It's All True: undeveloped footage

[ToddBaesen]

Tony:

Actually, I agree with you, or I did until I watched the film again AFTER reading Catherine Benamou's book. Before that, I felt pretty much as you did. But to clarify, in my comments I'm really talking just about the reconstruction of FOUR MEN IN A RAFT and the brief snippets of CARNIVAL footage, not about the documentary itself. I also agree that for some reason, the Ferrer narration does not work that well. Jeanne Moreau did the narration in French, and would probably have been a better choice to do it in English as well.

But have you read CB's new new book and seen the DVD recently, or is your opinion based on an older viewing of the film? One reason my opinion changed was after getting a more complete backgroud about the picture Welles was trying to make, I could now imagine what he was trying to do with FOUR MEN IN A RAFT and CARNIVAL. So the bad music and foley didn't upset me as much, just like in Welles later films.

[Glenn Anders]

I tend to agree with Todd here.

While IT'S ALL TRUE, the documentary itself, is not great, a number of things in it are. Having recently seen the documentary, I was blown away by the accomplishment of "Four Men on a Raft." The tidal motion, the close ups, and the simple story of heroic remembrance might well be the centerpiece of a film dedicated generally to the Family of Man, and in a personal way, to the loss of Jacare.

As one who lived close to a major ocean for many years, I found the foley suggestive of the almost deafening beauty of the surf that goes on in ones head, day and night, forever after.

And the music is by Jorge Arriagada, a distinguished Chilean composer, who has created scores for many films shot in South America below the Equator. Melodically, it consists of one haunting, elegiac theme, plus a great deal of ethnic syncopation, using the instruments that Carmen Miranda demonstrates for Welles under the credits for IT'S ALL TRUE.

No doubt, a contrast was going to be established within Welles' original between the simple honesty, courage and tragedy of the poor people in "Four Men on a Raft," along with the Mexican segment, and the urbanization of their lives and customs in the great cities of North and South America. The love story in "Carnival," the rise of Louis Armstrong and his Jazz, would illustrate that contrast, at the same time binding together the Americas, beyond anything the State Department had hoped for.

I agree, Tony, that the narration is not very dynamic, not what we might expect from the son of Jose Ferrer, but it serves a utilitarian function at least.

For the way in which the Carnival footage might have worked, I recommend watching ORFEU, a three-strip technicolor remake of BLACK ORPHEUS, a film Welles had rolling around in his head for years. Here is a review I did of it:

http://www.epinions.com/mvie-review-661 ... CEDD-prod2

Glenn

[Christopher]

It is reassuring to hear that other board members are having difficulty reading Catherine Benamou's book about "It's All True." I found the Introduction such tough going that only sheer determination and my interest in Welles persuaded me to keep going. Clearly, this is not a book for the general reader, and that might explain why it has not, as yet, been reviewed in the press.

[ToddBaesen]

Although the introduction is very difficult, I just skipped over that and went straight to the chapters that appeared to be more interesting. Then I skimmed over anything that was becoming too semoictically technical. That way I found it to be much more readable, and you get a lot of very fascinating bits and pieces. Sort of like cracking open a Brazil nut.

[Skylark]

A couple of interesting It's All True web articles:

http://www.culturecourt.com/F/Hollywood/AllTrue.htm

http://screened.blogspot.com/2005/11/its-all-true.html

[tony]

Here's a fascinating interview with Catherine Benamou about her definitive book on Welles in Brazil:

http://141.211.177.75/ac/indepth/