F for Fake (1973)

A documentary about fraud and fakery.

Directors:

Orson Welles, Gary Graver (uncredited)

Writer:

Orson Welles

Stars:

Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Orson Welles	...	Self - Narrator (voice)
Oja Kodar	...	Self - The Girl
François Reichenbach	...	Self - Special Participant
Elmyr de Hory	...	Self
Clifford Irving	...	Self
Laurence Harvey	...	Self
Edith Irving	...	Self
David Walsh	...	Self
Paul Stewart	...	Self - Special Participant
Richard Wilson	...	Self - Special Participant
Joseph Cotten	...	Self - Special Participant
Howard Hughes	...	Self (archive footage)
Richard Drewett	...	Self - Associate Producer
Alexander 'Sasha' Welles	...	Self (as Sasa Devcic)
Gary Graver	...	Special Participant

Storyline

Orson Welles' free-form documentary about fakery focusses on the notorious art forger Elmyr de Hory and Elmyr's biographer, Clifford Irving, who also wrote the celebrated fraudulent Howard Hughes autobiography, then touches on the reclusive Hughes and Welles' own career (which started with a faked resume and a phony Martian invasion). On the way, Welles plays a few tricks of his own on the audience.

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Plot Keywords:

fraud | painter | cigar smoking | biographer | ibiza | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actress Oja Kodar, who appears in a muse-like fashion in this film, was Welles' real-life girlfriend at the time.

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Goofs

The word "practitioners" is misspelled "practioners" in the opening credits.

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Quotes

Orson Welles: With your permission, a bit of verse by Kipling: When first the flush of a new-born sun fell on the green and gold / Our father Adam sat under the tree and scratched with a stick in the mold / And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart / Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, 'It's pretty, but is it Art?'

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Connections

Featured in Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)

User Reviews

The masterful legacy of the man who changed the history of modern cinema

"F for fake" stands for the last movie Orson Welles really directed and, as for many artistic legacies it's the final demonstration of the genius of the artist, becoming some kind of briefing of his entire career.

It's hard to explain this movie and why I really enjoyed because, as many other Welles's movies, it's full of surprises and twists.

Filmed as a Documentary, this film introduces us the personae of Elmyr, a painter who lives out of painting copies of famous pictures of Van Gogh, Picasso, Vlaminck and many others and making them look like they're the original one. Welles also introduces to us two more people; an actress and a biographer.

With many resemblances to Welles's own life, the director of such wonderful pieces as "Citizen Kane" and "Touch of Evil" plays with the audience some sort of magical trickery. What is real and what is not? If Elmyr is able to paint a perfect copy of a famous picture and fool the world greatest experts, is he as good artist as the originals he's copying?

Working as a perfect metaphore of Welles own experiences in art (he's not only been movie director but radio speaker and even painter) "F for Fake" remains as a perfect legacy of the ideas of one of the greatest and most gifted cinema artists. Don't miss it!

Details

Country:

France Iran West Germany

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

12 March 1975 (France)

Also Known As:

F for Fake

Filming Locations:

Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,206

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films de l'Astrophore, SACI, Janus Film und Fernsehen

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1