F for Fake
- Synopsis
- Orson Welles’ quizzical homage to forgery and illusion - a journey through trickery, magic and deception which includes portrats of art forger Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving, author of a hoax Howard Hughes autobiography. The film also features Joseph Cotton, Laurence Harvey and stories about Welles’ relationship with Yugoslav actress Oja Kodar, whose grandfather was a Picasso forger. Also looks at Welles’ own ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘Citizen Kane’. Welles shows how any two pieces of film can be spliced together to produce meaning - and that meaning need have no particular relation to reality. Along the way he debunks critics and other ‘experts’ who assign themselves the right to judge questions of authenticity, authorship and value. Mostly, though, he stresses that all art is founded on principles of illusion.
- Language
- English
- Country
- Germany
- Medium
- Video; Videocassette. VHS. b&w/col. 88 min.
- Year of production
- 1973
- Availability
- Sale; 1996 sale: £12.99 (inclusive)
- Notes
- Released on video in 1996.
- Subjects
- Media studies
- Keywords
- deception; documentary films; film and video production techniques; Welles, Orson (1916-1985)
Credits
- Director
- Orson Welles
- Writer
- Oja Kodar; Orson Welles
- Contributor
- Orson Welles
Production Company
- Name
France
- Name
Iran
Distributor
- Name
BFI Video
- video.films@bfi.org.uk
- Web
- http://www.bfi.org.uk External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7957 8957
- Fax
- 020 7957 8968
- Address
- 21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
Available from retail outlets
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