“F for Fake” is a documentary film examining painters and writers who forged works of art and sold them to unsuspecting customers. Director-screenwriter Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane” 1941) examines the life of infamous “faker” Elmyr de Hory, who forged paintings by Matisse and Picasso. He also looked at Clifford Irving, who wrote a forged autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles examines the fundamental elements of fraud and its effect on the art and literary worlds.
Orson Welles himself stars in this project, with some actual footage of de Hory and Irving included. Other co-stars include Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten, Richard Wilson, Paul Stewart, Francois Reichenbach, and Peter Bogdanovich. “F for Fake” was not much of a success in theatrical release, and was one of Welles’ last directorial projects, more of a “film essay” than anything else.
F for Fake (1974)
cinema
My Review
“F for Fake” is a documentary film examining painters and writers who forged works of art and sold them to unsuspecting customers. Director-screenwriter Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane” 1941) examines the life of infamous “faker” Elmyr de Hory, who forged paintings by Matisse and Picasso. He also looked at Clifford Irving, who wrote a forged autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles examines the fundamental elements of fraud and its effect on the art and literary worlds.
Orson Welles himself stars in this project, with some actual footage of de Hory and Irving included. Other co-stars include Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten, Richard Wilson, Paul Stewart, Francois Reichenbach, and Peter Bogdanovich. “F for Fake” was not much of a success in theatrical release, and was one of Welles’ last directorial projects, more of a “film essay” than anything else.