The Other Side of the Wind (2018)

A Hollywood director emerges from semi-exile with plans to complete work on an innovative motion picture.

Director:

Orson Welles

Writers:

Orson Welles, Oja Kodar

Stars:

John Huston, Oja Kodar, Peter Bogdanovich

9 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Huston	...	Jake Hannaford
Oja Kodar	...	The Actress
Peter Bogdanovich	...	Brooks Otterlake
Susan Strasberg	...	Julie Rich
Norman Foster	...	Billy Boyle
Robert Random	...	John Dale (as Bob Random)
Lilli Palmer	...	Zarah Valeska
Edmond O'Brien	...	Pat Mullins
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Maggie Noonan
Cameron Mitchell	...	Zimmer
Paul Stewart	...	Matt Costello
Gregory Sierra	...	Jack Simon
Tonio Selwart	...	The Baron
Dan Tobin	...	Dr. Burroughs
John Carroll	...	Lou Martin

Storyline

A famed, and infamous, movie director, JJ Hannaford, dies in a car accident. He was about to release his latest movie and a documentary camera crew had been following him around in the days preceding his death. We see the events leading up to his death, the careers Hannaford destroyed, the enemies he made and his last film, The Other Side of the Wind.

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Plot Keywords:

film business | nudity | female nudity | ice cube | drive in theater | 

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Taglines:

40 Years in the Making. His Final Film.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is Orson Welles' only R-rated film.

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Goofs

In one confrontational scene, Brooks Otterlake, who Gregory Sierra's character, Jack Simon, refers to as, "Kid", is simultaneously Peter Bogdanovich and Rich Little. This is small overlap is because Rich Little was originally cast as the black turtleneck wearing, voice imitating director, Brooks Otterlake. However Bogdanovich replaced him, and Little's part was reduced to that of a Party Guest.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Brooks Otterlake: [voice-over] That's the car, what was left of it after the accident. If it was an accident.

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Crazy Credits

Opening card describes the time and difficulties endured, from the start to successful release of the film.

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Connections

Featured in Orson Welles: Shadows and Light (2015)

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Soundtracks

Las Fuentes de Granada / A Tu Paso por la Alhambra
Written by Juanito Valderrama and Ignacio Roman Jimenez
Performed by Juanito Valderrama
Courtesy of DIVUCSA Music, SAU

User Reviews

Disappointing

A famed, and infamous, movie director, JJ Hannaford, dies in a car accident. He was about to release his latest movie and a documentary camera crew had been following him around in the days preceding his death. We see the events leading up to his death, the careers Hannaford destroyed, the enemies he made and his last film, The Other Side of the Wind.

Written and directed by the great Orson Welles, this movie has taken nearly 50 years to be released. Welles started shooting it in 1970 and by his death in 1985 it had not been released. Production issues and politics prevented this. Now, in 2018, Netflix has released it. Being a huge fan of Orson Welles, the thought of seeing his long-dormant final film released was an exciting one.

However, the final product is quite disappointing. It looks and feels unfinished, a mashup of random scenes. While watching I thought that this was due to the film being in an unedited state when Welles died and it was edited to the final version after his death. Turns out the final version had already been edited by Welles, so we can't blame Netflix's production team.

The film-within-a-film element was initially intriguing but is ultimately confusing. What is part of Hannaford's film and what is Welles's film? Are the pretentious, trippy, hippy sequences and the gratuitous nudity and sex scenes Welles trying to appeal to early-70s arty audiences or his take on the pretentiousness of modern movies?

I would like to think that one of the themes of the movie is the pretentiousness of Hollywood, so will give Welles the benefit of the doubt on the content. However, it does become a jarring, disconcerting experience when you have seemingly-gratuitous scenes like those thrown randomly into the movie.

This said, it is not all bad. Welles's take on Hollywood, its movies and the pretentiousness of the times is well directed (if, indeed, that was his aim. It's so difficult to tell). The mystery surrounding John Dale adds intrigue. The story of JJ Hannaford is interesting and John Huston is perfect in the role. He pretty much just had to play himself!

Even here, however, Welles overeggs the pudding. I would have been more engaged in the Hannaford story if there weren't so many scenes that added nothing to plot or character development. So many scenes that just take up space and so much long, pointless dialogue. There's no momentum to the movie at all and the ending is a damp squib.

Details

Country:

France Iran USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

2 November 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Other Side of the Wind

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Royal Road Entertainment, Les Films de l'Astrophore, SACI

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1