Welles deserves the acclaim

57. "F for Fake"
Orson Welles visual essay on fakery is the last film he ever saw completed. It is unlike any other film. It is quite a feat.

The first hour of "Fake" is about the world's best art forger, Elmyr, and the world's most well known lying writer, Howard Hughes 'biographer' Clifford Irving. The last half hour is about Picasso and the woman that scammed him into painting twenty-two portraits of her and got to keep them. One of these stories is fake.

It's difficult to give anything away about this film. It's non-linear, uses footage from a different documentary, has magic tricks and features narration and commentary by the film's director, co-star and editor, Orson Welles. The film is like the conversation you wish you had in philosophy or art class about art or philosophy. In a way, the film is just pure fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously and features some of the most important artists of the 20th century. A wonderful film that is definitely not for everyone.