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From the Back Cover
How to describe a film so unlike any other ever made? In a nutshell... — F for Fake opens with a couple of magic tricks, segues as though by sleight-of-hand into the story of master art-forger Elmyr de Hory and his relationship with biographer Clifford Irving (a sequence "remixed" by Welles with extant footage from François Reichenbach’s documentary work-in-progress, Elmyr), then hones in on Irving when word gets out that his purported biography of recluse-mogul Howard Hughes is a first-class hoax in its own right. Here the film erupts in all directions, as Welles contrasts the sprawl of ‘70s Hollywood with the halcyon Tinseltown that produced Citizen Kane; contemplates the continent that provided him with an artistic refuge some 800 years after the anonymous construction of the cathedral at Chartres; and, lastly, recounts a meeting between that most un-anonymous of artists — Pablo Picasso — and Welles’ companion Oja Kodar, which took place in her youth, and during which...... — The nutshell here clamps shut; the film itself, however, opens up onto infinite space.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
for the non-English speaker: although the above description mentions optional English subtitles, I have recently purchased this dvd and there are NO subtitles whatsoever (april 2008).
Attention, contrairement à la déscription au-dessus, il n'y a PAS de soustitrage sur ce dvd que j'ai acheté récemment (avril 2008).
Attention, contrairement à la déscription au-dessus, il n'y a PAS de soustitrage sur ce dvd que j'ai acheté récemment (avril 2008).
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
F for Fake is Orson Welles last feature length film and is a semi-documentary on fakery, focusing on an art forger and a false biographer of Howard Hughes while occasionally digressing onto other subjects.
At times it is facinating, such as hearing about Orson Welles past or the story anout Picasso near the end. At other times, however, it is dated and confusing, the focus on Welles then girlfriend Oja is quite frustrating as is the over fast editing.
The extras are reasonable, feature length commentary and a short documentary. No subtitles or foreign language audio available.
I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone who isn't interested in Orson Welles as by todays standards this is actually quite a poor documentary even if it does give an interesting picture of Orson Welles in his later years before dissapearing into obscurity.
At times it is facinating, such as hearing about Orson Welles past or the story anout Picasso near the end. At other times, however, it is dated and confusing, the focus on Welles then girlfriend Oja is quite frustrating as is the over fast editing.
The extras are reasonable, feature length commentary and a short documentary. No subtitles or foreign language audio available.
I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone who isn't interested in Orson Welles as by todays standards this is actually quite a poor documentary even if it does give an interesting picture of Orson Welles in his later years before dissapearing into obscurity.
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
F for Fake is part documentary about art forgery, and part a forgery itself - but a forgery that doesn't take itself seriously, and is completely forthright about being one. Using documentary footage about art forger Elmyr de Hory, aggressively cut and edited to create a sort of disorienting hall of mirrors effect, Welles provides a glimpse into a world where fakers are enabled to forge the works of famous artists precisely by the authority of the experts who validate their forgeries as authentic, and the complicity of both art dealers and buyers in maintaining the illusion.
The story becomes even more complicated: does Elmyr's biography lose authenticity if his biographer is himself exposed as a fraud - in a case linking him to the elusive Howard Hughes, the main inspiration for Citizen Kane? What happens when a string of fake Picassos are lauded as new masterpieces? And what if the fakes are accepted into canon and for their artistic value? It is all a wondrous, playful game, where Welles, who had himself started his career by feigning to be a Hollywood celebrity in Ireland (or so he tells us), and later with the War of the Worlds radio broadcast hoax, is narrating the film with his usual memorable lines ("He gave you a false check for a false painting?", "August in France... this is when someone could take the country by telephone... if someone would answer it."), at least when he isn't implicating Picasso in the forgery of his own works, or spinning a story about the myths and facts surrounding Hughes, himself and his mistress - the co-author and co-star of this movie.
Fake personas appear among real ones, persons are switched for one another, and the truth is used as liberally as fiction in a great, understated comedy. Nothing in this movie is trustworthy, since movies aren't trustworthy. After all, that's precisely what the movie tells about itself.
The story becomes even more complicated: does Elmyr's biography lose authenticity if his biographer is himself exposed as a fraud - in a case linking him to the elusive Howard Hughes, the main inspiration for Citizen Kane? What happens when a string of fake Picassos are lauded as new masterpieces? And what if the fakes are accepted into canon and for their artistic value? It is all a wondrous, playful game, where Welles, who had himself started his career by feigning to be a Hollywood celebrity in Ireland (or so he tells us), and later with the War of the Worlds radio broadcast hoax, is narrating the film with his usual memorable lines ("He gave you a false check for a false painting?", "August in France... this is when someone could take the country by telephone... if someone would answer it."), at least when he isn't implicating Picasso in the forgery of his own works, or spinning a story about the myths and facts surrounding Hughes, himself and his mistress - the co-author and co-star of this movie.
Fake personas appear among real ones, persons are switched for one another, and the truth is used as liberally as fiction in a great, understated comedy. Nothing in this movie is trustworthy, since movies aren't trustworthy. After all, that's precisely what the movie tells about itself.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
OK
FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE KNOW THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IT,S THE GREAT MAN PATCHING UP SOME UNWANTED BBC DOCUMENTARY REEL,S,AND COMING AWAY WITH A INGENIUS LITTLE MOVIE,SOMEDAY ALL FILM,S... Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. Hussain
baffling, pretentious but sometimes interesting.
i have to admit that for most of the film's running time, i hardly understood what was happening from one camera shot to the next. Read more
Published 9 months ago by jeremiah harbottle
F for Fake
The seller was perfect! This is the best service I have ever gotten from Amazon!!
The dvd was exactly as described and I received it within 4 days..
The dvd was exactly as described and I received it within 4 days..
Published on 16 July 2009 by Karenanneharvey
Orson Welles - back to his vintage best
Wow
I loved this film, Orson gives a great performance
not his finest hour and a bit of a forgotten Gem
But for any fan of the big man a must
I loved this film, Orson gives a great performance
not his finest hour and a bit of a forgotten Gem
But for any fan of the big man a must
Published on 16 Aug 2007 by Mr. Martin Mchugh
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