this is before the tour-de-force which makes up the final 15 minutes or so of the film, wherein he tells the story of Oja Kodar and Pablo Picasso.
It's not exactly controversial to say this, but if this is what we get when Orson Welles makes the film he wants to make, it's a damn shame he didn't get to do it more often.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 5/8: The Act of Killing
SECOND WEEK OF DOCUMENTARY MONTH
Joshua Oppenheimer's titanic The Act of Killing will be our next Movie of the Week. Investigating the Indonesian genocides of "communists" in the 60s, the breathtaking documentary explores how the killers of that time are respected community members today, and tries to make them confront the enormity of their actions. Viewer beware, as it can be a tough watch. The Act of Killing is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 5/2: Burden of Dreams
Paired with The Lost City of Z, next week the Next Picture Show podcast takes a look at two films of obsession in the Amazon. Join us next week for a discussion on the mad ambition of Werner Herzog. Burden of Dreams is available on Filmstruck's Criterion channel and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
FIRST WEEK OF DOCUMENTARY MONTH
Orson Welles opens F for Fake by performing some street magic for some young children. It's his thesis statement: in our deepest hearts, we love to be conned. We love to be lied to; to hear stories and believe them, and most of all we love seeing others made fools of. Welles spends the rest of the film examining the appeal of the con on both ends. What draws the con artist, and what keeps the marks coming?
Most of the film is spent examining a pair of men: Elmyr de Hory, a famous art forger, and his biographer Clifford Irving, who would later go on to create a hoax autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles largely skips over the mechanics of their cons, because that's not what he's interested in. Instead, he's focused on exploring how the man who exposed a fraud became a fraudster himself, and how Elmyr managed to succeed for so long. It's fascinating to watch footage of Irving and Elmyr together - you can see him being seduced and Welles' clever editing fills in some of the blanks you might have missed.
While each of the two men is now known to be a con man, both still enjoy some measure of success. Elmyr lives in a handsome villa on Ibiza where he is the toast of the island, and from where he still sells his fokes. For his part, Irving went on from his hoax to write a popular book about the hoax. Both are exposed, and both are still sought after.
Welles suggests that the joy of the con in particular comes from seeing people who think they know better get shown up. Time and again he returns to talk of 'experts' passing favorable judgements on Elmyr's and Irvings' respective works. For the charlatans' part themselves, they seem to have been drawn to fakery by a lack of respect from those self-same experts. Elmyr was only able to sell his original works for a pittance, while Irving had met little success as a writer of fiction. Through forgery and fraud, each was able to get back at the experts who had shown them such little regard.
It's readily apparent throughout this film just how much Welles wanted to make it. He's playful, almost jubilant, as he discusses the fakery of storytelling. He's a charlatan himself, after all, and his joy in his cuts between footage and an editing room - cleverly done to highlight the artifice of film - is infectious. He also delights in cutting between his various subjects in order to make it seem like they are holding a conversation. And all of this is before the tour-de-force which makes up the final 15 minutes or so of the film, wherein he tells the story of Oja Kodar and Pablo Picasso.
It's not exactly controversial to say this, but if this is what we get when Orson Welles makes the film he wants to make, it's a damn shame he didn't get to do it more often.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 5/8: The Act of Killing
SECOND WEEK OF DOCUMENTARY MONTH
Joshua Oppenheimer's titanic The Act of Killing will be our next Movie of the Week. Investigating the Indonesian genocides of "communists" in the 60s, the breathtaking documentary explores how the killers of that time are respected community members today, and tries to make them confront the enormity of their actions. Viewer beware, as it can be a tough watch. The Act of Killing is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 5/2: Burden of Dreams
Paired with The Lost City of Z, next week the Next Picture Show podcast takes a look at two films of obsession in the Amazon. Join us next week for a discussion on the mad ambition of Werner Herzog. Burden of Dreams is available on Filmstruck's Criterion channel and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.