Subject: Art forgery
As our main narrative delivery system shifts from novels and short stories to films and television, we have to reflect on what a tragedy this might be for artists who go unrecognized in their day. Books are a low-cost item that anyone can write - publishing may be difficult, but writing is easy. For a director or show runner to get his vision off the ground, aside from Primer-like home projects, he or she often has to promise backers that it will be profitable. The high barriers to entry have surely thwarted many geniuses whose names we will never know. One of the first casualties to the tyrannical film system was Orson Welles, who spent too much of his career slumming around Europe looking for money to finance films.
F For Fake is a bravura film by an incredibly self-assured artist. Delving into the history of a particular art forger with a propensity to lie, it continually doubles back on itself to consider what is true or false. Welles's narration of the film is by turns charming and vexing - we don't know whether we've wandered into his own private joke. Underneath all the banter is an interesting examination of truth and falsehood, and ultimately what we want to believe.
Glad you liked this one. There was an amazing amount of stuff going on in this, as I recall. The beginning 20 or 25 minutes I was totally lost, wondering when the film would find its rhythm, and a great rhythm.
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