F For Fake (1973)

F is for Fake, it is also fantastic, both of which apply to this film. I must make an admission that I am a big Orson Welles fan. I class him among the best directors who ever lived, certainly one of the most important innovators, as well as being an incredibly fine actor and storyteller. So it was with some confusion that I sat down and began this film. After a few minutes I wasn't quite sure what I was watching so I paused it and had a quick look. This film is a documentary about one of the greatest art forgers, as well as his biographer, who was also accused of faking a biography of Howard Hughes, an action which gained him quite a bit of fame. After I knew this I watched the rest of the film and got caught up in the story well nicely indeed.

Welles is famously known as the man who tricked a nation through his radio broadcast of War Of The Worlds. Staged as a real life news report informing the nation that aliens had landed on earth and had begun attacking people, some people reportedly believed the play to be factual rather than fiction. The story gets exaggerated depending on the point people are trying to make, but an element of trickery always remains in Welles' work. It is perhaps unsurprising to find out that Welles counted magic among his more prominent hobbies, and was considered to be very good at it by fellow magicians.

The film itself is quite playful, it zips along very well, combining narration from Welles with anecdotes, interviews with the key players, and re-enactments of some of the events. It doesn't follow a clear narrative structure, but the longer you watch the film the more you get to feel a part of it. Whilst the film is, on the surface, about the art forger, it is also about the nature of fraud and what drives people to do it, what is considered a fake, and what purpose they serve in the world. It is also a very playful film in which Welles maintains a cheeky glint in his eye throughout, playing tricks on the audience throughout the film including one moment which I simply don't want to spoil for you as it left me laughing at how I had been fooled by it.

Welles is truly a masterful storyteller and is incredible at sweeping you up in the story, proving that he can turn his hand to both feature films and documentaries and provide you with entertainment. This film has the unusual affect of being both very interesting on a factual level, whilst leaving you questioning the validity of everything you have just seen. It appears to be true, but is it? This is a brilliant feeling for a film that concerns itself with the very idea of truth, and what makes something real and not. I haven't enjoyed a documentary quite this much for a while, and this is proof (not that any more is really needed in my opinion) of the genius that is Orson Welles. The world hasn't quite been the same without him.