What is the best welles documentary ever?

[Tony]

What do you think is the best documentary on Welles?

Here's my vote: "Rosabella".

Why? Because it presents an honest and balanced portrait, featuring original collaborators of Welles, and has a beautiful pace. (I must say that although I have seen all the major English language doumentaries, I haven't seen Carlos Rodríguez's 2000 "Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote", nor have I seen François Reichenbach's 1968 "Portrait of Orson Welles" which was written by Maurice Bessy.)


Here's the Rosabella producer's statement:


Rosabella: la storia italiana di Orson Welles (Rosabella: Orson Welles's Italian Years)

by Gianfranco Giagni and Ciro Giorgini

Italy 1993; 56 min.

Rosabella is the absurd name given to Rosebud in the Italian version of Citizen Kane, but it may also indicate the contradictory relation between Orson Welles and Italy.
At the 1948 Venice Film Festival the disastrous criticism of his Macbeth made him declare: "This film is for an audience that understands. I am not liked in Italy. My love for this country is not returned".
Yet in the same Italy he lived for twenty years, and the life in Italy of Welles left a chain of memories in those who lived close to him at the time.

Thus our seeking of direct evidence became a fascinating journey across Orson Welles' Italian years, far from the folklore of the Dolce vita and the Restaurants of Rome.
Italian years that were mainly relations with cinema technicians (cameramen, editors) whom he involved in his endless projects, many of which - so many times - remained unfinished, often through no fault of his.
Cameramen editors and producers who lived for months or years with him as in a tunnel. After their Welles experiences some no longer worked, some changed their profession, others felt a certain responsibility for the rest of their lives. And his life in Italy was full of private sentiments. From Lea Padovani to his great love for Paola Mori who became his third wife. Then his attachment to Venice and other unexpected places: Tuscania, Viterbo, the castle of Bracciano, the EUR area of Rome, that we find transformed in films he completed (Othello), that remained unfinished (Don Quixote) or remained only projects (Julius Caesar).

Our attempt has been to trace the story of his life in Italy but this is also the story of a number of Italians who narrate how their lives were marked by Orson Welles, the one and only Welles, and how much they missed him.
(Source: production notes, RAI Trade)



Cast and Crew:

Directed by:
Gianfranco Giagni and Ciro Giorgini
Testimonies by:
Lello Bersani, Mauro Bonanni, Walter Chiari, Suzanne Cloutier, Mariano Faggiani, Arnoldo Foà, Gray Graver, Francesco Lavagnino, Maurizio Lucidi, Renzo Lucidi, Roberto Perpignani, Alessandro Tasca di Cutò, Giorgio Tonti, Rosalba Tonti, Oberdan Troiani and ORSON Welles
Produced by:
Maia Bonelli
Editing:
Alessandro Cottani
Sound:
Brutopop, Gopher
Sound:
Ermanno Ghisio, Fabio Badalà
Presented by:
Filmago, for Tape Connection
Foreign Distribution:
RAI Trade



Tony

[François Thomas]

Tony,

I hope you will be able to see Carlos Rodriguez's documentary (scripted by Carlos F. Heredero and Esteve Riambau). It is wonderfully researched and directed with a tremendous sense of rhythm. It certainly qualifies as one of the best documentaries on Welles ever.

To my knowledge it has been released on video.

Maurice Bessy did not write the script for the documentary directed by François Reichenbach and Frédéric Rossif, the title of which is simply Orson Welles. He only wrote the voice-over commentary. The documentary contains shots taken on the set of The Immortal Story. It is sometimes shown on French TV.

[François Thomas]

Sorry, I meant to say ORSON WELLES EN EL PAÍS DE DON QUIJOTE has not been released on video.

[Tony]

François:
Thanks for your reply! I posted this 2 months ago, and you are the first!

We've been talking over on another thread about starting a new thread for video/dvd releases; perhaps we should have a special category for documentaries; I often find watching docs more satisfying than the film itself: :laugh:

As for the Reichenbach, since posting above, I have seen it; unfortunately, it's mostly in French (of course :p ) Still, it is invaluable for having footage of Welles direct, but he directed in French also!! Have you seen Rosabella? It's fantastic! But still I have not seen Rodríguez's film. In addition, there's a new Hungarian doc out: "Durga Strana Wellesa", which is available on dvd with English subtitles, but which I have not seen.

Here's a post I wrote a little while ago on a new Swedish doc:

"Brunnen"

June 9th, 2006

Just received and watched “Brunnen”, a documentary on Welles’s years in Spain by Swedish filmaker Kristian Petri, and featuring interviews with Oja Kodar, director Jess Franco, author Peter Viertel ( screenwriter of several famous films and author of many books, the most famous of which is “White Hunter, Black Heart”) and several “unfamous” individuals who came into contact with Welles in everyday life; the film is slow, leisurely, philosophical and poetic, and makes a nice companion piece to “Rosabella”, the documentary which covers Welles’s time in Italy. Brunnen features a gorgeous narration in English by the director, and should you purchase it, will arrive at your door in just a few days: here’s the web-site where you can order it:

http://megastore.se/template/next%2CProduct.vm?itemid=1424630

Tony

[François Thomas]

Tony,

Yes, I have seen Rosabella and I regard it as one of the very best, too. As for Brunnen, really, it does not compete with the Spanish documentary.

Druga strana Wellesa is Croatian, not Hungarian. Among other things, it contains lengthy excerpts from a talk-show on TV Zagreb in the 70ies.

Welles spoke French rather well, as you can hear in another TV show directed by Jacques Rozier (in the series Vive le cinéma !) which includes a conversation between Welles and Jeanne Moreau. So, as far as I know, he alternately spoke French and English on the French part of the shoot of The Immortal Story.

Unfortunately, the Rozier TV show is not commercially available.

François

[Tony]

You don't like Brunnen? ??? I find it very poetic...

Yes, Welles seemed to have an ability to pick up languages: I have video of him speaking French, Spanish and Italian; who knows what else he spoke?

[DexyMan]

Hey guys- I was trying to order Brunnen but it appears you have to live in Scandanavia to get it. Has anyone had any success ordering to the US?

Also where can I find a link to the Croatian documentary?

Thanks alot