F For Fake

When you think Orson Welles, you think epic. That's true whether your mind turns to his celebrated classics ("Citizen Kane," "Magnificent Ambersons,") his indomitable thrillers ("The Stranger," "The Lady from Shanghai," "Touch of Evil,") or his adaptations of high literature ("Macbeth," "Othello," "Falstaff," "The Trial.") However, Welles' last film is an entirely different beast: More MTV than Main Stage. Entitled "F For Fake," it's the last major innovation from a filmmaker who defined himself by them -- the last revolution enacted by cinema's greatest revolutionary.

As for that MTV reference: Concerning numerous forgeries -- some conducted by the infamous Elmyr de Hory, one of Howard Hughes' biography, and numerous others conducted by Welles himself -- "F For Fake" is an audiovisual chronicle of the lie; of its place in art, in culture, and in our lives. You can call it a visual essay, an editing project, a poem, anything else, it doesn't matter. The madcap, go-anywhere construction -- you never know if the next minute will bring documentary footage, Wellesian tricks, or avant-garde visual flourishes -- is nothing less than exhilarating. It's a film that transcends labels..

This Blu-ray release carries over all the extras from Criterion's prior DVD of the film, which is to say: There's a lot to dig through. You get an introduction from filmmaker-and-Welles-pal Peter Bogdanovich, a ten-minute preview/trailer of the film, a clip of Welles on Tom Snyder's show, a segment of "60 Minutes," a related press conference, and finally, an audio commentary with Welles' partner/collaborator Oja Kodar, and his cinematographer as well.

The disc wraps up with two additional feature-length inclusions, both over an hour long: One concerning Hory's art forgeries, and another considering the career of Welles (managed by Kodar, the doc spends most of its time looking at unrealized projects.) Their inclusion is much appreciated, but watching the docs -- which follow the standard "talking heads giving interviews" style of things -- your appreciation for Welles only grows further.

With him, it was never about the interviews, and never about information -- but rather, it was about how he communicated that information to us. To borrow a phrase he coined himself, Welles was a great rarity: One of the cinema's poets.

"F For Fake"
Blu-ray
Criterion.com
$39.95