New York, 1937. A teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant.
16 Feb Me and Orson Welles (2008)
F is for Fake
Okay, start with one of the most interesting and influential characters in film. Make a film that has him in it.
Take one of the most interesting and theatrical productions in theatre, present it is as film and make the same film about its inception including chaos, the various seductions of the players and some presentation of his bellicose leadership.
Hang the thing on a story of callow discovery and you may have something. But alas, this almost succeeds on every score and it makes us unhappy because from the first we expect something worthy. We expect to be immersed somehow. ‘Cradle will Rock‘ succeeded in that respect where this did not.
One problem is there is no sense of the inner composition in Welles‘ mind. Sure we find he is oafish, appetite driven, needlessly obnoxious. But for each of these, there should be some window into what matters, what we came for. It sure wasn’t hearing about a kid‘s screwups.
The impression fostered throughout is that some combination of accident, unsophisticated audience and dedicated cast/crew made the production a success. I saw this with ‘Hamlet 2‘ and as bad as that was, it was better in key ways. Above all, it tried.
Posted in 2011
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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