F For Fake - Superb Personal Film

[mteal]

He not only would have revolutionized it, but digital technology would have allowed Welles to complete his film faster too, in order to keep them more related to the times in which they were made, which was always important to him. We can only speculate on a variety of possible reasons why Welles didn't finish QUIXOTE, WIND, THE DEEP, and others, but one likely reason is that they took too long to complete and thereby lost their relevance to his original concept for them. I saw a ptrogram recently on Elim Klimov, the Russian filmmaker who made the great anti-war film COME AND SEE. Klimov struggled for years to complete his films, and then when they were finally finished, the Soviet bueracracy held them up for years more, so that when they were finally released, they were dated and out of their time. This remark by Klimov might have applied on a certain level to Welles too:

"Without any doubt, in cinema, as in real life, the atmosphere changes very fast. In movies, styles change fast too. If a film is not released immediately it soon dates. It loses it's relevance to new thoughts, new ideas. If a film is not released for 10 years, it's a real tragedy, a real anti-climax".

After so many years, it's likely that Welles too would have had to try and think of new concepts to keep his uncompleted films from being anti-climaxes.

[R Kadin]

It might also explain why he seemed to be in "perpetual-shooting" mode, often filming brand new bits of business even as the old ones were being spliced together on an editing bench - although he was so far ahead of his time that he had much more margin than most before anything he did could have been legitimately branded as "dated".

[Glenn Anders]

Dear R Kadin: In a psychological sense, you must be close to the truth. The films Welles was working on might not have "dated," but he may have felt that was what was happening.

How apt to quote the late Elim Klimov, who happens to be a favorite of mine, too. He was considered too far to the Right for the Bolsheviks; the Yeltsinites thought he was a Leftist; the West decided he was not commercial enough; and he lost his wife in a car accident, a beautiful and talented director in her own right. He never recovered from the latter event.

Another Russian, Aleksandr German (Khrystalov, My Car!) is a similar case. His films have taken years to reach the West, and he has become very embittered. KHRYSTALOV, MY CAR! may be as close to a "new" Orson Welles film as we can get; it may also be one of the greatest films ever made.

Both are Welsian directors of the highest rank.

Glenn

[R Kadin]

Two more directors and their works to seek out. Thanks, Glenn and mteal, although I get the impression that the pursuit will not be an easy one - yet again!

(PS: Any suggestions as to possible sources will be most appreciated.)

[Glenn Anders]

R Kadin: Klimov's COME AND SEE is available on both VHS and DVD through Kino of New York.

Aleksandr (or Aleksei) German's KHRUSTALYOV, MY CAR! (KHRUSTALYOV, MASHINU!) -- It helps if I get the spellings right -- is more difficult. The movie is some years old, and like Klimov's films, was both praised and attacked upon its release in Russia. Not only that but when it was shown first in France, critics and audiences got up and walked out -- for much the same reasons as was the case in THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, though they are very different films. Forty minutes were cut from its 137 minute running time, but that didn't help. Restored to its original length, the French recently listed it as one of the 100 Best Films Ever Made!!

It was released in New York two years ago, and as far as I know has not had wide showing here. I don't believe that it has had a regular run in San Francisco; I saw it at the SF International Film Festival.

I know of no DVD release, but Polygram is its distributor here.

Hope that helps.

[R Kadin]

Much obliged, Glenn. Thanks. The hunt begins...