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Movies / On DVD / F For Fake
F For Fake

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F For Fake (1976)

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Reviews Counted:24

Fresh:21

Rotten:3

Average Rating:7.3/10

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Synopsis: Orson Welles has a ball examining the nature of what is real and what is fake in the funny, bizarre F FOR FAKE. Four people stand at the center of this documentary: Elmyr de Hory, who some believe... Orson Welles has a ball examining the nature of what is real and what is fake in the funny, bizarre F FOR FAKE. Four people stand at the center of this documentary: Elmyr de Hory, who some believe forged more than a thousand masterpieces, many of which hang in some of the world's most famous museums; Clifford Irving, who is not only out to prove what a fake Elmyr is but also wrote a fake biography of Howard Hughes; Oja Kodar, who claims that Pablo Picasso painted 22 canvases of her that no one has ever seen; and Welles himself, who harks back to his days creating the havoc-causing THE WAR OF THE WORLDS for radio. But the true star of the film is the editing; from absurd stock footage to shots of Welles smirking into the camera from different locations to scenes with a monkey scurrying about, the film is vastly entertaining to watch. F FOR FAKE is an underrated, underappreciated work of comic genius about the nature of reality, celebrity, and art, by a master filmmaker showing a surprisingly wicked sense of humor. [More]

Starring: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten, Paul Stewart

Starring: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten, Paul Stewart, Laurence Harvey

Director: Orson Welles

Director: Orson Welles
Screenwriter: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar
Producer: Dominique Antoine, Francois Reichenbach
Composer: Michel Legrand

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 26, 2005

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for F For Fake

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Welcome to the philosophical fun house that is F for Fake, stuffed full of questions about the nature of art and authorship, illusion and reality, lies and truth.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
05/01/05
Glenn Abel
Glenn Abel
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Welles, here in his sixties, reveals two new sides to his cinema audience, the prankster and the editor.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

gives the viewer the feeling that he's in Welles's expansive company...while he considers and pontificates on a pet topic. That in itself is a privilege, and reason enough to check out F for Fake

Full Review Source: Cinema Writer | comment Comment
05/29/09
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Cinema Writer

Gives Orson Welles a chance to explore trickery, fraud and illusion on the screen in imaginative ways

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
01/18/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Welles revels in the duplicity of his subject, reminding us time and time again that we can't trust the medium of film

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Shane Burridge
Shane Burridge
rec.arts.movies.reviews

A charming, witty meditation upon fakery, forgery, swindling and art, a movie that may itself be its own Exhibit A.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An almost impossibly lively pastiche of images and ideas that never tires.

Full Review Source: Filmjourney | comment Comment
05/01/05
Doug Cummings
Doug Cummings
Filmjourney

A minor documentary with a few good scenes.

Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | comment Comment
01/21/05
Michael E. Grost
Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television

One of Welles' most engaging -- and slyly creative -- works.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
08/21/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

...a digressive, playful and at times profound essay on the nature of authenticity and the fluid boundaries between art and decoration, between inspiration and imitation.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
04/06/07
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

I've never seen another film like it

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/12/05
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A singular combination of documentary, essay, narrative, broad comedy, hoax, and cinematic vaudeville.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

Alternately superficial and profound.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
02/09/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

After seeing this elusive film, I wonder how many pictures of the great artists in the museums are really by them and not by some forger.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/29/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A little gem, full of vintage Welles ruminations on the ephemeral nature of personal celebrity and the elusiveness of ultimate truth.

Full Review Source: Low IQ Canadian | comment Comment
05/22/05
Martin Scribbs
Martin Scribbs
Low IQ Canadian

A triumphantly self-amused, self-aware reflection on the verities of art and creativity and the lies that sustain them.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's an essay George Orwell would be proud of.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Part essay, part apologia, part prank, Orson Welles's F For Fake, one of the most inventive and invigorating nonfiction features ever made, is about the artist as con man and the con man as artist.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mesmerizing meditation on truth, artifice, and art.

comment Comment
07/25/02
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies
 
 
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