F for Fake
Trickery. Deceit. Magic. In F for Fake, a free-form sort-of documentary by Orson Welles, the legendary filmmaker (and self-described charlatan) gleefully reengages with the central preoccupation of his career: the tenuous lines between illusion and truth, art and lies. Beginning with portraits of the world- renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his equally devious biographer, Clifford Irving, Welles embarks on a dizzying journey that simultaneously exposes and revels in fakery and fakers of all stripes—not the least of whom is Welles himself. Charming and inventive, F for Fake is an inspired prank and a clever examination of the essential duplicity of cinema.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New, high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary from 2005 by cowriter and star Oja Kodar and director of photography Gary Graver
- Introduction from 2005 by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
- Episode of the talk show Tomorrow from 1975 featuring an extensive interview with Welles
- Orson Welles: One-Man Band, a documentary from 1995 about Welles’s unfinished projects
- Almost True: The Noble Art of Forgery, a fifty-two-minute documentary from 1997 about art forger Elmyr de Hory
- 60 Minutes interview from 2000 with Clifford Irving about his Howard Hughes autobiography hoax
- Audio recording of Hughes’s 1972 press conference exposing Irving’s hoax
- Extended, nine-minute trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
New cover by Neil Kellerhouse
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New, high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary from 2005 by cowriter and star Oja Kodar and director of photography Gary Graver
- Introduction from 2005 by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
- Episode of the talk show Tomorrow from 1975 featuring an extensive interview with Welles
- Orson Welles: One-Man Band, a documentary from 1995 about Welles’s unfinished projects
- Almost True: The Noble Art of Forgery, a fifty-two-minute documentary from 1997 about art forger Elmyr de Hory
- 60 Minutes interview from 2000 with Clifford Irving about his Howard Hughes autobiography hoax
- Audio recording of Hughes’s 1972 press conference exposing Irving’s hoax
- Extended, nine-minute trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
New cover by Neil Kellerhouse
Cast
- Orson Welles
- Oja Kodar
- Elmyr de Hory
- Clifford Irving
- François Reichenbach
- Gary Graver
- Pablo Picasso?
Credits
- Director
- Orson Welles
- Written by
- Orson Welles
- Written by
- Oja Kodar
- Photography
- Gary Graver
- Music
- Michel Legrand
- Edited by
- Marie-Sophie Dubus
- Edited by
- Dominique Engerer