Product Description

Trickery. Deceit. Magic. In Orson Welles' free-form documentary, 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 goes on a dizzying cinematic journey that simultaneously exposes and revels in fakery and fakers of all stripes-not the least of which is Welles himself. Charming and poignant, F for Fake is an inspired prank and a searching examination of the essential duplicity of cinema. Criterion's two-disc DVD edition also features an introduction by Peter Bogdanovich, audio commentary by director of photography Gary Graver, an hour long documentary on Welles' unfinished projects, a documentary on the life and works of de Hory, and the theatrical trailer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53042 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2005-04-26
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Dimensions: .45 pounds
• Running time: 89 minutes

Amazon.com
To call Orson Welles's F For Fake a documentary would be somewhat deceitful, but deceit itself is very much the subject of this curious film essay. Welles ruminates on the nature of artistic fakery through two examples, that of infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory and the writer Clifford Irving, whose bogus autobiography of Howard Hughes set off a minor media flurry in the 1970s. Postmodernist that he is, Wells then proceeds to narrate and edit the film in such a perversely frenetic way as to blur the lines between what is real and what is deception, making for an often confusing but engaging work of art in itself. We even see the footage we've been watching as it's being spliced together in Welles's editing room. The specter of Welles's often maligned later career hangs over the proceedings like a challenge--is he going to actually complete this strange movie about chicanery, or will it become one of the many unfinished experiments of his twilight years? Happily, Welles concludes the proceedings with a delightful sequence about Picasso, lust, and what constitutes real art. F For Fake is a fine example of a master filmmaker who had at least a couple tricks left up his sleeve. --Ryan Boudinot

DVD Bonus Materials
When Orson Welles passed away he left his estate in the care of Oja Kodar, the beguiling woman who figures prominently in F For Fake. In a feature included with the disc of supplements, Kodar provides a glimpse into the many unfinished projects that Welles left behind. The full range of Welles's personality is on display--grandiose, hilarious, self-effacing, brooding, and playful. In his later years, between appearances in whiskey commercials and the occasional college symposium, Welles traveled the world with a suitcase of film equipment, prepared to start shooting whenever the spirit moved him. In one sequence Welles simply recites Moby Dick in front of the camera, and in another he performs every role in a bewildering short about a one-man band. The theatrical trailer for F For Fake is more than a glimpse at the film; it's a mini-exposition on authenticity and forgery in itself. Overall the extras tend to leave one with a sense of what might have been, had this master of the medium attained the kind of industry backing and popular acclaim to allow him to realize his most ambitious projects. -- Ryan Boudinot