F for Fake
1973 · TMDB 7.4 · Vérités et Mensonges
Directed by Orson Welles, François Reichenbach
Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.
Why it matters
Orson Welles's essay-film about the art forger Elmyr de Hory and the biographer Clifford Irving, assembled with sleight of hand and a mischievous grin. Welles positions himself as the greatest forger of all, and the film's final confession is both a joke and a credo.
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Released
- 1973-09-01
- Studio
- SACI
- Country
- France
- Language
- English
- TMDB score
- 7.4
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