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F for Fake

  • 19731973
  • PGPG
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
17K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Orson Welles in F for Fake (1973)
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Play trailer2:35
1 Video
80 Photos
  • Documentary

A documentary about fraud and fakery.A documentary about fraud and fakery.A documentary about fraud and fakery.

IMDb RATING
7.7/10
17K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Orson Welles
    • Gary Graver(uncredited)
    • Oja Kodar(uncredited)
  • Writers
    • Orson Welles
    • Oja Kodar(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Orson Welles(voice)
    • Oja Kodar
    • François Reichenbach
Top credits
  • Directors
    • Orson Welles
    • Gary Graver(uncredited)
    • Oja Kodar(uncredited)
  • Writers
    • Orson Welles
    • Oja Kodar(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Orson Welles(voice)
    • Oja Kodar
    • François Reichenbach
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 64User reviews
    • 84Critic reviews
    • 87Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:35
    Trailer

    Photos80

    F for Fake (1973)
    Orson Welles in F for Fake (1973)
    Oja Kodar in F for Fake (1973)
    Orson Welles in F for Fake (1973)
    Orson Welles in F for Fake (1973)
    F for Fake (1973)
    Orson Welles in F for Fake (1973)
    F for Fake (1973)
    F for Fake (1973)
    F for Fake (1973)
    F for Fake (1973)
    F for Fake (1973)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Orson Welles
    Orson Welles
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    • (voice)
    Oja Kodar
    Oja Kodar
    • Self - The Girlas Self - The Girl
    François Reichenbach
    • Self - Special Participantas Self - Special Participant
    Elmyr de Hory
    Elmyr de Hory
    • Selfas Self
    Clifford Irving
    Clifford Irving
    • Selfas Self
    Laurence Harvey
    Laurence Harvey
    • Selfas Self
    Edith Irving
    • Selfas Self
    David Walsh
    • Selfas Self
    Paul Stewart
    Paul Stewart
    • Self - Special Participantas Self - Special Participant
    Richard Wilson
    • Self - Special Participantas Self - Special Participant
    Joseph Cotten
    Joseph Cotten
    • Self - Special Participantas Self - Special Participant
    Howard Hughes
    Howard Hughes
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    Richard Drewett
    • Self - Associate Produceras Self - Associate Producer
    Alexander 'Sasha' Welles
    • Selfas Self
    • (as Sasa Devcic)
    Gary Graver
    • Special Participantas Special Participant
    Andrés Vicente Gómez
    Andrés Vicente Gómez
    • Special Participantas Special Participant
    • (as Andres Vincente Gomez)
    Julio Palinkas
    • Special Participantas Special Participant
    Christian Odasso
    • Special Participantas Special Participant
    • Directors
      • Orson Welles
      • Gary Graver(uncredited)
      • Oja Kodar(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Orson Welles
      • Oja Kodar(uncredited)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Anonymous
    • fraud
    • painter
    • cigar smoking
    • biographer
    • ibiza
    • 30 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Genre
      • Documentary
    • Certificate
      • PG
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Welles filmed a trailer that lasted for nine minutes and featured several shots of a topless Oja Kodar. The trailer was rejected by the US distributors.
    • Goofs
      The word "practitioners" is misspelled "practioners" in the opening credits.
    • Quotes

      Orson Welles: Our works in stone, in paint, in print, are spared, some of them, for a few decades or a millennium or two, but everything must finally fall in war, or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash - the triumphs, the frauds, the treasures and the fakes. A fact of life: we're going to die. "Be of good heart," cry the dead artists out of the living past. "Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing." Maybe a man's name doesn't matter all that much.

    • Connections
      Edited into Orson Welles' F for Fake Trailer (1976)

    User reviews64

    Review
    Top review
    Hard to Believe This Was Welles Final
    F for Fake (1973)

    ** 1/2 (out of 4)

    Orson Welles' final major picture started off as a documentary on art forger Elmyr de Hory but when that project led to an interview with Clifford Irving, the man who wrote the fake Howard Hughes biography, the documentary took a new turn and decided to look at fakes all around. This really isn't your typical documentary and many critics of the film will say it makes very little sense and all in all is nothing more than an incoherent mess. I wouldn't go that far but I think F FOR FAKE is certainly more style than actual substance. I say that because Welles visual style here is something that you didn't see in documentaries at the time and I'd say that nothing that followed really looked the same. The documentary has an avant garde feel to it and most of them comes from the editing. The editing goes all over the place with all sorts of weird edits, different styles of cameras being used and the editing usually takes the story and tells it in a different time frame and I think this is where people get lost. The look of the film is certainly something impressive and you really can turn the volume down and be entertained just by the look that Welles made. However, this "style" is so good that it really takes away from the stories being told and I think it really kills most of the interest in the subjects. I think the way the story goes back and forth does make the film incoherent but this is also due to the fact that the material just isn't worth following. I think had Welles made a more traditional documentary then the story would have been more entertaining. As is, the story just gets lost in the style and in the end you really don't learn anything about either man. We even get a quick clip about The War of the World hoax that landed Welles not in jail but in Hollywood. What actually keeps the film entertaining is the performance of Welles being himself and hosting. He comes off so good and charming that it at least keeps you awake even when the story itself goes under. F FOR FAKE is considered by some to be horrid while others see it as another Welles masterpiece. I'm in the middle thinking it shows some signs of greatness but in the end it's just too rough around the edges to really work.
    helpful•10
    1
    • Michael_Elliott
    • Apr 12, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 12, 1975 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Iran
      • West Germany
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Hoax
    • Filming locations
      • Paris, France
    • Production companies
      • Les Films de l'Astrophore
      • SACI
      • Janus Film und Fernsehen
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $10,206
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 29 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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