F for Fake [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Orson Welles

Overview

Orson Welles appears as himself in this witty and subversive film essay on fakery and forgery, art and illusion. Welles first appears in a European rail station, performing some sleight of hand for a sparse collection of onlookers. He then edits himself into -- and comments upon -- an unfinished documentary (in footage originally shot by Francois Reichenbach) about art forger Elmyr de Hory. In this documentary within a documentary, the gentleman conducting the interviews with de Hory happens to be Clifford Irving, author of a biography on de Hory entitled "Fake" and infamous for authoring a notorious forged autobiography of Howard Hughes in the early 1970s. Welles also digresses throughout this section of the film to make tongue-in-cheek remarks about his long dormant Hollywood filmmaking career. In the final section of the film, Welles re-creates a tale involving Pablo Picasso and a beautiful young woman (Oja Kodar) who agrees to be painted by him. The film ends on a sly twist that can only be termed "Wellesian."

Product Details

Release Date:	08/12/2014
UPC:	0715515129114
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:28:00
Sales rank:	874

Special Features

Audio commentary from 2005 by cowriter and star Oja Kodar and director of photography Gary Graver Introduction from 2005 by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich Episode of the talk show Tomorrow from 1975 featuring an extensive Interview with Welles Orson Welles: One-Man Band, a documentary from 1995 about Welles's unfinished projects Almost True: The Noble Art of Forgery, a fifty-two-minute documentary from 1997 about art forger Elmyr de Hory 60 Minutes interview form 2000 with Clifford Irving about his Howard Hughes autobiograpy hoax Audio recording of Hughes's 1972 press conference exposing Irving's hoax. Extended, nine-minute trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Paul Stewart	Special Participant
Gary Graver	Special Participant
Peter Bogdanovich	Special Participant
William Alland	Special Participant
Orson Welles	Actor
Oja Kodar	Actor
Michel Legrand	Composer

Technical Credits

Orson Welles

Orson Welles	Director,Screenwriter
Dominique Antoine	Producer
Francois Reichenbach	Producer,Producer
Paul Bertault	Sound/Sound Designer